News

The number of R2 certified facilities is booming, according to the latest tally of facilities from R2 Solutions. As of this week, 215 facilities have been certified to R2, both in the U.S. and abroad. This translates into 140 companies with at least one certified facility. By contrast, 31 firms with 71 facilities have certified to e-Stewards. A closer examination of the data reveals interesting patterns about firms' certification strategies.

The Basel Action Network has announced that, effective immediately, the e-Stewards standard will now include all the elements of the R2 standard. Requirements for the multi-stakeholder R2 standard have been incorporated into e-Stewards, meaning e-Stewards certifying bodies – currently AQA International, Orion Registrar and QMI-SAI Global – will audit for both the R2 and e-Stewards standards.

E-scrap recycling company Regency Technologies has partnered with Dlubak Glass Company, a processor of scrap TV and PC monitors, on a joint operation that will recycle CRT glass.

Under the agreement, Regency Technologies will open a new location in Upper Sandusky, Ohio adjacent to Dlubak Glass. The companies are hoping that the arrangement will allow them to completely breakdown, dismantle and recycle devices containing CRT glass. Regency Technologies will dismantle the devices and send glass to Dlubak, which will process the material using a furnace.

A researcher in China says that 88 percent of the blood samples taken from children in Guiyu, China clearly show lead poisoning. The findings are made more significant by their publication in the government-owned China Daily.

A relatively new organization calling itself the Coalition for American Electronics Recycling is urging Congress to pass the Responsible Electronics Recycling Act – and is specifically calling for restrictions on the export of electronic scrap to developing countries.

The CAER includes a growing roster of 29 U.S. electronics recycling firms, which operate 74 recycling facilities in 34 states, and includes a range of firms including refurbishers, scrap processors and refiners.

The Institute of Scrap Recycling Industries unveiled the results of a comprehensive survey of the U.S. electronics recycling industry at the 2011 E-Scrap Conference held in Orlando, Florida. Eric Harris, director of government and international affairs for ISRI, told attendees at the opening conference plenary session that that the organization undertook the survey in response to growing speculation and a desire to get some solid data on the U.S. market. Perhaps the most noteworthy finding of the survey, which was conducted by International Data Corporation and asked 182 U.S.

Two executives of a Colorado electronics recycling firm were indicted by a federal grand jury on charges related to allegations that it illegally exported over 100,000 end-of-life CRTs overseas. According to the indictment, between 2005 and 2009, Brandon Richter, owner and chief executive officer of Executive Recycling, and Tor Olson, its former vice president of operations, presented ER as a knowledgeable and responsible company that promised its clients it would dispose of their e-waste, including CRTs, in an environmentally-friendly manner, in accordance with local, state and

*Updates to this story appear at the bottom of the page* Illinois-based electronics recycling firm Intercon Solutions has become the first processor to be denied e-Stewards Certification for what the Basel Action Network says is "compelling evidence" that the company exported electronic waste to Hong Kong.

In a letter to Intercon CEO Brian Brundage dated June 28, BAN executive director Jim Puckett said the organization would not be accepting Intercon into the e-Stewards Certification program based on evidence BAN collected showing the company ex

A handful of Congress members are taking another stab at better controlling the stream of e-scrap being exported out of the U.S. to developing countries. The measure has the support of some large electronic manufacturers and environmental groups, but one recycling trade organization remains skeptical.

Democratic U.S.

California's e-waste recycling program has reached a new milestone: Since the legislation establishing the program became law six years ago, it has recycled its 1 billionth pound of obsolete electronics. Although California was the first state to pass an e-waste law, an article in The San Jose Mercury News points out that it remains the only to require consumers to pay into a fund supporting the program with fees attached to TVs, laptops and monitors.