Originally beginning as an electronic waste (e-waste) working group, IPEN’s E-products Working Group expanded its mission to more fully consider the entire lifecycle of electrical and electronic products (upstream (design), midstream (production and use), and downstream (wastes)) and their relation to green design, worker and consumer health, and wastes. In addition to working to raise awareness about health and environmental dangers related to toxic chemicals found in electrical and electronic products, Working Group members participate actively to support, amongst other things, international norms on design, substitution, and extended producer responsibility.

Electronic waste (e-waste) was identified as an emerging issue for the second meeting of the International Conference on Chemicals Management (ICCM2) in May, 2009. The original proposal was to work on issues that are not covered under the Basel Convention, such as near end of life products (which in reality quickly become toxic wastes). The original proposal included convening a working group of stakeholders that address use of toxic substances in electrical and electronic equipment; green product design and procurement; undertaking a study of the fate of toxic substances such as flame retardants; and developing a global information database on toxic substances in electrical and electronic products and waste.

Unfortunately, the proposal was substantially weakened. The Conference instead decided to invite the Inter-Organization Programme for the Sound Management of Chemicals (IOMC) organizations (the United Nations Environment Programme and others), plus the secretariats of the Basel and Stockholm Conventions, to convene a single workshop on this topic in the margins of the Basel Open Ended Working Group meeting in 2010.

Some IPEN E-Products Working Group activities include:

• Participation in Asia Pacific, Central & Eastern Europe, Latin American & the Caribbean and African Regional Meetings on the Strategic Approach to International Chemicals Management (SAICM) in 2009, where we supported regional recommendations on hazardous substances within the life cycle of electrical and electronic products.
• Participation on the electronics workshop steering committee to develop the workshop stipulated by the ICCM2. 
• Participation in the workshop in 2011 in Vienna, Austria, which gathered 32 government representatives from both electronics manufacturing countries and countries affected by electronic waste along with industry and NGO representatives. The group reached consensus agreement on 13 Key Messages along with detailed recommendations on upstream (design), midstream (production and use), and downstream (wastes) issues.
• Participation in Latin American & the Caribbean and African Regional Meetings on the Strategic Approach to International Chemicals Management (SAICM) in 2011, where we again supported further regional recommendations on hazardous substances within the life cycle of electrical and electronic products.
• Making an intervention on Hazardous Chemicals in the Life Cycle of Electric and Electronic Products in plenary at the Strategic Approach to International Chemicals Management's (SAICM's) 1st Open-Ended Working Group meeting in Belgrade, Serbia, in November, 2011.   
• Production of A Public Interest Guide to Toxic Flame Retardant Chemicals in June 2012. The guide is an introduction to the science and industry manipulation of toxic chemicals marketed as flame retardants. These toxic chemicals do not provide fire safety but are widely present in consumer products that release them into dust, polluting people and the environment. They are also present in the millions of tons of electronic waste that is dumped in developing countries each year.
• Making an intervention on e-products during plenary at the 3rd International Conference on Chemicals Management (ICCM3) in Nairobi, Kenya in September, 2012.
• Collboration with other organizations in October, 2012 on a press release supporting the American Public Health Association's call for the global electronics’ industry, public health officials and international agencies to step up efforts to protect workers and communities, citing well documented adverse health effects caused by many toxic chemicals used in the manufacture of electronic and electrical products worldwide.
• Collaboration with other organizations on a press releasing condemning the European Union's request (during the Stockholm Convention's 6th Conference of the Parties) for exemptions to the global phase-out of HBCD, a brominated flame retardant used in electronics and other materials. HBCD is now ubiquitous in the environment, and can disrupt the hormone system. 
• Hosting a side event at the Stockholm Convention's 6th Conference of the Parties (COP) in April, 2013 in Geneva, Switzerland. The event, “Dumping E-waste & Recycling POPs- Are the Conventions Losing Control?,” addressed e-waste and recycling POPs, outlining the global policy landscape, highlighting key agenda issues at the Basel and Stockholm COPs, and providing insights to the issues via a case study in Ethiopia. Pesticide Action Nexus Ethiopia and IPEN’s Guide for Conducting an E-waste Inventory in Africa was also released at the side event.