Page 74 - 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

Figure 45 and Figure 46 reflect that the group of large household appliances (refrigerators
and washing machines) dominate imports in tonnes but not in units. This group accounts for
65 per cent of imports in tonnes, but they are only 8.7 per cent of imported units. Cell phones
(31.6%) and Small IT (31.3%) are the devices dominating imports in terms of units. Imports of
TV sets, mainly flat-panel TV sets, are second in tonnes (16.9%) and third in units (11%). The rest
of the tracers’ categories contribute individually to less than 10 per cent of imports in terms of
tonnes and units.

Concerning managed WEEE, small IT equipment largely dominates over other tracers, in terms
of units (91.6%) and tonnes (34%). The second category in terms of tonnes of managed WEEE
is refrigerators (29%), followed by washing machines (11.3%), and printers (14.3%).
Figure 47 shows the relationship between managed WEEE flows and imported EEE flows for
each tracer. The general trend is that the volume of managed WEEE about the amount of
imported EEE does not exceed 10%, except in some cases: printers (11.9%), flat monitors
(12.4%), small IT (53.1%), and CRT televisions (103.8%).

Figure 47 - Ratio of managed EEE to imported EEE in 2020

Figure 48 shows the known EEE and WEEE flows in Costa Rica for each tracer considered.

52