Back in 2008, the world was a lot different. Smartphones were just starting to catch on with Blackberry leading the way. Most of our lives weren’t on the Internet. We couldn’t even hail a cab from our phone yet! That’s also when everyone learned about electronic waste, or e-waste, being dumped and burned in other countries such as China. 

In November of that year, 60 Minutes aired an expose on recycling companies shipping their e-waste overseas. They followed a recycling company’s shipping container full of glass cathode-ray tubes, or CRTs for short, on its voyage out of the U.S. and into Hong Kong, something that is illegal.

President and CEO of eLoop, Ned Eldridge, called this “the video that changed our industry.” Overnight, all recycling companies had to rethink their strategies on the removal of e-waste. They had to make sure that their disposal of electronics were being properly disposed of. These companies had to make sure they became compliant with industry standards.

The e-Stewards Standard ensured e-waste was ethically being disposed of and took on greater importance in the e-waste and sustainability communities. The e-Stewards team inspects and regulates all facets of e-waste removal, including random audits and testing.

In 2019, e-Stewards sent an electronic device containing a GPS tracker to one of our facilities. The tracker allows the e-Stewards team to track where a device is going to ensure its proper disposal. We passed the test with flying colors!

If you haven’t watched the 60 Minutes video, do yourself a favor today and give it a watch. It shines a whole new light on the issues e-waste presents.