Background

The growing volumes of electrical and electronic wastes or e-waste generated worldwide together with the lack or even absence of well-organized collection and management systems made impacts on the environment, the health of local communities and national economies. In many developing countries e-waste is routinely disposed of or recycled following practices that lead to the release of toxic substances into air, soil and water. All this is gradually mounting up to a serious environmental problem.

Given the constantly rising demand for scarce resource, the present e-waste management does not only pollute natural resources and endanger people’s health; it also misses out on business opportunities in material recovery and recycling. The high-tech know-how for environmentally sound recovery of metals is yet to be introduced in developing countries.

There are a number of activities and initiatives which have been or are being undertaken by various actors, including the United Nations (UN) agencies, research organizations, the private sector and NGOs to tackle the e-waste issue. As an effective mechanism to foster cooperation in the area of sound e-waste management, several partnerships have been established, such as Mobile Phone Partnership Initiative (MPPI), Partnership for Action on Computing Equipment (PACE), and the Regional Platform on Electronic Waste for Latin America and the Caribbean (RELAC).

Objectives

The webinar aims at:

• Introducing international and regional policy and legislation relevant to e-waste;
• Providing an overview of the environmental, social and economic aspects associated with the management of e-waste;
• Informing countries about the ongoing activities under the Basel Convention’s Partnership for Action on Computing Equipment (PACE) with a particular focus on the guidance documents dealing with environmentally sound testing, refurbishment, repair of used computing equipment, and sound material recovery and recycling of end-of-life computing equipment.

Target audience

The present webinar targets:

• Focal points nominated under the Basel and Stockholm conventions;
• Others government representatives; national experts and stakeholders interested in the environmentally sound management of e-wastes.

Proposed programme

1. Introduction and presentation of participants (5’)
2. Overview of challenges posed by e-wastes (15’)
3. Possible solutions to be explored to promote environmentally sound management of e-wastes, including through the PACE (15’)
4. Questions and discussions (20’)
5. Closure