On Nov. 7 – 9, 2017, Sustainable Electronics Recycling International ( SERI ) hosted an open meeting in Denver to discuss revising the R2 (Responsible Recycling) standard. The R2 Standard provides a common set of processes, safety measures, and documentation requirements for businesses that repair and recycle used electronics. R2 is rigorously and independently audited, emphasizing quality, safety, and transparency.
The first draft of the revision is currently planned for late 2017, with the release of the final version in 2018, and full implementation by 2020.
As with ISO and other standard management organizations, this is done by group consensus. SERI is committed to getting as much feedback as possible on the revision process from all stakeholders. The majority of the TAC members were in attendance, along with several SERI R2 staff members and members of the public (firms in the electronics recycling industry).
Attendees and participants were recently sent a 29 page document summarizing the work of those three days. Below, we’ve selected a sample of the items being made on revision.
- Restructuring standard – the TAC will attempt to make the standard more applicable to specific sectors.
- Terms – Use the term “supplier” for upstream suppliers, and “customer” for downstream buyers.
- Provision 6.a,Quality controls requiring ISO 9001 if also using quality assurance plan – clarify that a quality assurance plan should be used and ISO 9001 is one option for so doing.
- Provision 11.b, Should all additional facilities of a company be required to be covered by the closure plan and financial assurance? Yes, the committee will add the phrase “within its control” to refer to a company, indicating that the entire organization is covered.
The TAC is expected to meet twice in 2018, spring and fall. The expectation for the spring meeting is to review possible restructuring options and other content revisions. The expectation for the fall meeting is to approve a draft for public distribution and comment.
As always, we will continue to monitor all developments on the R2 standard and keep you informed! Meantime, what do you think about what R2 needs to revise? We’d love to hear from you!
