Basel Action Network (BAN) to promote responsible electronics refurbishment via two new initiatives.
US-based Basel Action Network (BAN) announced it and its e-Stewards recycler/refurbisher certification programme is currently undertaking two initiatives to promote responsible electronics refurbishment, with the efforts designed to reflect the environmental and social preference for longevity, reuse, and refurbishment of electronic equipment rather than disposal or recycling.
The changes to Basel’s guidelines aim to “enhance” reuse of electronics such as computers, laptops, and cell phones; with the first initiative, introduced in September at the Basel Convention in Geneva, offering a “carefully crafted” exemption allowing some high-end electronic equipment such as medical equipment to be exported outside of the control procedures of the Basel Convention- to operators such as Asian equipment manufacturers -for refurbishment.
BAN added that with this initiative it is “seeking to break the impasse between developing countries and manufacturers and reach a workable compromise to allow some small flows for very responsible refurbishment, as long as the residual material from such refurbishment operations would not be allowed to remain in developing countries and violate the international Basel Ban Amendment”.
The second initiative meanwhile seeks a “more liberal interpretation” of when a second-hand laptop or phone battery should be considered waste, with current international guidelines requiring a one-hour minimum charge on laptop or phone batteries. BAN stated that “while well intended to prevent the dumping of lithium-ion batteries” the guideline is resulting in the shredding or scrapping of “thousands” of laptops that could otherwise be refurbished.
As a result, BAN’s e-Stewards Certification programme will revise and implement a new set of requirements in its e-Stewards Standard for testing and minimum state of health for used batteries, allowing more used batteries to be considered non-waste and thus be able to be reused.
A large part of BAN’s aim in promoting reuse is to ensure that developing countries are not used as dumping grounds for e-waste, with the Basel Ban Amendment, which is currently ratified by 80 countries, making it illegal to export hazardous waste to developing countries from developed countries.
Jim Puckett, Executive Director of BAN, said: “It is best for the environment to insist that manufacturers make products that are designed for a long-life and are repairable and then to create incentives for the proper collection, repair, and ultimately recycling of electronic waste in all countries. In most cases, reuse and not recycling should not be the first priority for modern, repairable equipment.”
The e-Stewards programme recently launched e-Stewards Marketplace (www.e-Stewardsmarketplace.com), an e-commerce site where refurbishable equipment will be able to be traded among e-Stewards Certified recyclers and then refurbished and sold to businesses around the world to enhance greater re-use rates.
Puckett commented: “With care and intelligence and proper application of the Basel Convention obligations, it is very possible to bridge the digital divide without creating a digital dump. That is our goal.”