Page 52 - Turning digital technology innovation into climate action

Turning digital technology innovation into climate action

• ITU-T L.1021 ‘Extended producer responsibility – Guidelines for sustainable e-waste
management’: offers a description of the extended producer responsibility (EPR) system in
dealing with e-waste. It expands on the different existing forms of EPR globally, not only in
theoretical terms, but also with a practical view on their feasibility, challenges and prerequisites.
It presents the definition of the EPR system, in addition to the roles and responsibilities of the
different stakeholders and the different types of EPR, as well as how and why they could be
used in certain contexts and not in others. The funding mechanism behind every mode and the
organizational structure expected to be in place are also presented. Recommendation ITU-T
L.1021 concludes with many best practices from the international arena, including developed,
developing and emerging economies, as well as the challenges faced in some cases.

• ITU-T L.1030 ‘E-waste management framework for countries’: summarizes the different steps
that countries need to adopt in order to put in place an e-waste management system. The
different steps of the e-waste management system described in this Recommendation will be
further elaborated in future Recommendations. In addition, the Recommendation provides
highlights concerning the environmental impact of improper handling of e-waste as well as the
economic opportunities that could emerge from the sustainable management of e-waste. Lastly,
the Recommendation also defines a set of indicators on correct e-waste management.

• ITU-T L.1031 ‘Guideline on implementing the e-waste reduction target of the Connect 2020
Agenda’: describes a three-step approach as a holistic guideline to address the e-waste reduction
target of the Connect 2020 Agenda. The first step consists of guidance on developing an e-waste
inventory, which would:

a. establish the baseline scenario for evaluation and assessment;
b. classify e-waste based on existing standards;
c. estimate the amount of e-waste using related metrics and KPIs; and

d. identify the role of key stakeholders, as well as the flow of e-waste among them.
The information obtained from step 1 is meant to then help the relevant stakeholders/readers to
decide their best approaches for steps 2 and 3: the design of e-waste prevention and reduction
programmes and the supportive measures required for successfully implementing the Connect
2020 e-waste target. This Recommendation, therefore, is intended to be utilized by the relevant
stakeholders to take their first step in addressing Target 3.2 of the Connect 2020 Agenda, which is to
reduce waste by 50% by 2020.

• ITU-T L.1100 ‘Procedure for recycling rare metals in information and communication technology
goods’: provides information on the recycling procedures of rare metals in information and
communication technology (ICT) goods. It also defines a communication format for providing
recycling information of rare metals contained in ICT goods, including: the description of the rare
metal used in an ICT’s production, its recycling procedure (based on the stage of production),
and the communication requirements between the ICT producer and recycler.

6.3.1 Building the UN E-waste Coalition

United Nations entities are paving the way for greater collaboration in environmentally sound e-waste
management by building the UN E-waste Coalition (as seen in Figure 13 below). The Coalition
2 3
provides a mechanism for the UN to communicate and raise awareness about the global e-waste
challenge in a unified manner, thus increasing outreach. It aims to provide a knowledge hub, to be
a one-stop shop for information on e-waste for the general public, governments, the private sector,

2 International Telecommunication Union (ITU). “E-Waste Coalition.’ www .itu .int/ en/ ITU -D/ Climate -Change/ Pages/
ewaste/ E -waste -Coalition .aspx.
3 E-Waste Coalition. ‘Letter of Intent (the “LOI”): Paving the Way for Coordination and Collaboration on UN System-Wide
Support for E-Waste Management.’ International Telecommunication Union (ITU), www .itu .int/ en/ ITU -D/ Climate
-Change/ Documents/ 2019/ FINAL _Letter %20of %20Intent %20 - %20E -waste _WSIS _2019 .pdf.

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