E-waste and the Basel Convention
on the Control of Transboundary
Movements of Hazardous Wastes
and their Disposal
ITU Symposium on ICTs, the Environment and Climate Change,
7-8 July 2011, Accra, Ghana
Matthias Kern
Secretariat of the Basel Convention
United Nations Environment Programme
Topics:
• Basel Convention at a glance
• Global E-waste problem and
opportunities
• Cooperation with the Information and
Communication Technology
sector
-
Adopted on 22 March 1989
- Entered into force on 5 May 1992
- 176 Parties to the Convention as at
July 2011
- E-waste is listed in Annex VIII as A1180
(hazardous waste) and Annex IX as
B1110 (waste containing materials with
hazardous characteristics)
Main Goal of the Basel Convention:
To protect, by strict
control, human health and
the environment against
the adverse effects
resulting from the
generation and
management of hazardous
wastes and other wastes
Partnership for Action on Computing Equipment (PACE)
• PACE was launched by the 9th meeting of the Conference of the
Parties to the Basel Convention, which took place in Bali, Indonesia in
June 2008.
• PACE is a multi-stakeholder partnership under the umbrella of the
Basel Convention that provides a forum for representatives of
- personal computer manufacturers,
- recyclers,
- international organizations,
- academia,
- environmental groups, and
- governments
to tackle the environmentally sound management (ESM),
refurbishment, recycling and disposal of used and end-of-life
computing equipment.
5
Current Status
PACE products that have been finalized:
- Two draft guidelines:
1. Environmentally sound testing, repair and refurbishment; and
2. Environmentally sound material recovery and recycling
- ESM criteria recommendations
- Guidance on Procedures for Transboundary Movement of Computing
Equipment.
- Glossary of Terms for PACE.
- Overall Guidance Document on Environmentally Sound Management of
Used and End-of-Life Computing Equipment
Available on website:
http://www.basel.int/industry/compartnership/documents.html
Topics:
• Basel Convention at a glance
• Global E-waste problem and
opportunities
• Cooperation with the Information and
Communication Technology
sector
Information and Communication
Technology
• PCs & Mobile Phones are the major IC
equipment
• Computing equipment lifespan
decreased
- 1997: 4-6 years
- 2005: 2-4 years
• In 1 decade (1994-2003), 500 million
PCs worldwide reached end-of-life ~ EWASTE
Consumed electrical and electronic products will generate:
40-50 Million Metric Tonnes of
e-Waste Globally Each Year
9
A rapidly growing problem:
The volume of obsolete PCs generated in
developing regions will exceed that of
developed regions by 2016-2018.
By 2030, the obsolete PCs from developing
regions will reach 400-700 million units, far
more than from developed regions at 200300 million units.
Yu et al., 2010
Personal Computer (PC) Sales by Regions
140,000,000
USA
120,000,000
N.America
100,000,000
W.Europe
80,000,000
E.Europe
60,000,000
Asia
40,000,000
South/Central America
20,000,000
0
2000
2008
2010
2014
Middle East/Africa
11
Material content and value of an average desktop
PC 2007 resource prices:
Amount contained in
desktop PC
[g/unit]
Material value 2007
[US$/unit]
Steel
6737.5
1.70
Plastics
1579.5
0.49
Aluminium
550.2
1.49
Copper
413.2
2.99
Zinc
25.9
0.09
Antimony
18.5
0.11
Nickel
12.7
0.47
Lead
6.5
0.02
Silver
1.7
0.94
Gold
0.3
5.82
Palladium
0.1
1.38
Two sides of recycling:
• E-waste recycling in most
developing countries by
informal sector:
– Involving large number of
people
– Practices not environmentally
sound
• methods: burning, acid etching
• no/poor worker protection
• almost no pollution control
E-waste Africa programme
• Timeframe: November 2008 to March 2012
• Countries involved: Benin, Nigeria, Ghana, Cote d’Ivoire,
Liberia, Tunisia and Egypt
• Goals:
- Enhance environmental governance for e-waste in
selected African countries
- Build capacity to monitor and control e-waste imports
coming from the developed world, including Europe
- Protect the health of citizens
- Provide economic opportunities
Socio-economic impacts in Lagos, Nigeria
Environmentally sound management of electric
and electronic waste in Asia-Pacific
• Launched in Tokyo, November 2005, Asia-Pacific Regional
Inception Workshop on the ESM of E&E Wastes
• Countries involved: Cambodia, China, India, Indonesia,
Malaysia, Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, Viet Nam
• Goal:
- Prevention and minimization of e-waste generation,
- ESM of e-waste by promoting best practices and sound
recycling technologies, and
- illegal traffic prevention through capacity building and
strengthening of national enforcement structures
Topics:
• Basel Convention at a glance
• Global E-waste problem and
opportunities
• Cooperation with the Information and
Communication Technology
sector
Cooperation with the ICT sector (1):
• Technology for ESM of E-Waste exists, but
has to be linked to product life-cycle to
become economically viable.
• Introduction of life-cycle approach for eproducts needs concerted efforts of all
players (investment, producers, users,
recyclers, etc.).
Cooperation with the ICT sector (2):
• Make provision that procurement of new ICT
equipment is linked to refurbishment and
recycling, or to environmentally sound disposal
of old/replaced equipment.
• The Secretariat of the Basel Convention and the
Basel Convention Regional Centres can provide
technical expertise on environmentally sound
life-cycle management at the project planning
and implementation stage.
The Millenium Task Force on Environmental
Sustainability, commissioned by the UNSecretary General under the leadership of
Professor Jeffrey Sachs concluded:
“Quite simply,
environmental sustainability is
the foundation upon which
achieving all the other MDGs
must be built.”
Thank you !
UNEP Secretariat of the Basel Convention
15, Chemin des Anemones
CH-1219 Chatelaine, Geneva
Phone: +41 22 917 8218
Fax: +41 22 797 34 54
E-mail: matthias.kern@unep.org
Website: www.basel.int