Page 27 - 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

1 WEEE Sustainable Management and Circular Economy - ITU-T

Recommendations

The current era is characterized by a high level of digitalization and permanent progress in
the development of Information and Communication Technologies (ICT). This is related to
the development and production of electrical and electronic equipment (EEE), which aims
to meet current needs, as well as with its increasing consumption. The generation of WEEE
associated with the digitization processes and their sustainable management is one of the more
significant ICT sector challenges. Improper management and disposal of this waste generate
environmental, social, and economic impacts, which is why it is necessary to work on WEEE
sustainable management models, including management, treatment, and final disposal

– ICT’s environmental impact assessment
– Climate change adaptation and mitigation
– Energy efficiency
– Circular Economy, including e-waste
– Smart and sustainable cities
– Smart water management (International Telecommunication Union, 2021)

Proper WEEE management enables new market opportunities around the refurbishment of
equipment and take-back of raw materials that make them up, with the consequence of jobs
creation. Governments, non-governmental organizations (NGO), and the ICT sector, in general,
consider WEEE management a sustainable development tool (ITU, et al., 2015).

In this pilot project, Costa Rica has implemented two ITU-T Recommendations, generating
relevant baseline information to strengthen its WEEE management system. This information will
allow the country to set up public policies and strategies for the WEEE sector to advance in its
sustainable management and to adopt the circular economy model. It will also enable strategies
to strengthen capacities and to raise awareness among related actors in the WEEE value chain.

1.1 Recommendation ITU-T L.1031 “Guideline on implementing the
e-waste reduction target of the Connect 2030 Agenda”

Recommendation ITU-T L.1031 describes a three-step approach to meet the target outlined
in the Connect 2030 Agenda.

Figure 1 – Steps to achieve the e-waste reduction targets according to Recommendation
ITU-T L 1031

The step to building the e-waste inventory consists of the six phases provided in Figure 2. Two
important considerations to develop the inventory are defining its scope and selecting the
methodology to estimate the amount of WEEE.

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