[OKRA] BREAKING: Certification audit exposes exporter

Fri Jul 8 05:21:55 PDT 2011

From: E-Scrap News [mailto:dylan at resource-recycling.ccsend.com] On Behalf Of
E-Scrap News
Sent: Tuesday, July 05, 2011 4:09 PM
To: recycle at naturalevolution.com
Subject: BREAKING: Certification audit exposes exporter

Having trouble viewing this email? Click here
<http://campaign.r20.constantcontact.com/render?llr=xys7micab&v=001wGH4ADbzD
TviDpJEymDxvDYlxROWmbzI6RYNA35fE3nzsVFWPfRTErnf5V_GqUmOMFE4UQyQM664wXbmrz5G-
I09UCOExGDsNNtNnhkiPFdCR1fd-h4iBM0fTBJDzGVl> 

<http://r20.rs6.net/on.jsp?llr=xys7micab&t=1106415782668.0.1101941066519.269
95&ts=S0649&o=http://ui.constantcontact.com/images/p1x1.gif> 

 E-Scrap News
<http://www.resource-recycling.com/images/e-newsletterimages/ESN_news_flash.
jpg> 

July 5, 2011

Certification audit exposes exporter

Illinois-based electronics recycling firm Intercon Solutions has become the
first processor to be denied e-Stewards Certification for what the Basel
Action Network says is "compelling evidence" that the company exported
electronic waste to Hong Kong. 

In a letter to Intercon CEO Brian Brundage dated June 28, BAN executive
director Jim Puckett said the organization would not be accepting Intercon
into the e-Stewards Certification program based on evidence BAN collected
showing the company exported containers of electronics - a violation of the
conditions for e-Stewards Certification and likely the import laws of Hong
Kong. BAN presented photographic and documentary evidence it collected
showing electronic scrap in one Intercon Solutions shipping container bound
for Hong Kong in 2009, and two additional shipping containers bound for Hong
Kong in 2011. 

"The final decision by BAN to deny the certification took place only after
an on-site audit had been conducted and after direct discussions between BAN
and Intercon Solutions failed to convince BAN that Intercon Solutions had
not exported the toxic containers," read an official statement from the
Seattle-based watchdog. "Such export is a violation of the e-Stewards
Standard and is likely also to violate the importation laws of Hong Kong,
the U.S. federal Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA) and Illinois
state law governing the conduct of registered electronics recyclers." 

"We determined we had a serious problem just before we began the Phase 2
audit during the certification process," says Puckett, speaking with E-Scrap
News. "We made sure to have an observer there during the third-party
auditing process after that and began the process of trying to work with
[Intercon] on this problem. After they continued to deny ownership of the
containers, or that the events took place, we took the action that we did." 

As part of being denied certification, BAN says it will bar the company from
e-Stewards certification for a minimum of two years. 

"We gave them plenty of opportunities to work with us and correct their
behavior, but we just kept getting denials," continues Puckett. 

Several attempts to contact representatives of Intercon Solutions, including
Brundage, by E-Scrap News have been unsuccessful. 

In a marketing letter postmarked June 30, two days after the company
received its correspondence from BAN, Intercon Solutions business
development director Dan Hagan bills the company as one that will "Properly
recycle anything that does not contain a liquid with zero landfill, zero
export, zero remarketing, zero incineration and zero shredding." 

Intercon's marketing letter also highlights the company's other
certifications, including the R2 and RIOS standards. However, shortly after
the story broke on July 5, R2 Solutions, the housing body for the standard,
announced it had delisted Intercon Solutions from its directory of R2
processors. R2 Solutions said it took the action based on data provided to
it by BAN, which showed that the company violated the R2 certification's
provision against exporting "focus materials," such as batteries, CRT glass,
circuit boards, mercury and other hazardous substances. 

Intercon Solutions' current troubles may soon extend beyond certification.
BAN says officials in Hong Kong are taking enforcement action against the
importing firm documented in the evidence. BAN says that action by the U.S.
Environmental Protection Agency is possible against Intercon directly,
although a more immediate concern is its status as a registered processor
under Illinois' state electronics recycling program, which requires
companies exporting covered electronics to meet all laws of the United
States and the recipient country, and to keep records of their export
activity for a period of three years. 

Intercon Solutions is a major electronics processor in Illinois and the
surrounding region. For example, it is a member of the Institute for Scrap
Recycling Industries and according to the company has 12 sites, processing
approximately 143 million pounds of electronics per year. SAI Global
conducted third-party audits of the company for the e-Stewards certification
process. BAN says any outstanding issues regarding payment for services
during the auditing process will have to be resolved between the two firms. 

Updates on this story will appear online
<http://r20.rs6.net/tn.jsp?llr=xys7micab&et=1106415782668&s=26995&e=001WGC_2
M9D2R_-IsDOpj3hLcLSMtCuXi063HMy5xEwr584rGDbdHy3WnmuuW4kvGecrqAy_R4x435HE-Yrp
ywCgY_PDRSqFpZYy1QFv562YrCMhKAIMGRmi2L_1kVzEB9iVt2GzIDIxBY=>  and in further
editions of E-Scrap News, as they develop. For more, click here
<http://r20.rs6.net/tn.jsp?llr=xys7micab&et=1106415782668&s=26995&e=001WGC_2
M9D2R_-IsDOpj3hLcLSMtCuXi063HMy5xEwr584rGDbdHy3WnmuuW4kvGecrqAy_R4x435HE-Yrp
ywCgY_PDRSqFpZYy1QFv562YrCMhKAIMGRmi2L_1kVzEB9iVt2GzIDIxBY=> . 

Resource Recycling
<http://r20.rs6.net/tn.jsp?llr=xys7micab&et=1106415782668&s=26995&e=001WGC_2
M9D2R_lMHdaiM3lF80WBJhAlXDJ6jXtawu1JKYx0QEVQXQpD4mf6uukKyFCYkgDAmonbgvLWnZ7O
84pmkrKwYDAMECGSPEZsLdsRdUWkzJiPRw22FYBOPLO-qrE>  | PO Box 42270 | Portland
OR 97242-0270 | ph: 503-233-1305 | fax: 503-233-1356 

 <mailto:newsletter at resource-recycling.com> 

<http://r20.rs6.net/tn.jsp?llr=xys7micab&et=1106415782668&s=26995&e=001WGC_2
M9D2R8rnQUxrOOyh2pfCuMcGz57cU1WvH58uxBIUtQfu59zDzVBUg4uvsXw1ukrnYtjnVY-cRj0i
Vw2RMR54cWXR05c5MkO6mLtB-SugiAVTVuIAU_CLuNgB3AsOoA-1pgJLk4=> 

 <mailto:enews-ads at resource-recycling.com> 

<http://ui.constantcontact.com/sa/fwtf.jsp?llr=xys7micab&m=1101941066519&ea=
recycle%40naturalevolution.com&a=1106415782668> Forward email

<http://visitor.constantcontact.com/do?p=un&mse=001Qo1SzxA2oRThXzzNvrHZrVz9T
YCYo9_Gz8AtIKqSBPA%3D&t=001YWyVb_p3EKm4HnMyexxSvw%3D%3D&l=001FCSs65SMrsI%3D&
r=001y5KaVlBn7_Y%3D&llr=xys7micab> 

 <http://www.constantcontact.com/index.jsp?cc=custom01> 

This email was sent to recycle at naturalevolution.com by
<mailto:newsletter at e-scrapnews.com> newsletter at e-scrapnews.com |   

<http://visitor.constantcontact.com/do?p=oo&mse=001Qo1SzxA2oRThXzzNvrHZrVz9T
YCYo9_Gz8AtIKqSBPA%3D&t=001YWyVb_p3EKm4HnMyexxSvw%3D%3D&l=001FCSs65SMrsI%3D&
r=001y5KaVlBn7_Y%3D&llr=xys7micab> Update Profile/Email Address | Instant
removal with
<http://visitor.constantcontact.com/do?p=un&mse=001Qo1SzxA2oRThXzzNvrHZrVz9T
YCYo9_Gz8AtIKqSBPA%3D&t=001YWyVb_p3EKm4HnMyexxSvw%3D%3D&l=001FCSs65SMrsI%3D&
r=001y5KaVlBn7_Y%3D&llr=xys7micab> SafeUnsubscribeT |
<http://ui.constantcontact.com/roving/CCPrivacyPolicy.jsp> Privacy Policy.

If you are having difficulty reading this email, click here
<http://archive.constantcontact.com/fs003/1101941066519/archive/110206488338
5.html>  for the archived version. | E-Scrap News | P.O. Box 42270 |
Portland | OR | 97242-0270 

-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: <http://lists.recycleok.org/pipermail/okrecycles-recycleok.org/attachments/20110708/dcf0f09c/attachment.html>