Seattle City signs pact to join the E-Stewards electronics recycling group

E-waste Recycling  |  2013-05-24 05:13:19   |   By

The City of Seattle has joined a growing group of public agencies and private companies that have become E-Stewards Enterprises

SEATTLE (Scrap Monster) : The City of Seattle has joined a growing group of public agencies and private companies that have become E-Stewards Enterprises, guaranteeing that electronic waste from city activities will not be exported to developing nations where crude processing is an environmental and human health hazard.

By joining the group, Seattle Government will be committed to ensure that any surplus electronic equipment- that cannot be donated to schools will go to an E-Stewards compliant processor and no parts may be exported except to developed countries that meet the standards of the 34-nation Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD).

There are now more than 50 E-Stewards Recyclers nationwide and about 80 E-Stewards Enterprises which have made a commitment like Seattle’s, according to the Basel Action Network (BAN).

Under the E-Stewards Enterprise program, Seattle City has entered into agreement with has Total Reclaim, a local recycler to accept the city’s surplus electronics. Total Reclaim has been approved by BAN as an E-Stewards Recycler. Ever since last October when the city initiated contract with Total Reclaim, it has successfully processed in excess of 50,000 pounds of surplus electronics at very low cost.

Total Reclaim was one of the first 12 recyclers to join BAN in a “pledge of environmental stewardship,” back in 2002.

The Basel Action Network (BAN), a Seattle-based non-profit organization that campaigns to stop the unhealthy practices being followed by many electronics recyclers worldwide, has outlined the serious environmental hazards and potential threats that can be caused to human beings.