The e-Stewards© Certification Program has published a Guide to Plastic Waste Export Compliance for U.S. Electronics Recyclers to help educate the industry on legal pathways for managing plastic waste from electronics within the legal bounds of the Basel Convention. The report follows the discovery by the Basel Action Network (BAN), the administrator of the e-Stewards Certification, that significant amounts of mixed US e-waste plastics are currently being exported to Malaysia, which cannot legally accept such plastic wastes.
“The current spate of illegal exports of plastic waste puts many recyclers and their trading partners in legal jeopardy and violates the Certifications they may hold,” said Jim Puckett, executive director of Basel Action Network. “Such exports also jeopardize the state-legislated producer responsibility programs operating in 23 states by electronics manufacturers. Non-compliance is not an option for anyone, so it is imperative that the matter be addressed together by all industry stakeholders including manufacturers, recyclers, certifications, and state programs.”
A critical instrument for global environmental justice, the Basel Convention is a global treaty that aims to minimize the transboundary movement of hazardous and other wastes, including plastics, and strictly regulate those that are moved across borders. In 2021, new listings of plastic waste subject to trade went into force. But, as the U.S. has not ratified the Basel Convention and is thus a non-Party, U.S. electronics recyclers have a limited number of legal options for their mixed or contaminated plastic wastes if they look outside their borders. Within the U.S., domestic recycling capacity is currently inadequate to handle the computer and appliance plastics generated by recyclers.
E-Stewards has already begun a dialogue with the Sustainable Electronics Recycling International (SERI), the Recycling Industry Operating Standard (RIOS), the Institute of Scrap Recycling Industries (ISRI), and electronics manufacturers. E-Stewards aims to be part of a united front to tackle the shortfall in available options for recyclers, while ensuring compliance with international law and conformity with voluntary certification programs. Certification programs such as e-Stewards and R2 require compliance with all applicable laws. The publication of the Guide to Plastic Waste Export Compliance for US Electronics Recyclers is the first step in solving the critical shortfall in legal pathways for e-waste plastics recycling.
