Table of Contents
By Alvaro Nuñez Solis, Leader, Recicla Electronicos Mexico, and 2012 Americas Project Fellow
Everybody consumes electronic items, so everybody generates electronic waste. Electronic waste — also known as e-waste or the waste of electrical and electronic equipment (WEEE) — can be hazardous for the environment if the materials present are not managed appropriately. WEEE is the kind of waste with a high growth rate. This is because of the increased pace of technology development and the push for consumers to purchase the newest computer, television, refrigerator, washing machine or mobile phone model. But what happens to the old model?
According to a report prepared by GSMA in 2014, on average every person on the planet generates 7 kg of e-waste in 2012. In 2012 alone, 48.894 kilotons of e-waste were generated. By 2015, this figure is projected to reach 57.514 kilotons, of which 8.6 percent — or 4,968 kilotons — will be produced in Latin America. In 2012 México alone generated 1.003 kilotons of electronic waste, which includes televisions, computers, projectors, printers and other devices.
In Mexico, the Punto Verde Foundation is offering a solution to this problem through national education, collection and recycling programs that focus on creating a culture of recycling. The foundation’s objective is to convince people that recycling is good for our planet and the health of the community since recycled e-waste prevents the exploitation of additional primary natural resources and the combustion of fuel in the treatment of primary resources. Thus, less waste is incinerated, discarded into the ocean or exported illegally to developing and poor countries, where it is oftendiverted to the black market and disguised as used goods to avoid the costs associated with legitimate recycling.
The recovery of recycled raw materials is an issue of strategic security. Recycling can help solve many economic, social and environmental issues, such as eliminating the clandestine disposal of e-waste, which generates contaminated sites and environmental problems; bringing informal workers out of the shadows, thus mitigating health risks; and managing environmental pollution due to poor conditions at informal recycling facilities.
Recicla Electrónicos México, which has pioneered electronic recycling in Mexico, receives electronic waste and converts it into valuable raw materials like plastics, glass, ferrous metals, nonferrous metals and electronic components. In order to be a sustainable social enterprise, Recicla Electrónicos México has been able to finance the operation without charging a fee to the citizens, businesses or governments that use its services; its revenues come from a creative and innovative approach to recycling and selling raw materials and reusable parts, as well as from the manufacture and sale of green products.
Since the last global economic crisis of 2008, there has been constant speculation in the price of raw materials. In the last 12 months the electronics recycling industry has experienced a fall in the price of raw materials like gold and copper, which are commonly used in recyclable electronics such as printed circuit boards. This fall has put pressure on the sustainable recycling model since raw materials at lower prices and higher operating costs due to increases in fuel prices affect revenues for e-recycling organizations.
Alongside voluntary efforts, WEEE management should include manufacturers, governments, specialized companies and users. Mexico should foster extensive multi-stakeholder discussions to achieve transparent, comprehensive and coordinated regulatory frameworks. Mexico needs a business ecosystem that includes devices with extended life cycles as well as actors who accept responsibility to increase appropriate WEEE management (HP, Dell, Apple, Lenovo, Samsung, etc.), encourage best practices on reuse and recycling, and develop an effective method for measuring results.
Voices of the Americas is a space for Americas Project fellows to share their insights into events unfolding in their home countries and in the region as a whole. The fellows' essays will also focus on economic development, institution building, democracy and the rule of law.