Electronic recyclers who need to expand have several challenges to deal with. The main one being whether or not to move to a new location with larger space or to purchase additional sites within the same metropolitan area. These additional sites under the R2 Code of Practices are known as Campuses and can vary from warehouse storage space to refurbishment center or an external shipping center.
The decision to move or add on more sites needs to consider how it may affect your R2 certification. One deciding factor can be the campus allowance, offered by the R2 Code of Practices.
The Campus Allowance permits a company to operate out of several sites or ‘campuses’ within the SAME metropolitan area and be certified under one R2 certification and one license. However, there are stipulations. Each of the campuses must adhere to the same management structure and the same Environmental Health and Safety (EHS) management system. During an audit, each campus must be visited, and this can extend the auditing time by 0.25 days per additional building, however, using the same management system within all campuses can reduce the time and costs and audit takes.
Take, for example, Company A. Company A wants to expand and develop additional sites for different aspects of the company processes. All electronics are received at Warehouse 1 and sorted. Resalable products are then transferred to Warehouse 2/Store Those that need repairs are sent to Warehouse 3/Repair shop, in the industrial site down the road. While recyclable materials are sent to Warehouse 4 for further processing. Each Campus is connected by a management system, housed at Warehouse 1, and all within the same Metropolitan area. This grants them allowance to be certified and licensed under the same R” certification, rather than 4 separate certifications. An audit would be taken of the main management system, with short visits taken to each campus to ensure policies are being complied with.
The campus allowance does not change the requirements of R2 but does save time fully auditing each and every system at each campus. Initially, though the allowance must be verified by a certificating body and then identified on the R2 certification for future audits.
Want to know more about the Campus Allowance? Contact McDonald Consulting Group to help. We will help you evaluate your needs, and come up with the most cost-effective solution with easy implementation for your organization.
