PODCAST  TRANSCRIPT:

Which R2v3 Appendices Apply to You?   Just about everyone in the recycling and refurbishing business has heard by now about the division in the R2v3 standard between core requirements and appendices but how do you know which appendices apply to you? That’s the topic of this episode of Ask The R2 Guru. I’m Roger Greive, from SERI — sustainable electronics recycling international.

In the new R2v3 standard there’s a reason why the first core requirement is about scope. There are many different pathways to becoming R2 certified with the new standard, and determining the scope of your facility is the beginning of that path. In simplest terms, when you determine your facility’s Scope, you know what materials you handle and what methods and procedures you’re going to use to handle them.

And for a very quick review,  the six appendices in the R2v3 standard are appendix A for downstream Recycling Chain, appendix B for Data Sanitization, Appendix C for test and repair, appendix D for specialty electronics, appendix E for materials recovery and appendix F for brokering.

R2 facilities need to complete all 10 Core requirements. Appendices are designed to go a little deeper, to reflect the activities that each R2 facility actually does. Some of the appendices, like appendix A, for downstream vendors will be needed by almost every recycler or refurbisher,  but others,  such as appendix D for Specialty electronics will be used by a much smaller percentage.

So, as a recycler or a refurbisher about to be certified to the R2 V3 standard, where do you start? You probably know the activities and processes in your facility, so it’s a matter of discovering which appendices apply to those activities. On the SERI website you’ll find a helpful tool that will assist with this process. It’s called the Appendix Determination Tool. For this episode of Ask The R2 Guru we’ll talk for a few minutes about how to use this tool to help you decide which of the six appendices apply to your facility.

You’ll find the Appendix Determination Tool in the R2v3 knowledge base on the SERI website. Go to the menu item for R2 training – Core Requirements and then the materials for Core Requirement one —  Scope. Click on the heading called Articles Related to Core 1, then look for the document called Appendix Determination tool. You can also use the search tool at the top of the knowledge base page. Just enter Appendix Determination Tool. After the instructions on the first page of the tool, you’ll find each appendix listed on each of the next six pages. Answer the questions about the various activities relating to each appendix to determine whether that appendix applies to your facility or not.

Within the Appendix Determination Tool, most of the appendices have two different options with slightly different sets of questions about that appendix. Generally, if you answer yes to any question in the left-hand column of each page, that appendix probably applies to your facility. If you answer yes to some questions in the center or right hand column and other questions in the left-hand column, then that appendix still applies to you.

It’s important to note that once you complete the Appendix determination tool and you have determined which appendices do apply, you’ll need to run everything past your certification body for their final review and approval of your scope.

And as you work out which appendices apply you might want to analyze whether or not to take advantage of the many opportunities within the R2v3 standard that allows a facility to bypass being certified to a given appendix and instead send their materials to a downstream vendor that’s certified to that same appendix. A good example of this is a recycler who is trying to decide whether or not to install a shredder. If they have the physical space, the employee capacity, and sufficient material to justify the installation of a shredder then they should do so, but to do that they also need to be certified to appendix E for materials recovery. If you’ve looked through the requirements for appendix E already you know that there are detailed and rigorous requirements for the protection of employees and the environment. If the expense for a shredder is too great, or resources needed to qualify for appendix E too complicated, that facility could decide instead to send their shreddable materials to another R2v3 certified facility that is already certified to appendix E.

On the other hand, if you are certified to Appendix E, it might put your facility in the position of being able to accept materials for shredding or other materials recovery processing that other facilities have decided not to do, bringing your facility more business. That’s another part of the flexibility that is built into the R2 V3 standard.

Two more items to mention before we close out this episode… When you’re working with the Appendix Determination Tool, be sure to answer the questions according to the activities you’re actively doing at the present time. Future planned activities or processes should not be included in your scope because there are no records for those and therefore it’s impossible to audit.

Finally, after you’ve been certified to R2v3, your new R2 V3 certificate will have all the appendices for your facility printed on the certificate itself. This provides transparency among R2 facilities and to potential customers as to who is qualified for what. And in the search tool of the SERI website other recyclers or businesses can search for R2V3 certified facilities by appendix, providing even more transparency.

As always, I hope you’ve enjoyed this episode of Ask The R2 Guru and found it helpful. Thanks to Sean DeVries, Sarah Kim and Jeff Siebert for their assistance in producing this podcast series. If you have any questions or comments or want to suggest a topic for a future podcast please use the contact us form on the SERI website. You’ll find us at Sustainable electronics.org.