Page 30 - 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

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

• Proposals for programmes to promote waste recovery, which should consider the
guidelines and the lifetime of household waste fractions, as well as the inclusion of urban
waste recovery, promoting their post-consumer market integration.
• Approval of a unified colour code for the classification and identification of household
waste fractions (differentiated separation) to promote the transition to a sustainable
Circular Economy model.
• Implementation of a nationally harmonized colour criterion for binary segregation and
segregation into more than two fractions.
• Implementation of integral communication plans, awareness and environmental education
campaigns to promote the correct segregation of household waste throughout the
country.

Electrical and electronic equipment are covered by the standard.

National enforcement authority

The Ministry of Environment and Sustainable Development is the enforcement authority
that coordinates activities regarding waste electrical and electronic equipment (WEEE) in
coordination with other institutions in Argentina. The fundamental premise is Argentina's need
to advance in a data strategy based on the Circular Economy to analyse inputs, waste, emissions,
and energy losses with a regenerative approach by slowing down, closing, and reducing the
magnitude of material and energy cycles.

Regional regulations

At the regional level, the Argentine Republic is a member of MERCOSUR (Southern Common
Market), and as such, has signed the "MERCOSUR Framework Agreement on the Environment"
17
and more specifically the agreement of the Ministers of Environment on the Mercosur Policy
related to the Environmental Management of Universally Generated Special Waste and Post-
Consumption Responsibility. This agreement recognizes the existence of universally generated
18
special waste which is generally disposed of together with urban solid waste that, given its
potentially harmful impact on the health and the environment, require specific management
and disposal.

Another key instrument at the regional level is the Regional Agreement on Access to Information,
Public Participation, and Access to Justice in Environmental Matters in Latin America and the
Caribbean (Escazú Agreement). It was adopted on 4 March 2018, by 24 Latin American and
Caribbean countries, with the support of the Economic Commission for Latin America and the
Caribbean (ECLAC) as technical secretariat and significant public participation. This Agreement
19
aims to ensure the full and effective implementation in Latin America and the Caribbean of the
right of access to environmental information, public participation in environmental decision-
making processes, and access to justice in environmental matters, as well as the creation and
strengthening of capacities and cooperation, contributing to the protection of the rights of every

17 Incorporated into the national legal system by Act 25.841. Link to MERCOSUR'S ENVIRONMENTAL
FRAMEWORK AGREEMENT: http:// servicios .infoleg .gob .ar/ infolegInternet/ anexos/ 90000 -94999/ 91816/
norma .htm.
18 Ministers Agreement 01/05.
19 The 24 countries are: Antigua and Barbuda, Argentina, Bolivia (Plurinational State of), Brazil, Chile, Colombia,
Costa Rica, Dominica, Dominican Republic, Ecuador, El Salvador, Grenada, Guatemala, Honduras, Jamaica,
Mexico, Panama, Paraguay, Peru, Saint Kitts and Nevis, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, Saint Lucia, Trinidad
and Tobago, and Uruguay.

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