Page 75 - 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 48 - Flows of known EEE tracers’ tonnes in Costa Rica in 2020

The values of the change in inventory (represented by a “+”) of trading companies and retailers
reflect the amount of EEE that is not known how they reach consumers. Consumer inventory
change values reflect the minimum level of products reaching each sector.

The study estimated that 74.5 per cent of all imported EEE tracers reach the consumers and 25.2
per cent go to retailers, but there are no clear conclusions about how they are then distributed
to consumers. The remaining 0.3 per cent are products imports used by trading companies,
but it is unknown how they are placed on the market. It is important to note that these estimates
assume that all imports by trading companies are placed in the market, i.e., imports for own
consumption are not considered. However, the ratio of what reaches consumers and what
reaches retailers may be different in practice.

Concerning EEE which reaches consumers, 94.9 per cent go to households and 4.1 per cent
to the public sector. The remaining 1 per cent goes to the private sector or other consumers.
Figures 49 and 50 show mass flows graphs, in tonnes, found in the various tracers’ value chains,
for new and used EEE.

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