Page 98 - 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

Recommendation ITU-T L.1032 points out
that handling of materials during scrapping
and refining is safe, as long as workers are
trained and provided with adequate personal
protective equipment (PPE).

Managers’ employees who participated in the Focus Group declared that they have the basic
PPE that all workers in the industry should (safety goggles, anti-cut gloves, masks and safety
shoes). Some managers provide other PPE to their staff such as aprons, gloves for handling
chemicals, and respirators. This equipment is used depending on the take-back phase process
applied.

All the facilities have fire extinguishers. The type and number in each location depend on the
activities carried out and the area covered. Most of them are ABC powder-type extinguishers
composed of multipurpose chemical powder.

All participant managers indicate that they have first aid equipment, but not all of them are
certain about its compliance with the General Regulations on Occupational Risks (Executive
Decree 13466, 1982). Two of them said that they do not have spillage-containment materials.

4.3.2.2 Environmental measures

Participants are aware that WEEE and the materials recovered pollute the ground, air, water
and wildlife. They even consider that they contribute to microplastic pollution.

Figure 63 shows the take-back processes performed by respondent managers who participated
in the Focus Group. Some of them perform dismantling (scrapping), take back and recovery of
coarse and fine fractions, and even separation of heavy metals.

Based on Recommendation ITU-T L.1032, the
processes to collect and recover fractions generate
dust, particles, fumes, slag, liquid, and solid
residues. In many cases, they contain heavy metals
or other substances hazardous for health and the
environment, which make them hazardous waste.

In this scenario, managers should have systems to capture dust and particles.

Only one of them confirmed that they have a system for this purpose. It is also recommended to
perform wet vacuuming or wet sweeping to collect particles and dust from the floor and other
surfaces. Half of them use dry-cleaning. With this technique, workers may inhale particles of

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