EPA Releases R2 E-Cycling Guidelines
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (Washington) last week announced the release of its "Responsible Recycling (R2) Practices for Use in Accredited Certification Programs for Electronics Recyclers," which was developed by multiple stakeholders involved in the electronics recycling industry.
The guidelines list 13 principles to "help electronics recyclers ensure their material is handled safely and legally in the U.S. and foreign countries," according to the EPA. The R2 guide urges better management of items potentially hazardous to the environment or human health, promotes re-use and recovery versus landfill or incineration, and offers guidelines to help stem export to developing countries.
"These voluntary guidelines will help assure Americans that their used electronics will be recycled safely and responsibly," said Parker Bodine, assistant administrator for the EPA's Office of Solid Waste and Emergency Response.
Controversy dogs the release of the voluntary standards, however, following the recent withdrawal of support for the new guidelines by the Basel Action Network (Seattle) and the Electronics TakeBack Coalition (San Francisco). The two watchdog organizations expressed concern over the enforceability of the standards and cited a recent Government Accountability Office (Washington) report, which excoriated the EPA for both its narrow regulation of scrap electronics and weak enforcement of the one area it did oversee — the export of CRTs. The two organizations were the only non-governmental bodies to be included in the process, and their departure leaves a final product that lacks input from outside sources.
"The R2 standards won't stop the biggest problem in this industry — dumping e-waste on developing countries," said Barbara Kyle, national coordinator of the ETBC, in an e-mail to E-Scrap News. "It has some weak language about complying with certain countries' import laws, so much that you can drive a truck through the loopholes there. These should be called the 'business as usual' recycling standards."
In other news, the R2 practices will be adopted by the Institute of Scrap Recycling Industries, Inc. (Washington) as part of its Recycling Industry Operating Standard (RIOS) certification program which combines the management of various quality, environmental, occupational health and safety issues into a single unified system, designed specifically for the scrap recycling industry.
"Adopting R2 into the RIOS certification program provides a voluntary path for electronics recyclers to improve their facility operations and distinguish their company in the marketplace," said ISRI's President Robin Wiener.
Article originally published by E-Scrap News