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

• Receiving capacity building in order to acquire sufficient knowledge and
knowhow concerning specifically the environmental and health related risks,
best practices, etc. This training could be given by local agencies having
gathered profound knowledge on the subject, the MAVDT, CPE’s CENARE
could serve as a good example. The certification for the workers and technical
training could possibly be provided by the SENA 19 .
• Defining precisely the requirements needed to obtain environmental permits
for e-waste treatment from local authorities. For the time being, in many
municipalities no official guidelines exist concerning the delivery of these
environmental permits, in others, the requirements are by far too strict.
Moreover, the whole e-waste treatment business is rather new and although
the need for a permit is recognized, the precise procedures are nearly
undefined.
3.5.4 Exclusion of the informal sector
The last alternative considered in this study is the exclusion of the informal sector
from all e-waste related activities, having decided that only enterprises with
authorized treatment methods would be allowed to collect e-waste. Two ways of
implementing such a system exist: an active one, by enforcing a law that prohibits all
informal processes such as informal collection, dismantling or trade by nonauthorized
personnel; or a passive one, where such laws might exists, but the main
effort is made in promoting formal alternatives instead of forbidding the informal
ones.
In China a poorly enforced ban of informal activities has been shown to be totally
unproductive (Williams et al., 2009). In other countries, a too rigid application of such
a ban has led to the involvement of organized crime and the development of mafialike
structures in this new illegal market and worsened the general situation (Warren,
2009; Spies, 2004). Therefore, additional measures are required to reduce this risk.
19 The “Servicio Nacional de Aprendizaje” (SENA) is a public institution that offers free professional
and technical instruction to millions of Colombian students and workers. The whole program is
financed by compulsory contributions collected from all Colombian enterprises.
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