R2 Ewaste Certification Process

**406Refining** · 01-15-2018, 06:38 PM

Hey everyone! Hope you're all having a good week. It came to my attention that there are no board buyers in the entire state of Montana. You heard that right, no board buyers in the entire state. I keep seeing piles of computer towers in the scrap steel pile. The people taking them in are getting a whopping 3.5 cents per pound. With this being said I am looking into what it takes to become R2 certified so that I can become the main board buyer in the state for these computers and other various ewaste. For those who have gotten the certification how challenging, time consuming, and expensive was it? Is there any other certifications that are better suited for an operation just starting out? Thanks a bunch!

**RLS0812** · 01-15-2018, 06:52 PM

It will not be cheap getting your facility up to R2 standards. ( you have to be established first )
R2 is a "we paid for this" certification. It requires site inspections, and $1,500 a year.

Edit: the site inspection may cost several $ thousand .

**tski72** · 01-16-2018, 03:56 AM

You might have an easier time just ramping up your marketing plan and start buying the stuff. Many buyers here will tell you that R2 and E-Stewards are a joke and 90% of the companies that are busted breaking the EPA laws are certified by one or both of those. If you want to stand out and above the crowd, Just start advertising and buying the boards and ramp up your business plan. Just make sure you have a plan on where the boards are going and what your profits are going to be. And, just make sure you are in compliance with any local and state regulations on filing your intentions.

**mikeinreco** · 01-16-2018, 06:28 AM

I was gonna say around here not much certification needed to pick thru shred pile....some yards allow it some dont......you will also have to make an offer that makes the yard willing to let you do that

**Ecycle Atlanta** · 01-16-2018, 08:30 AM

Is there a requirement in Montana that you need to be R2 or similar? Otherwise I see no reason that you cant present your business as a board buyer and advertise to the public. Where else are they going to go if you're the only game in town (unless they ship)? R2 provides a nice little logo to use to impress people, but is there really any value besides marketing? I run my business in much the same manner as any R2 facility, but without Big Brother telling me how to do it. The joys of being self-employed!

**Breakage** · 01-16-2018, 09:44 AM

Originally Posted by Ecycle Atlanta

Is there a requirement in Montana that you need to be R2 or similar? Otherwise I see no reason that you cant present your business as a board buyer and advertise to the public. Where else are they going to go if you're the only game in town (unless they ship)? R2 provides a nice little logo to use to impress people, but is there really any value besides marketing? I run my business in much the same manner as any R2 facility, but without Big Brother telling me how to do it. The joys of being self-employed!

To be clear, in many cases, larger companies with sizable volumes of IT waste are expected, required, or incentivized to work through an R2 processor. That may change as people start associating the cert with empty promises but for right now, many big asset reclamation specialists and data destroyers can assuage their clients' concerns by showing the badge (in a manner of speaking). Also, R2 allows some export and as we've been hearing about with National Sword, that maybe a harder thing to do in the near future, which may further undercut the cert, since fewer questionable reclaimers will be able to dump the low-grade, plastic-filled junk on the Far East.

To be even clearer, the R2-certified buyers on the forum are great people and could be excellent resources for information. The R2's who seem to be getting in the most trouble are the ones who accrue CRT screens and mercury waste, which none of our buyers seem to do.

**tski72** · 01-16-2018, 03:40 PM

As everyone states great pro and cons, if your state does not have the requirements to be R2, then just start your ad campaign to buy from the general public. I have talked with both, certified and not and the ones that went through it have said they might not have done it if they knew more, the ones that don't have it said they find no value in going through it and personally, I have had to pass on a couple of jobs to clear large amounts of e-waste because I was not R2 but after reading the regulations multiple times, I still don't find the value of the spending on everything to get to the point of starting the process. The joys of being self-employed. As long as you can sell yourself as the guy to be handling it, you can get any business that you want. I have about a dozen banking institutions that keep me quite busy yearly, and its not because I'm not R2, its because they trust my services.

Here in Illinois, the round about regulations that make you have to register with the state on any aspect if the fact that you deal with any residential materials, so here we are not required to be R2 but still have to register with the state EPA and file paperwork yearly with weights and the such. Nothing is mentioned about commercial material, its almost like the commercial field is forgotten about, and I'm a weird one, I have read the electronics ban act like 10 times front to back and a few other publications/regulations that are on the IEPA website regarding electronics waste.

**2dogscrapping** · 01-16-2018, 08:03 PM

I think it would be great if you started buying boards in Montana if your prices are competitive. I lose quite a bit of money having to ship my boards to other states. I would be interested in selling my boards to you if you started buying them.

**406Refining** · 01-16-2018, 10:48 PM

Definitely food for thought. Thanks for the advice everyone. I'll have to crunch some numbers to calculate overall profit margins, set a good price, outlet for materials, storage, etc. after which we'll see.

**Ewasted** · 01-17-2018, 07:56 AM

For a reasonable reference point for you, all in, hard and soft costs, R2 and RIOS costs us roughly $30,000 / year.

**Ewasted** · 01-18-2018, 09:05 AM

Originally Posted by Ewasted

For a reasonable reference point for you, all in, hard and soft costs, R2 and RIOS costs us roughly $30,000 / year.

We have a lot of suppliers that just leverage us as a downstream with the R2, it is part of our value add and why it is important to us... in the same breath, I do have to say, it is a pain.

**406Refining** · 01-18-2018, 08:16 PM

So if I'm understanding this right you don't need any form of certification to start buying and reselling ewaste?

**JJinLV** · 01-18-2018, 08:22 PM

Originally Posted by 406Refining

So if I'm understanding this right you don't need any form of certification to start buying and reselling ewaste?

Check your local and state statutes in MT on this.

**406Refining** · 07-22-2018, 10:50 AM

Update on the ewaste venture:
Hey everyone, hope all is well. I ended up putting the thought of starting up a local ewaste venture on the back burner for a few months to continue planning and growing the appliance parts venture. A few weeks ago I did the pricing strategy and what items to buy. I posted my first ewaste ad 1 week ago and have already gotten several computers and servers, one of which had a pentium pro processor! I am only buying 6 types of items for now, but may be adding mid grade boards to the list before long. This is completely uncharted territory for me as no one in the area and the state buys ewaste for more than $0.03-$0.04/lb. My main goal is to start actively contacting businesses for buying their ewaste. For those with experience in buying ewaste from businesses is there any helpful tips/advice to go about doing that? Thanks a bunch

R2 Ewaste Certification Process

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