E-Stewards commit to no more dumping in landfills or developing countries
MADISON, WI —The Basel Action Network and the Electronics TakeBack Coalition joined with 32 electronics recyclers including Madison’s Cascade Asset Management today to announce the development of the e-Stewards Initiative — a new certification program for North America’s most responsible e-waste recyclers.
The e-Steward Initiative will become the first independently audited and accredited electronic waste recycler certification program forbidding the dumping of toxic e-waste in developing countries, local landfills and incinerators; the use of prison labor; and the unauthorized release of private data.
“Unfortunately today, most of those companies calling themselves electronics recyclers are scammers,” said Sarah Westervelt, e-Stewards project coordinator at the Basel Action Network (BAN) in Seattle . “They simply load up containers of old computers and ship them off to China or Africa . By choosing an e-Steward recycler, consumers and large businesses are assured that their old computers and TVs will be safely managed, and not simply tossed into a local landfill, processed unsafely by prison laborers, or exported to developing countries.”
The e-Stewards announcement follows Sunday’s exposé on CBS’ 60 Minutes; the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation’s recently aired Electronic Dumping Ground; and a recent episode of the French Canadian Program Panorama, Electronic Waste: The Hidden Face of Recycling (in French). These programs reveal that computers given to many recyclers in the United States and Canada are likely to be dumped in China or Africa, where e-waste is causing immeasurable environmental and health problems.
“Currently, the truly responsible recyclers in the US and Canada face unfair competition from the thousands of unethical, so-called ‘waste recyclers’ in North America that would more accurately be called ‘waste shippers,’” said Neil Peters-Michaud , CEO of e-Steward Cascade Asset Management. “We strongly support a certified, audited program to separate the legitimate recyclers from the low-road operators.”
In September, the U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO) also released a report, Electronic Waste: EPA Needs to Better Control Harmful U.S. Exports through Stronger Enforcement and More Comprehensive Regulation, denouncing the lack of government controls and enforcement over e-waste exports.
The e-Stewards already include 32 companies in 92 locations that have been qualified by BAN. Today, BAN announced that by early 2010 the program will feature an ANSI-ASQ National Accreditation Board (ANAB) certification system with third-party auditing. The funding to create this robust certification program was provided by 14 recycling companies designated as e-Steward Founders.
“The e-Stewards project is a response to the failure of government and industry to act as responsible global citizens in the age of information technology,” said Jim Puckett, BAN executive director. “It is also a wonderful example of how industry leaders and activists can move mountains when they work together — in this case, move mountains of e-waste to truly responsible recyclers only.”
For more information about:
· Cascade Asset Management: http://www.cascade-assets.com
· the e-Stewards Initiative: http://www.e-Stewards.org
· global e-waste dumping: http://www.ban.org
· the Electronics TakeBack Coalition: http://www.computertakeback.com
About Cascade
Cascade Asset Management has provided full service IT asset retirement solutions since 1999. It operates 8 collection and processing locations across the United States in Delaware , Florida , Indiana , Wisconsin , Texas , Colorado , California and Washington . With ISO 14001 certified facilities and recognized as one of the Top 50 Best Small & Medium Companies to Work for in America by SHRM and the Great Place to Work Institute , Cascade serves Fortune 500 companies as well as regional businesses and institutions.
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Media Contact:
Neil Peters-Michaud , CEO
Phone: (608) 316-6637
Email: nmichaud@cascade-assets.com
