Page 103 - 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

– Work out a technical note on imports of goods whose waste is declared special handling
4
waste at the end of their lifetime, according to Executive Decree 38272. When WEEE
5
is declared special handling wastes, the General Directorate of Customs can apply a
technical provision to EEE importers to secure better control of the REP implementation,
while differentiating imported EEE for commercialization and self-consumption.
– Include a provision in the national legislation to allow the Ministry of Health to request
information from importers regarding quantities of EEE and categories of their trading
customers to complete the material flows.
– Actively engage importers and retailers in WEEE management processes.
– Raise awareness among importers and retailers regarding their role in WEEE management,
circular economy, management sustainability, REP, and the importance of providing
information on the EEE they place on the market
– Encourage importers and retailers to have WEEE reception points in their distribution
or commercialization centres, to facilitate waste management by consumers. Currently,
many traders and distributors receive WEEE at the point of sale; however, there is a need
to increase the number of this type of point. The WEEE Collection and Reception Points
Map can be consulted at this link.
– Work out a strategy to gather information on EEE recovery managers who use their
fractions for spare parts, as well as EEE repairers, sellers of used EEE, and informal
managers. This information will improve material flows and balances, with a preventive
approach and strengthening the circular economy.
– Increase the number of questions on EEE ownership and WEEE management in the
National Household Survey (ENAHO), incorporating quantities and destinations. This
would make known the inventory of EEE in use at households to strengthen material
balances elaborated at the consumption stage. It is recommended to work with
refrigerators, washing machines, flat screens, laptops, cell phones and printers
– Collect information on the EEE inventory in public sector institutions. This can be done by
incorporating a new section in the Institutional Environmental Management Programme
(PGAI) that public institutions should submit to the relevant authorities. The information
will allow the public sector material balances at the use and consumption stages to be
improved. It is recommended to work with refrigerators, washing machines, flat-panel
screens, laptops, cell phones and printers
– Add a section on WEEE management in the Waste Management chapter of the Institutional
Environmental Management Programme (PGAI). The information requested may cover at
least the eleven tracers proposed in this study. This information would allow public sector-
generated WEEE to be identified.
– Add the obligation of vendors to have WEEE collection systems once the products’ lifetime
is over to the Practical Guide for Sustainable Procurement in the Public Sector for EEE.
Should importers make direct importing part of their contractual relationship with public
sector institutions, these criteria should be widened to include their membership to a CU.
– Set up recovery targets differentiated by the type of EEE to avoid achieving targets linked
to EEE of low environmental impact or lesser interest. It is considered that the tracers
proposed for the study bring together the EEE most relevant to the country due to the
quantities generated and their environmental impact.

4 The technical notes correspond to permits that must be processed in certain government offices and are
necessary to carry out the export or import of goods.
5 These are defined in the Law on Integral Waste Management (Law 8839, 2010). They are those wastes that,
due to their composition, transport needs, storage conditions, volume of generation, forms of use or recovery
value, or a combination of these, imply significant health risks and systematic degradation of the quality of
the ecosystem, or benefits from the reduction of environmental impacts through their valorisation, so they
need to be removed from the normal waste stream. They are regulated in the Regulation on the Declaration
of Special Handling Waste (Executive Decree 38272, 2014).

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