10 07 29 Master thesis Juliana Leon - e-Waste. This guide

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(both laptop and desktop) in Colombia has increased by 211% from 596,418 in 2006 to 1,257,462 in 2008 (CCIT, 2009). In Colombia, 45.3% of the population use the internet, which is far more than the worldwide mean of 26.6% (Figure 2). 60% Internet use rate 50% 40% 30% 20% 10% 0% Figure 2: Internet use rate in 2009 (Data from Internet World Stats, 2009) 1.2.2 E-waste landscape in Colombia The Colombian Ministry of Environment, Housing and Planning (MAVDT) started to study the national e-waste situation in 2004. In 2006, different stakeholders were invited to take part in thematic workshops in order to find solutions. As a result, the mobile phone and lighting industries have signed voluntary agreements in order to implement take-back campaigns. As negotiations to sign an agreement with the computer sector failed, the MAVDT aspires to increase the pressure on the industry with a specific regulation for computers and peripherals 3 that has already passed by public consultation and should come into force soon. Since the beginning of 2007, research has been carried out in collaboration with the Swiss Federal Laboratories for Materials Testing and Research (EMPA) and its local partner the Cleaner Production Centre (CNPMLTA), resulting in two national e-waste 3 Ministerio de Ambiente, Vivienda y Desarrollo Territorial. Proyecto de Resolución “por la cual se establecen obligaciones para la recolección y gestión ambiental de residuos de computadores y periféricos y se adoptan otras disposiciones”. Can be downloaded at: http://raee.org.co/foro/proyectode-resolución-4138-gestión (Last accessed: 15.06.2010) 4
assessments: the first focuses on computers and mobile phones (Ott, 2008), the second on electronic home appliances (Blaser, 2009). In addition to the compilation of a substantial quantity of information, the computer and mobile phone assessment states that between 1998 and 2007 Colombia generated approximately 45,000 tons of computer waste, including 6,000 to 9,000 tons of computers that reached their end-of-life during 2007. 1.3 Informal sector in the e-waste management In many developing countries, informal networks of “scrap collectors”, who collect the recyclables materials for revenue, are playing an important role in the solid waste management (UNEP, 2008). Traditionally, these workers called recicladores or recuperadores in Colombia, also known as “waste pickers” or “scavengers”, perform collection, sorting, and trade of materials such as paper, glass, metals, and plastics, contributing to the reuse of thousands of tons of resources and the prolongation of lifespan of landfills. According to the International Labour Organization (ILO, 2002) the term “informal economy” refers to “all economic activities by workers or economic units that are – in law or practice – not covered by formal arrangements.” In the case of scrap collectors, they can be independent workers or be organized into cooperatives. In Colombia, the UNEP (2008) estimates that 100 scrap cooperatives collect about 300,000 tons of waste each year. Studies in some developing countries such as China (Hicks et al., 2005), India (Streicher-Porte et al., 2005; Rochat et al., 2008), and Chile (Wolfensberger, 2009) have shown that e-waste is often handled by the IS due to its content of precious and non-precious metals. In Colombia, e-waste recycling has also been proven to be an important source of jobs and income for the IS composed of recicladores, intermediaries, and dealers that operate in streets, small workshops, and in their own houses (Uribe et al., 2010). The processes carried out by the different actors in the chain have been investigated in the four major Colombian cities: Bogotá, Medellín, Cali, and Barranquilla (Uribe et al., 2009; Uribe et al., 2010). Informal and semi-formal stakeholders appear in the 5
Page 3 and 4: Abstract In Colombia, as in other d
Page 5 and 6: Glossary Chatarrerías - A term use
Page 7 and 8: 3.3.2 Informal refurbishment and r
Page 9: List of Tables Table 1: General inf
Page 12 and 13: 1.2 Colombia as case study The Repu
Page 16 and 17: collection, refurbishment, manual d
Page 18 and 19: 2 METHODS 2.1 Computer waste genera
Page 20 and 21: Table 4: Parameters used for the co
Page 22 and 23: made. This means that from the tota
Page 24 and 25: 2.3.1 Definitions The following imp
Page 26 and 27: Table 7: Average composition and we
Page 28 and 29: M c ik = ˙ ik ˙ (9) F i The distr
Page 30 and 31: In 2009, waste of more recent techn
Page 32 and 33: 200 and 350 tons. Based on the latt
Page 34 and 35: iggest formal e-waste recycling com
Page 36 and 37: this study, the term “informal co
Page 38 and 39: A pilot project conducted in Bogot
Page 40 and 41: Figure 12: Manual dismantling of co
Page 42 and 43: city. Scrap metal dealers are then
Page 44 and 45: The direct MSW collection rate is t
Page 46 and 47: In the three scenarios, informally
Page 48 and 49: are mixed with common glass, or are
Page 50 and 51: entering the market are almost excl
Page 52 and 53: Non treated (low-grade PWBs) Formal
Page 54 and 55: Refurbish Formal treatment Worst ca
Page 56 and 57: introduction of an Advanced Recycli
Page 58 and 59: Table 15: Theoretical benefit from
Page 60 and 61: 3.5.1.3 Social benefits Allowing th
Page 62 and 63: 3.5.2.2 Environmental benefits Evid
Page 64 and 65:
4 FINAL REMARKS 4.1 Computer waste
Page 66 and 67:
possible intervention points. There
Page 68 and 69:
small metal parts that can be sold,
Page 70 and 71:
6 ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS I would like to
Page 72 and 73:
Gmünder S. (2007). Recycling - Fro
Page 74 and 75:
Uribe L.M., Wolfensberger M. y Ott,
Page 76 and 77:
Appendix A.2: List of expert interv
Page 78 and 79:
Appendix B.1: Flow scheme for the
Page 80 and 81:
Appendix C.2: Flow Matrix for the
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