In 2024, SERI significantly expanded the R2 Assurance Program, dedicating increased resources and focus to strengthen oversight of R2 certification. Throughout the year, we published several articles detailing the key components of this enhanced program, including Audit Package Reviews, Spot Inspections, and Witness Inspections. While these activities have been part of R2 Certification, 2024 marked an intensified commitment to consistency and accountability across all Certification Bodies (CBs) and auditors.
The driving question at the heart of any certification program is simple: How do you maintain a high level of quality that creates confidence among all stakeholders? Certainly, CBs and auditors play an instrumental role in achieving that quality. While most standards development organizations stop engagement after publishing a standard, SERI is involved throughout the certification ecosystem, supporting the CBs and auditors through training and creating an additional layer of oversight through our R2 Assurance Program. In 2024, this engagement took shape through more than 300 distinct assurance activities across eight projects and multiple continents.
Among those, our team conducted:
- 259 package reviews
- 46 onsite spot inspections
For 2024, these activities focused on various regions, including the Middle East, Latin America, India, and North America, offering valuable insights into key areas such as Appendix F implementation, brokering operations, and campus certification models.
CBs independently conducted their audits throughout the year, identifying 891 major and 247 minor non-conformities. Each finding represents an opportunity for improvement – when issues are identified, facilities receive a defined window to implement corrective actions, supporting our goal of continuous advancement within the R2 community.
As with any robust certification program, maintaining standards sometimes requires enforcement actions. In 2024:
- 91 facilities had their certificates suspended
- 82 facilities either voluntarily withdrew or had their certificates revoked
- 2 facility licenses were terminated by SERI
To further strengthen program integrity, SERI introduced probationary licenses in 2024. This new tool requires a higher level and more frequent oversight for facilities showing potential risk factors, such as poor performance history and facilities with levied complaints. Further, probationary licenses allow SERI to address any concerns raised with new facilities during the license application process.
These assurance activities serve a dual purpose: protecting the investment of the many R2 Certified facilities that consistently demonstrate excellence while addressing practices that could compromise R2’s integrity. This approach sets R2 apart in that, while other organizations may simply develop standards, SERI maintains active involvement to help those standards translate into real-world implementation. SERI is driving the adoption of standards and certification systems that create the capabilities and capacity for change to a circular economy for electronics globally.
The insights gained throughout 2024 will shape our path forward. We remain focused on maintaining R2 certification as a trusted standard in responsible electronics reuse and recycling.
If you want to learn more about the Assurance Program, be sure to check out our previous articles on Audit Package Reviews, Spot Inspections, and Witness Inspections. To verify the validity of a facility’s R2 Certification, you can always consult the R2 Directory, a definitive and real-time source of confirmation.
