Page 19 - Implementation of the ITU-T International Standards for the Sustainable Management of Electrical and Electronic Equipment: On the road to a circular economy in Argentina

Introduction

Technological and digital innovation has accelerated the adoption of digital services by
individuals, agencies and businesses. The digitization of government services (at any level:
municipal, provincial, regional), the expansion of e-commerce, the studies carried out and online
applications have increased the demand for network capacity and the production and use of
electrical and electronic devices. Many more people are online today than at the beginning of
the millennium. Much of this growth will remain steady in the coming years.

It is important to consider the sustainability aspects in this digital transformation: environmental,
economic, and social.

Since 2020, ITU and the Basel Convention Regional Centre for Training and Technology Transfer
for South America (BCRCSA) have been cooperating, within the framework of the UNIDO-GEF
project, with the Government of Argentina through the Ministry of Environment and Sustainable
Development, Secretariat of Environmental Control and Monitoring, in the analysis of the
Recommendation ITU-T L.1031 "Guideline for achieving the e-waste targets of the Connect
2030 Agenda", in order to strengthen the national WEEE management system and promoting
the circularity model. This Recommendation is based on the implementation of methodologies
supported by data and analysis, to reach progressively all stakeholders, services, and usable
material, as well as adequate final disposal of WEEE.

On the other hand, Argentina is one of the countries participating in the project "Strengthening
national initiatives and improving regional cooperation for the environmentally sound
management of persistent organic compounds in waste electrical and electronic equipment
(WEEE) in Latin American countries" (PREAL). This project, launched in 2018, has the overall
objective of achieving the environmentally sound management of WEEE, with a special
focus on the management of Persistent Organic Pollutants (POPs), by strengthening national
initiatives and improving regional cooperation. The aim is to strengthen public policies on the
management of WEEE. Additional project objectives are: to promote policies that allow for
materials recycling and re-use; to provide advice to relevant sectors and stakeholders; to expand
the knowledge on the subject; and to disseminate the results obtained by the project through
training for officials, the private sector, society in general, and the media. At the regional level,
the project works on the harmonization of key aspects of electronic waste policies, promoting
regional cooperation, information exchange systems, and knowledge management. In this way,
the Project seeks to guide our country towards the appropriate management of WEEE within
the framework of the Circular Economy with a view to introducing the principle of Extended
Producer Responsibility. To this end, promoting the long-term sustainability of business models
on this task is a key issue in the promotion of re-use, recovery, and ultimately the final disposal
of this kind of waste.
In this context, during the 27th Conference of the Parties to the United Nations Framework
Convention on Climate Change (COP27), held in Sharm el-Sheikh, Egypt, in November
2022, it was made clear that specific commitments and actions are needed to achieve the
Paris Agreement and limit the global temperature increase to 1.5 degrees Celsius above pre-
industrial levels.

xviii