Winners in the state’s Waste Reduction Awards Program ranged from tech giants Hewlett-Packard Co, Intel Corp and NEC Electronics America Inc. Hewlett-Packard’s Roseville campus  now diverts 91 percent of its waste material, from recycling cardboard and paper products to reusing bubble wrap. NEC’s manufacturing plant, also in Roseville, last year diverted 82 percent of its solid waste, raising $430,625 in recycling revenue for the company.

Driven by aggressive state mandates, recycling has become a major industry in California. The sector employs 85,000 and produces $10 billion in goods and services annually, according to the waste board.

To make the list of recycling honorees, a company must demonstrate an annual improvement in its waste-reduction practices, according to Beatriz Sandoval, a spokeswoman for the Integrated Waste Management Board.

The agency has been publishing the list since 1993. Because of the breadth of industries represented, there are no set standards for qualifying, Sandoval said. Nearly every company submitting documentation to the agency wins an award.

“In choosing to work only with certified e-Stewards, Congress is saying they want to be sure their old computers and other electronic products don’t end up being exported to developing nations, or sent to prison recycling shops,” said Barbara Kyle, National Coordinator of the Electronics TakeBack Coalition. “We are very pleased to see Congress lead by example in solving the problem of global e-waste dumping.”

The resolution (H.Res. 938) calls for Congress to establish and implement “a coordinated program for the reuse, recycling, and appropriate disposal of obsolete computers and other electronic equipment used by offices of the legislative branch using only those companies independently certified as meeting the e-Stewards Standard for Responsible Recycling and Reuse of Electronic Equipment, which forbids the export of e-waste to developing countries and use of prison labor.”

“As consumers of electronic equipment, we are all faced with the real choice of becoming part of the e-waste problem or being part of the solution,” said Jim Puckett, Executive Director of the Basel Action Network (BAN), a global watchdog on toxic waste trade. “Congress, informed by the horrific pictures of Chinese and African children wandering through heaps of toxic e-waste from the U.S., has recognized this choice as a principled and practical one. This bipartisan resolution to use only e-Steward Recyclers, shows Congress wants to be part of the solution.”

The e-Stewards program includes both the rigorous new ‘gold standard’ for electronics recyclers and asset managers, as well as verification system, where only accredited, third-party auditors can certify whether recyclers are meeting the standard. The standard is currently held by the Basel Action Network, but was developed in collaboration with leaders in the recycling, auditing, occupational health, data security, and manufacturing industries as well as from the accredited third party certification industry.

There is little federal regulation of the recycling industry and most e-waste exports from the U.S. do not violate any U.S. laws. Therefore, responsible companies in this industry who wish to distinguish themselves can now become certified to the new standard which require them to handle electronic and hazardous waste responsibly in a manner that protects the environment and the social and health and safety concerns of the workforce, throughout the recycling chain around the world. This is the only e-waste recycling standard that prohibits the export of e-waste from developed to developing nations.

E-waste is the fastest growing part of the waste stream in the U.S. But of the e-waste that is collected by recyclers, 50 to 80 percent of that is not actually recycled, but is exported to developing nations where it is handled in very crude and dangerous ways that expose workers and communities to toxic materials.

For more information:

Link to the resolution: http://www.thomas.gov/cgi-bin/query/z?c111:H.RES.938:
Link to e-Stewards page: http://www.e-stewards.org/
Electronics TakeBack Coalition: http://www.electronicstakeback.com/