The e-Stewards Standard for Responsible Recycling and Reuse of Electronic Equipment® is an industry-specific environmental management system standard designed as the basis for the e-Stewards Certification. It was developed with detailed input from experts in the recycling and asset recovery industries, the environmental community, occupational health and safety professionals, and the certification and accreditation industries.
The e-Stewards Standard is written for international use, and is consistent with international waste trade rules, social accountability standards, and environmental management system norms. Embedded within the e-Stewards Standard is ISO 14001, which is the global standard for environmental management systems. Using the ISO 14001 standard as a framework, the e-Stewards Standard adds additional industry-specific performance requirements, which results in a systemic, documented and top management commitment to best management practices for electronics recycling and reuse, 365 days a year.
Here is a sampling of some key requirements of the e-Stewards Standard which must be met in full for certification:
The requirements of ISO 14001 (all certified e-Stewards are certified to ISO 14001, in one combined audit, if desired);
Health and safety system requirements, comparable to OHSAS 18001 and specific to managing e-waste, are built into the environmental management system;
The principles of the global social accountability standard, SA 8000; and
Electronics recycling industry performance requirements, including:
Definitions of hazardous e-waste based on international definitions;
Strict control of exportation of hazardous electronic wastes, in conformance with the Amendment to the Basel Convention and other existing laws. Exporting of hazardous e-waste from developed to developing countries is not permitted;
Safe on-site handling of hazardous e-waste and other problematic components and materials, such as no shredding of mercury;
Full accountability for the entire downstream recycling chain for the toxic materials to final disposition;
When data security services are offered, conformance with the NIST 800-88 Guidelines for Media Sanitization, address additional hard drive imperfections, and provide customers with written agreements regarding services provided and customer indemnity;
Clear requirements for legitimate re-use and refurbishment;
Restrictions on disposal options for toxic materials and prohibition on use of prison and child labor;
Requirements for insurance provisions commensurate with the nature and size of operations;
Collection and reporting of data for recycling industry health and safety benchmarking and improvement, including airborne toxins if engaged in recycling activities such as shredding or heating hazardous e-waste;
Provision of site closure plans when potentially hazardous processing technologies have been used; and
Transparency of the entire chain of custody of toxic materials for any customers who request it, including records and documentation of e-waste going for recycling and reuse.
Implementation Guidance Document: An extensive and continually upgraded guidance document (Appendix A of the Standard) is provided to facilitate understanding of a management system that meets the e-Stewards Standard.
Maintenance of the e-Stewards Standard: The e-Stewards Standard is maintained and revised through an on-going mechanism of formal revisions, as needed. The revision process includes iterative involvement of stakeholders such as e-Stewards, customers, regulators, certification and accreditation bodies, and occupational health and safety experts. Between formal revisions of the Standard, BAN publishes Sanctioned Interpretations of the Standard, in order to clarify intentions or make small changes in the Standard.
The e-Stewards Standard
The e-Stewards Standard for Responsible Recycling and Reuse of Electronic Equipment® is an industry-specific environmental management system standard designed as the basis for the e-Stewards Certification. It was developed with detailed input from experts in the recycling and asset recovery industries, the environmental community, occupational health and safety professionals, and the certification and accreditation industries.
The e-Stewards Standard is written for international use, and is consistent with international waste trade rules, social accountability standards, and environmental management system norms. Embedded within the e-Stewards Standard is ISO 14001, which is the global standard for environmental management systems. Using the ISO 14001 standard as a framework, the e-Stewards Standard adds additional industry-specific performance requirements, which results in a systemic, documented and top management commitment to best management practices for electronics recycling and reuse, 365 days a year.
Here is a sampling of some key requirements of the e-Stewards Standard which must be met in full for certification:
Implementation Guidance Document: An extensive and continually upgraded guidance document (Appendix A of the Standard) is provided to facilitate understanding of a management system that meets the e-Stewards Standard.
Maintenance of the e-Stewards Standard: The e-Stewards Standard is maintained and revised through an on-going mechanism of formal revisions, as needed. The revision process includes iterative involvement of stakeholders such as e-Stewards, customers, regulators, certification and accreditation bodies, and occupational health and safety experts. Between formal revisions of the Standard, BAN publishes Sanctioned Interpretations of the Standard, in order to clarify intentions or make small changes in the Standard.