Arrow Electronics and the Basel Action Network (BAN) have announced a three-year agreement to certify all of Arrow's electronics recycling and IT asset recovery operations worldwide to the e-Stewards® standard, leading the program not only across North America but also into Europe and Latin America. Arrow will be the first global e-Stewards recycler taking the program to all of its facilities in multiple continents. "Arrow's value recovery business is committed to maintaining the highest standards of environmental and social responsibility while contributing to the best practices of the industry on a global basis," said Scott Venhaus, Arrow's director of quality and compliance. The certification covers nine processing facilities in the United States, six in Europe and one in Brazil. Arrow has chosen to pursue e-Stewards® certification as part of its global compliance program for value recovery that incorporates the best practices of today's leading industry standards, while creating a flexible platform to focus on the challenges of tomorrow. "Working with e-Stewards at our new Brazil facility is an exciting opportunity to jointly pilot the geographic expansion of e-Stewards into Latin America," Venhaus said. Arrow's value recovery business provides specialized management of reverse material streams, IT asset recovery and remarketing services that enable technology users to uncover opportunities for greater efficiencies and value capture at the end of the IT product lifecycle. Drawing from its industry leadership, it is anticipated that Arrow will support BAN and e-Stewards in an advisory capacity in the coming years. e-Stewards is a globally accredited, third-party audited certification program developed by BAN with industry leaders. BAN first exposed e-waste dumping in developing countries and has led a campaign to prevent irresponsible dumping of hazardous electronic wastes in developing countries. BAN's research has been featured in CBS's "60 Minutes" and "Frontline," the New York Times and other news outlets. The e-Stewards certification is a primary tool in that campaign and is supported by over 70 environmental organizations worldwide and already by over 50 major corporations and cities including Wells Fargo Bank, Alcoa, Boeing, Bank of America, San Francisco, LG, Samsung, and Bloomberg, known as e-Stewards Enterprises. The e-Stewards standard assures customers that no hazardous electronic waste will be exported to developing countries or end up in municipal landfills or incinerators or be processed using prison, child or forced labour. It also stands as a global model for the protection of confidential data housed in electronic equipment. "We are very proud to partner with such a quality industry player as Arrow and are thrilled to accept its offer to pilot our program not only over North America but in Europe, Latin America and beyond," said Jim Puckett, executive director of BAN. "Arrow joins a select group of electronics recyclers that believe that leaders must lead, not just comply. They are in business not only to make a profit but to make a difference." Arrow
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