Page 24 - Implementation of ITU-T international standards for sustainable management of waste electrical and electronic equipment: The path to a circular economy in Costa Rica

Implementation of ITU-T international standards for sustainable management of waste
electrical and electronic equipment: The path to a circular economy in Costa Rica

Schröder et al. (2020), there are more than 80 public initiatives related to the circular economy
in the region.

In 2021, Latin America and the Caribbean Environment Ministers launched the Circular Economy
Coalition. This Coalition is a regional initiative to drive the transition to a sustainable economic
system as part of the post-COVID-19 recovery. It aims to implement a circular economy approach
through collaborative work between governments, businesses, and society as a whole (United
Nations, 2021).

Costa Rica, which formalized the Paris Agreement through International Treaty 9405 on 4
October 2016, submitted its second Nationally Determined Contribution (NDC) in 2020. Since
the submission of its first NDC, Costa Rica has developed a new legal and institutional framework
for climate action. The two pillars on adaptation and mitigation are Costa Rica's National Policy
on Adaptation to Climate Change (2018) and the National Decarbonisation Plan (2019) (Ministry
of Environment and Energy, 2020).

In the NDC, the country commits to developing an integral waste management system based
on avoiding, reducing, re-using, recovering, treating, and disposing of waste with maximum
efficiency and low greenhouse gas emissions. Contribution 6.4 states "in the first two years of
the implementation period of this NDC, Costa Rica will launch its public policy instrument for
the promotion of the circular economy” (Ministry of Environment and Energy, 2020).

Costa Rica has developed a National Policy on Sustainable Production and Consumption
2018–2030, which was formalized through Executive Decree No. 41032 in 2018. This policy
seeks to respond to targets linked to Sustainable Development Goal 12 “Ensure sustainable
consumption and production patterns”.

The Action Plan for Waste Integral Management 2019–2025 establishes in its strategic axis Avoid
and Reduce Waste, the following indicators: a) develop a circular economy strategy; and b)
encourage the implementation of the circular economy strategy, both by 2025. (Government
of Costa Rica, 2020).

The country's progress towards the implementation of circular economy models covers several
sectors. Since 2019, twenty-three local governments have joined an initiative for the transition
towards this model. The Costa Rican Ministry of Economy, Industry and Commerce (MEIC) has
developed a proposal of a circular economy roadmap for the waste sector, coordinating the
sector's Circular Economy Action Plan with the National Entrepreneurship Policy 2030. The
national metal and plastics sectors have characteristics to advance in this model.

Through the Ministry of Health, in coordination with other Ministries, Costa Rica has been
working to strengthen its WEEE management system to achieve a circular economy.

In 2020, ITU and the Basel Convention Regional Centre for Training and Technology Transfer
for South America (BCRCSA) worked jointly within the framework of the UNIDO-GEF project,
“Strengthening national initiatives and enhancing regional cooperation for the environmentally
sound management of POPs in waste electrical and electronic equipment (WEEE)” together
with Costa Rica’s Government, through the Ministry of Health, on the implementation of ITU
standards to strengthen the WEEE management system to promote the circularity model.

Costa Rica implemented Recommendations ITU-T L.1031 “Guideline for achieving the e-waste
targets of the Connect 2030 Agenda” and L.1032 “Guidelines and certification schemes for

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