The Basel Action Network (BAN) today launched its long-awaited, highly-touted e-Stewards Initiative, announcing the first three procesors to be fully certified under its e-Stewards Standard as well as listing businesses and environmental groups that are supporting BAN’s certification program.
BAN is the world’s only organization focused on confronting the global environmental injustice and economic inefficiency of toxic trade (toxic wastes, products and technologies) and its devastating impacts. Working at the nexus of human rights and environment, we confront the issues of environmental justice at a macro level, preventing disproportionate and unsustainable dumping of the world’s toxic waste and pollution on our global village’s poorest residents. At the same time we actively promote the sustainable and just solutions to our consumption and waste crises — banning waste trade, while promoting green, toxic free and democratic design of consumer products.
A baker’s dozen of companies have been named as e-Stewards Enterprises — non-recycling firms which agree to “always make best efforts to use e-Stewards Recyclers,” and which include such corporations as Apollo Group, Bank of America, Capital One Financial, the Premier healthcare alliance, Samsung and Wells Fargo.
The first three companies to be certified under the e-Stewards certification program are Newport Computer Services, Inc. and WeRecycle! with one location each, and Redemtech, with all four of its U.S. locations certified. In addition to the three processors already certified, there are a dozen processors already contracted with one of the three certifying bodies, AQA International, Orion Registar and QMI-SAI Global, and are expected to achieve certification in the coming weeks. Of the 12 locations waiting to complete certification, seven are located outside the United States.
There are also almost 50 Pledged e-Stewards Recyclers, which have been vetted internally by BAN, but are not yet officially certified under the Standard. All of those companies have committed to be certified by August 31, 2011 to retain the e-Stewards designation.
In a media conference call earlier today, Jim Puckett, executive director of BAN, touted the e-Stewards bona fides from fellow environmentalists and from the business world. “We are the only certification program to be supported both by the environmental community and by business,” said Puckett. ”
Over 65 environmental organizations from around the world have announced that they are throwing their support behind the e-Stewards initiative,” including such groups as Greenpeace USA, the Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC) and the Sierra Club.
More coverage of the e-Stewards certification program — including charts of what company is being certified under which program — can be found in the print edition of E-Scrap News.