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The Basel Action Network and the Electronics TakeBack Coalition have joined with Electronic Recyclers International of Fresno to create the "e-Stewards Initiative" - a certification program for North America's most responsible e-waste recyclers. The e-Steward Initiative is described as the first independently audited and accredited electronic waste recycler certification program forbidding the dumping of toxic e-waste in developing countries, local landfills and incinerators; the use of prison labor; and the unauthorized release of private data.The Basel Action Network and the Electronics TakeBack Coalition have joined with Electronic Recyclers International of Fresno to create the "e-Stewards Initiative" - a certification program for North America's most responsible e-waste recyclers. The e-Steward Initiative is described as the first independently audited and accredited electronic waste recycler certification program forbidding the dumping of toxic e-waste in developing countries, local landfills and incinerators; the use of prison labor; and the unauthorized release of private data.

Living in an age of disposability has led many durable goods manufacturers to explore ways of reducing the environmental footprint their products leave during their manufacturing process and throughout their lifecycle. The sheer volume of mobile phones produced annually and the propensity of users to chase mobile technology trends leads to an average replacement cycle of between 12 and 18 months, bringing special attention to the greening efforts of mobile device manufacturers. As consumer awareness and environmental legislation continue to evolve, handset vendors are developing their corporate responsibility initiatives to develop new business practices aimed at improving the compliance and environmental sustainability of their handsets. The European commission and industry-led initiatives have made great progress in developing a set of requirements and goals for developing sustainable business practices across the entire life cycle of handset production, distribution, use and disposal. This study identifies and explores key global handset initiatives and the handsets that are coming to market as a result of vendors' efforts to minimize their environmental impact. It also offers an analysis of US consumer interest, awareness and preferences of green handset vendor initiatives. Available for purchase from ABI Research at this URL.

Hewlett Packard (HP), in collaboration with the Global Digital Solidarity Fund (DSF), and the Swiss Federal Laboratories for Materials Testing and Research (Empa), has launched a groundbreaking initiative to develop sustainable recycling processes to tackle the problem of e-waste in Africa. For the past two years, the initiative has been overseeing a pilot program facility in South Africa and conducting e-waste management assessment studies in both Kenya and Morocco; the goal of the assessments is ultimately to properly determine each country's ability to deal with the e-waste there, whether it arose from electronics that were purchased new within the country and are now reaching their end of life, or from electronics that were shipped illegally from other countries. The project has been examining efforts by both African governments and organizations to safely handle e-waste. The project has been compiling extensive information, such as the policy and legal framework in each country, standard settings for e-waste treatment, organizations and programs already in place to safely process e-waste, and the actual amounts of e-waste present. MediaGlobal article by Shefali Lall, 7/20/09.

The Rethink Initiative, led by eBay and members from industry, government and environmental organizations offers a fresh perspective and new answers to the challenge of e-waste. Members of the Rethink Initiative encourage you to Reuse, Donate or recycle your used computers and electronics.

Earth Day 2009, April 22, will mark the beginning of the Green Generation Campaign! This two-year initiative will culminate with the 40th anniversary of Earth Day in 2010. With negotiations for a new global climate agreement coming up in December, Earth Day 2009 must be a day of action and civic participation, to defend the Green Generation'sEarth Day 2009, April 22, will mark the beginning of the Green Generation Campaign! This two-year initiative will culminate with the 40th anniversary of Earth Day in 2010. With negotiations for a new global climate agreement coming up in December, Earth Day 2009 must be a day of action and civic participation, to defend the Green Generation's

eCycling Highlights Digital Television Transition | en Español Where Can I Donate or Recycle My Old Computer and Other Electronics? Recycle Your Cell Phone. It's an Easy Call. Responsible Recycling Practices Resource Conservation Challenge partnerships and initiatives on electronics The use of electronic products has grown substantially over the past two decades, changing the way and the speed in which we communicate and how we get information and entertainment. Our growing reliance on electronics is illustrated by some remarkable figures. According to the Consumer Electronics Association (CEA), Americans own approximately 24 electronic products per household eCycling Highlights Digital Television Transition | en Español Where Can I Donate or Recycle My Old Computer and Other Electronics? Recycle Your Cell Phone. It's an Easy Call. Responsible Recycling Practices Resource Conservation Challenge partnerships and initiatives on electronics The use of electronic products has grown substantially over the past two decades, changing the way and the speed in which we communicate and how we get information and entertainment. Our growing reliance on electronics is illustrated by some remarkable figures. According to the Consumer Electronics Association (CEA), Americans own approximately 24 electronic products per household

As industry groups file suit against a New York City e-waste recycling program, AT&T is ramping up its own wireless recycling initiatives, showing the divergent attitude that is emerging among sellers of electronic devices. AT&T estimates it will collect roughly 14 million wireless devices for recycling by the end of 2011, which will keep more than 920 tons of primary materials and more than 13 tons of toxic waste out of landfills. Post provides highlights of AT&T e-waste initiative, information on lawsuit filed in NYC, and information on the Electronics Stewardship Association of British Columbia (ESABC). ESABC is revising the Environmental Handling Fees (EHFs) charged on products which were regulated for the launch of the program August 1, 2007. Most charges will be lowered between 20 to 75 percent. These changes will become effective on August 1, 2009 and are directly related to computer, printer, monitor and TV purchases.

With the processing of new electronic devices, the e-waste also increases in the city, hence the concept of reuse of used electronics help in the reduction of e-waste. And perhaps this is one of the ways by which smart city initiatives can be executed. Know how Veracity World is one such company in Dubai, providing smart waste management services.

Starting Sept. 5, the city is launching an electronics recycling program that will part of a statewide effort to keep electronics out of landfills. The city will set up mobile WIRED, or Westminster Initiative to Recycle E-Waste Drop-off, centers around the community over the next several months. The Sept. 5 debut location will be at Tahoma Farm Boulder Park, off Tahoma Farm Road. Future locations will be announced in the coming weeks.

Canon Middle EastCanon Middle EastCanon Middle East CME Region-wide | Consumer Goods News | Profile | Officers , the world-leading innovator and provider of imaging and information technology solutions, today announced its latest environmental initiative in the Middle East with the signing of a partnership agreement with EnviroServe, the leading environmental waste managers.

The green revolution was a major focus Wednesday morning, as it has been throughout CES so far. LG announced that its 2009 HDTVs are being designed to achieve the newest Energy Star 3.0 rating. The company is rolling out the "Life's Green 2020" initiative, which will cut greenhouse gas emissions by two points in the product lifecycle -- in the manufacturing process, where the company aims to cut emissions by 150 kilotons/year by 2020, and with the products themselves, for an additional decrease of 30 megatons/year by 2020. One of the few products to get more than a few sentences of introduction may be coming to your town soon, but it's not likely you're in the market. The LG Skycharger, a solar- and wind-powered charging station, can handle up to 104 phones (of various makes, not only LG) in its lockable cubbyholes, dispensing up to 1.8 kilowatts of power among them. Drop a gadget off and it'll be charged in about an hour; unused power goes into the station's battery bank in case it gets both calm and dark. Who's buying? Think large outdoor venues...or disaster-recovery agencies. The Skycharger will, according to the company, be making a US tour in 2009. It's the first of its kind in the nation.

Mumbai, the electronic waste capital of the country, is likely to get an e-waste processing unit run on a public-private partnership model. The unit will be first of its kind in the country and the second in South East Asia, to where India now supplies its e-waste for recovery of precious metals. The core committee under the chairmanship of the state Environment Secretary along with members of Solid Waste Management (SWM) cell of the Mumbai Metropolitan Region Development Authority (MMRDA), Maharashtra Pollution Control Board (MPCB), decided that a techno-economic feasibility study should be carried out for full-fledged processing of e-waste generated in the region. "The committee decided that a techno-economic feasibility study should be initiated. The concept is to have a comprehensive process to recover precious as well as non-precious metals safely," said Ashwini Bhide, Joint Metropolitan Commissioner, MMRDA. The processing unit will be located in the Mumbai Metropolitan Region.

The results of the Green Electronics Survey 2008. As companies have made increasingly stronger commitments to eliminate toxic chemicals, increase their products' energy efficiency and improve their recycling efforts by embracing financial responsibility for their electronic waste, Greenpeace has sought to comprehensively assess the state of green products coming into the global marketplace, looking even beyond its initial criteria in the Guide to Greener Electronics .

The results of the Green Electronics Survey 2008. As companies have made increasingly stronger commitments to eliminate toxic chemicals, increase their products' energy efficiency and improve their recycling efforts by embracing financial responsibility for their electronic waste, Greenpeace has sought to comprehensively assess the state of green products coming into the global marketplace, looking even beyond its initial criteria in the Guide to Greener Electronics.

With Christmas just days away and the end of the year looming, many individuals and organizations are thinking about "green" New Year's resolutions and the best ways of recycling obsolete computers and other hardware. TechSoup Global's GreenTech initiative is here just in the nick of time with its "Top 10" list of tips to make more environmentally conscious choices in technology product recycling, and with "green" IT practices you can implement year-round.">http://rss.msnbc.msn.com/id/3032091/device/rss/rss.xml

South Korea's Samsung Electronics has said it will invest $4.3B (£2.6B) as part of an initiative to develop new energy-efficient products and halve carbon emissions from its factories by 2013. The consumer electronics giant today unveiled its Eco-Management 2013 plan, under which it will spend $2.5B on improving the energy efficiency of its products -- including TVs, refrigerators and air conditioning systems -- with a goal of delivering the highest levels of efficiency in the consumer electronics industry. Under the plan, standby power consumption on many products will also be halved from 1W to just half a watt, while the company has said it will work to identify new recyclable and organic materials that could be used in the manufacture of consumer products such as laptops and mobile phones. Meanwhile, $1.8B will be invested in halving greenhouse gas emissions from Samsung manufacturing plants. Article by Yvonne Chan, Greener Computing, 7/20/09.

Two Democratic U.S. Senators -- Amy Klobuchar of Minn. and Kirsten Gillibrand of New York -- introduced earlier this month legislation aimed at funding R&D efforts to improve to recycle e-waste and develop best practices and innovation in greener design of electronics. The Electronic Device Recycling Research and Development Act, a nearly identical version of which passed the U.S. House of Representatives in April, provides almost $85 million over the next three years to help spur the growth of electronics recycling practices in the U.S. The bill, S. 1397, includes four main initiatives: providing grants for R&D into e-waste processes and practices, funding research into environmentally friendly materials for use in electronics, establishing educational curricula for engineering students at all levels to incorporate green design practices into electronics, and publishing a report from the National Academy of Sciences laying out the good and the bad in the current state of electronics recycling.

American TV & Appliance has announced a multilevel electronics recycling initiative that allows the recycling of most electronics, much of it for no fee.

The Basel Convention on the Control of Transboundary Movements of Hazardous Wastes and their Disposal was adopted in Basel, Switzerland on 22 March 1989. The Convention was initiated in response to numerous international scandals regarding hazardous waste trafficking that began to occur in the late 1980s. The Convention entered into force on 5 May 1992 and today has its Secretariat in Geneva, Switzerland. BAN web page. Includes country status table; text of the treaty in English, French & Spanish; Conference of the Parties Reports; Competent Authorities list; and a link to the Basel Secretariat.