REAV

Glossary

e-Stewards

A certification for electronics recyclers and ITAD operators built around strict environmental, export and labour requirements.

e-Stewards is a performance standard created for the electronics recycling and IT asset disposition industry, with an emphasis on social and environmental protection.

Two provisions distinguish it from the alternatives. It does not allow brokers to be certified, where R2 does: meaning an e-Stewards certificate implies a physical processing facility, not an intermediary. And it prohibits the use of prison labour, a restriction the European standards do not carry because the issue is not considered relevant in that context.

Buyers who care about where equipment physically ends up, and about the conditions under which it is processed, tend to specify e-Stewards. Buyers whose primary concern is data assurance more often specify R2v3. Many operators hold both, because the two answer different questions.

Related terms

  • R2v3 The SERI certification standard for electronics reuse and recycling facilities, covering data security, environment, health and safety.
  • WEEELABEX The European standard and certification scheme for the collection, sorting, storage, transport, preparation for reuse and treatment of electrical and electronic waste.
  • ITAD The controlled process of retiring IT equipment so that data is destroyed, value is recovered and disposal is documented.
  • Chain of custody The unbroken, documented record of who held a device, when, and what was done to it, from collection to final disposition.

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