Page 30 - 2016 Integrated management and disposal of electrical and electronic waste and used electrical and electronic equipment in Latin America

4.6 Ecuador
Ecuador has had national regulations for hazardous waste since the
Constitution of the Republic of Ecuador published Article 15 in 2008, which
prohibits the introduction of hazardous waste into the country. Ecuador
ratified the Basel Convention on 24 May 1993.

The country has had an existing law of Environmental Management since
1999 and a secondary law called “Unified Text of Secondary Legislation of
the Ministry of Environment”. The latter established the management
system of hazardous waste, which was initially based only on the
responsibilities of the producers to the level of production and service
sectors, as well as the managers that regulate the generation of hazardous waste.
In February 2012, the Ministry of Environment of Ecuador (MEE) established EPR in the Ministerial Agreement
No. 161 on the "Regulations for the Prevention and Control of Pollution of Hazardous Chemicals, and Hazardous
and Special Wastes", which amends the first system. Additionally, it establishes the framework for the National
Control System of the Management of Hazardous and Special Waste, as above mentioned, by the establishment
of the EPR principle (applicable to the importer), which implies the involvement of actors, such as domestic
manufacturers and importers of products.
This approach covers waste generated from products of massive consumption. In particular, regarding e-waste, the
MEE published in January 2013 in the Official Gazette No. 881, the National Policy on the Post-Consumer of
Electrical and Electronic Equipment by the Ministerial Agreement No. 190 whose overall objective is to establish
the management model of disused EEE under the principle of EPR and active participation of the state and the
population. The Agreement lists e-waste as a stream of hazardous and special wastes. Therefore, the
"precautionary principle", the "principle of cradle to grave" or “the polluter pays principle" are enacted through
policy.
In order to meet the overall objective of establishing a post-consumer policy to manage e-waste, specific policies
have been developed. These policies establish environmentally appropriate management guidelines for this type
of waste, based on the applicable environmental legislation. It significantly contributes to the protection of the
environment, since it reduces the environmental impact by the improper disposal of waste in dumps or landfills.
Furthermore, other impacts are avoided in the case of open burning.
Ecuador has enacted Ministerial Agreement No. 191, which instructs the management of discarded cell phones.
The agreement sets a target to collect 3 per cent of discarded cell phones and creates control mechanisms for
importers and managers of these devices. (RECICLAMETAL, 2014) The instructions are derived from the policy set
out in the Ministerial Agreement No. 190, as disused cell phones are a part of the e-waste stream. For the specific
case of obsolete handsets, besides the Ministerial Agreement No. 191, the country has regulations established by
the Committee of Foreign Trade (COMEX), issued as follows:

• Through Resolution No. 067 of June 2012, COMEX restricts the import of cell phones by quotas, which were
distributed among 33 importers as determined in Annex I of the Resolution.
• The MEE established a cell phone recycling policy which suggests a recycling rate for calculating the quota
in addition to the normal quota set out in the Resolution.
• Through Resolution No. 69 of July 2012, COMEX replaces Annex I of Resolution No.67, recalculating the
annual import quotas.
• Through Resolution No. 100 of December 2012, COMEX sets the maximum additional quota that can be
accessed by the importer at a rate of a 2.5 to 1.
Under the Ministerial Agreement No. 191, importers and domestic manufacturers of mobile phones have to
present a plan for the management of such equipment when they are beyond their usable life cycle. Likewise, they
are required to report to MEE each month on the amounts of unused and collected cell phones that are handed
over to the managers, who also forward a monthly statement of management.

20 Sustainable management of waste electrical and electronic equipment in Latin America