ITU-T Recommendations

Managing e-waste has been a major problem in many countries. Emerging economies still face a multitude of challenges that hinder the effective management of e-equipment and e-waste. Many of them do not have suitable facilities to handle e-equipment and e-waste and have inadequate implementation frameworks and structures due to the lack of quantifiable data and statistics on e-equipment and e-waste, inadequate policies, regulations, standards and enforcement strategies, low stakeholder engagement/collaboration and limited expertise. Institutions of higher learning have a crucial role in leading society through its influence and the development of individuals. As societal issues become more complex and the boundaries between academia, industry, and the government become unclear, institutions of higher learning must remain the cornerstone of development. Universities among other higher learning institutions are better placed to ensure that the circularity of electrical and electronic equipment (EEE) is achieved to minimize the effects of waste electrical and electronic equipment (WEEE). The role of universities as examples of institutions of higher learning, is to offer training, carry out research and share knowledge, ideas, research output and innovations developed and applied for its benefit and the surrounding communities. Universities have the capacity to develop a curriculum on life cycle-economy processes, including e-waste management, for formal training and material for informal and non-formal training. Universities can also join efforts to research and provide reliable information that can be used in policy formulation, development of standards and strategies on imports and exports to the region. Recommendation ITU-T L.1033 therefore aims to guide institutions of higher learning to collaboratively contribute on key aspects of managing e-resources and e-waste. It explores how these institutions can engage in EEE circularity by checking their effective involvement in every EEE and WEEE process.