Page 54 - 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

– From the 78 per cent of respondents who indicated that they have collection points, only
four importers keep their points open to the public and carry out an outreach strategy
to inform consumers about this service. The outreach strategies employed are shown in
Figure 25.

Figure 25 - Outreach strategies on WEEE collection points

– All participants indicate an insufficient regulation as the only obstacle they see for treating
WEEE. Figure 26 shows the measures or mechanisms respondents consider that could be
implemented to manage WEEE.

Figure 26 - Mechanisms that could be implemented to manage WEEE, according to
the respondents' opinion

It can be concluded that importers who carry out commercialization, despite being a key link
in the WEEE chain and having the obligation to apply the EPR, show a low level of knowledge
on WEEE sustainable management.

The country needs to establish strategies to raise awareness of their role and to involve them
actively in WEEE management processes. Additionally, the registry of trading importers in a
CU before importing any product should be strengthened. Government should encourage
importers who own WEEE reception points in their distribution or trading centres to facilitate
WEEE management by consumers.

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