R2 NEWSLETTER: APRIL 2024

INAUGURAL eSUMMIT TAKING SHAPE

You’ve been hearing us talk a lot about the new Electronics Sustainability Summit and its debut in Austin, Texas, this October, but we’re excited to finally show you some of what we’ve been working on and what will make this the one event this year you won’t want to miss! 

We're certainly excited to reveal our new logo, and our new eSummit website is poised to launch May 1st. In it you’ll find lots more about the event including, the following: a first look at a daily agenda for the event, more of what to expect and why to attend, information on sponsorships and exhibit opportunities, info for attendees, a submission form for suggesting topics, and all the necessary event and hotel logistics. Oh, and eSummit registration opens May 1st as well!



Follow our eSummit LinkedIn and Facebook channels and sign up for our mailing list to stay on top of all things eSummit, and look for the release our speakers and their topics in the coming months. 

DON'T MISS THESE SPEAKERS AT THE

E-WASTE WORLD CIRCULAR ELECTRONICS TRACK

The Annual E-Waste World Conference & Expo in Frankfurt, Germany, is just over the horizon, and the SERI team is very excited to once again be curating two full days of content for the Circular Electronics portion of the conference! For those who didn’t spend time in the Circular Electronics program last year, this content is very different from how you may have thought of E-Waste World in the past. Our goal is to inspire attendees to rethink their relationships with electronics, exploring eliminating e-waste not just as an end-of-life discussion, but through a whole-lifecycle lens from product design through returns, repair, reuse, and finally, recycling, as well as how all these functions are interrelated. 

The lineup of speakers for the Circular Electronics track is shaping up to be truly special, with perspectives from a diverse group of experts from well-known organizations, including: 

• HMD Global – Petri Hayrynen 
• TCO Development – Martin Eichenseder
• iFixit – Kyle Wiens 
• Logitech – Sinéad McCabe 
• HP - Jennifer Foxworthy 
• Seagate - Hugo Bergmann 

This is just the beginning of the incredible group of participants in the Circular Electronics program at this year’s E-Waste World Conference & Expo. Stay tuned as we release more details on speakers, panels, and showcases in the coming weeks leading up to the June 26-27 conference. Learn more about the conference & speakers, as well as registration details below. 

THE FINAL INTERNAL AUDIT MODULE IS NOW AVAILABLE

Internal audits are essential to achieving and maintaining R2 certification for several reasons. They’re opportunities for a facility to conduct planned examinations of their documented processes, review all associated operations, and ensure those processes and operations align with the R2 Standard. Whether your internal audit is conducted by consultants, your own team, or a combination of both, our video series has been created to help ensure your internal audits are both practical and beneficial. 

The latest and final release in the Building An Internal Audit Program series, Part 4, Conducting Your R2 Internal Audit, has been added to the R2 Knowledge Base. 

As a reminder, the four parts to the series are: 

Building An Internal Audit Program Part 1 – Overview

Internal audits are a critical part of the R2 certification process. The overview video is designed to help facilities build an internal audit program and conduct a robust internal audit that will maximize the effectiveness of internal audits and ensure useful results. 

Building An Internal Audit Program Part 2 – Legal Compliance 

Learn how to conduct internal audits that properly assess legal compliance. 

Building An Internal Audit Program Part 3 – Data Security and Sanitization  

Gain insights into conducting thorough internal audits focused on protecting and sanitizing sensitive customer information. 

Building An Internal Audit Program Part 4 – Conducting Your R2 Internal Audit 

Learn how to conduct a comprehensive internal audit of conformance with all the R2 Core Requirements and any applicable Process Requirements included in the scope of your facility’s operations. 

Once you’ve completed your organization's internal audits, you’ll need to implement effective corrective actions. As a companion module to the Building An Internal Audit Program series, we’ve also released the R2 Corrective Action video to help guide you through this process. 

Explore all these helpful videos and more, now in the R2 Knowledge Base. 

R2 TIP: NON-R2 DSV QUALIFICATION GOES BEYOND EH&S CERTIFICATES

Under Appendix A(8)(b), R2 Facilities must verify that non-R2 downstream vendors (DSVs) have documented systems in place to safeguard their workers, protect the environment, and ensure legal compliance. However, if a DSV presents a valid Environmental, Health and Safety (EH&S) Management Systems certificate, this document alone doesn’t guarantee they meet the minimum qualifications necessary to receive R2-controlled shipments.

The R2 Facility will still need to verify that the DSV meets the applicable requirements in Core 3 and Core 4, which ensure the facility is adhering to the best EH&S and legal practices specific to this industry. Be sure that your due diligence process checks for all the EH&S requirements specified in Appendix A(8)(b). 

RECENTLY ADDED TO THE KNOWLEDGE BASE

• R2 CORRECTIVE ACTION MODULE - This module is designed to help R2-certified facilities implement effective corrective actions to help R2 facilities implement an effective corrective action process.
• BUILDING AN INTERNAL AUDIT PROGRAM - PART 4 - The latest and final release in the Building Your Internal Audit series.
• BROKER SPECIFIC TRANSACTION SHEET - Designed to provide the auditor with a working document that allows them to triangulate and correlate information related to the brokered shipments, to demonstrate conformance to the requirements for R2v3, Appendix F.
• AUDITOR GUIDE TO BROKER SPECIFIC TRANSACTION SHEET - The Broker-Specific Transaction Sheet is part of a pilot program to improve the outcomes of auditing Brokers for the 2024 year. 
• STEPS TO VALIDATING QMS / EMS / SMS CERTIFICATES - To help auditors navigate the certificate validation process, SERI has issued a Certification Validation Guidance Document.

HELP OUR FRIENDS AT REVERSE LOGISTICS ASSOCIATION! TAKE PART IN THEIR RETURNS INDEX SURVEY

Contribute to RLA's Returns Index Survey and benefit the industry!



Are the volumes and/or costs of your returns going up, down, or remaining the same? Please take a couple of minutes to take Reverse Logistics Association's latest quarterly returns survey. RLA will send survey participants a copy of the results as a thank you.

AVAILABLE R2v3 TRAINING CLASSES

NEW TO R2: INTRO TO R2 WEBINAR 

If you want to learn more about R2, join us on our Intro to R2 Webinars. They are held 3-4 times per month and are offered to accommodate time zones on all continents.

R2 AUDITOR TRAINING CLASSES

Looking for in-depth, online, and interactive training on R2v3? These classes are open to auditors, consultants, and facilities. We have a range of class schedules to accommodate different time zones, including London in June and Mumbai in July. Space is limited, so sign up for the class today!

June Auditor Course – June 24-27, 12:30 p.m. - 5 p.m. GMT (London)

July Auditor Course – July 22-25, 7 p.m. - 11:30 p.m. IST (Mumbai)

Each month, we let you know where we’re going and what conversations we’re having for two reasons. First, we hope you’ll catch up with us if you plan to be in the same places. But even more importantly, we want everyone to know how and where we are sharing our message, talking about electronics sustainability for a global circular economy and, in many cases, how R2 fits as a part of the puzzle. We see educating all the decision-makers to make better choices as a big part of the journey to electronics sustainability.      

In April, Chief Executive Officer Corey Dehmey participated in the launch of R2 Certification through JASANZ in Australia and New Zealand at IEC / JASANZ International Conference in Brisbane, Australia. Chief of Global Standards Mike Easterbrook met with various industry stakeholders at ISRI 2024 in Las Vegas. Senior Advisor Rick Goss participated in a panel at WCEF in Brussels, Belgium, where he championed the efforts made by our ESG TAC. 

Where we're headed next:

• CIRCULARITY, Chicago, IL, May 22-24 – Chief Provocateur Jeff Seibert will lead a panel discussion to help corporate sustainability teams better understand how they can make a positive impact with electronics in their organizations, as well as a lunchtime roundtable discussion. The SERI team will also promote electronics sustainability with a booth.

• RLA EMEA SUMMIT 2024, Amsterdam, Netherlands, June 18-20 –  SERI’s Chief Operating Officer Amanda LaGrange will be sharing SERI’s experience on an ITAD panel with HP and Foxconn.  

• E-WASTE WORLD CONFERENCE & EXPO, Frankfurt, Germany, June 26-27 – SERI is pleased to lead the Circular Electronics program for a second year and promote a whole-lifecycle approach to sustainability and dealing with e-waste. SERI will also exhibit at the conference, promoting R2 Certification.

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