Promotion of environmentally sound management in the informal sector

The expert working group on environmentally sound management collected several case studies to provide practical examples of measures used to enhance environmentally sound management in the informal sector.

The twelfth meeting of the Conference of the Parties agreed to include provision for the collection of initiatives to promote environmentally sound management in the informal sector in the work programme of the expert working group. Accordingly, the expert working group collected case studies describing parties’ experience with implementing environmentally sound management in the informal sector. Parties and others are invited to provide further information on such initiatives to serve as practical examples and reference to other Parties. The examples listed below do not intend to provide a definition of the informal sector.

Title	Content	Document
The informal economy in Argentina	Over the past decade almost half of the informal waste collectors (cartoneros) in Argentina organized themselves in cooperatives. They thereby managed to obtain official recognition. Moreover, an agency specifically dedicated to these cooperatives was created within the government. This lead to a dramatic increase in their income.
Social inclusion of waste pickers in the solid waste management program in the Municipality of Luiz Eduardo Magalhães, Brazil	The municipality of Magalhães provided informal waste collectors with a proper waste-sorting center financed through fines for environmental crimes. The waste collectors are organized in an association and receive their salary through this association. When collecting wastes from door to door they distribute leaflets to raise awareness on waste recycling amongst households.
Financing models for sound e-waste management in Ethiopia	The main objective of the study was to assist the Ethiopian Government in making informed decisions about a financing model for e-waste management in Ethiopia by (i) providing an overview on the components of e-waste management that need to be financed; (ii) providing an overview on financing models for e-waste management applied in different countries and regions of the world; (iii) elaborating financing models for Ethiopia and determining the pros and cons of each model in the Ethiopian context; and (iv) recommending financing models for e-waste management in Ethiopia.
From collision to collaboration: Integrating informal recyclers and re-use operators in Europe: A review	The report focus on informal recovery in and at the borders of the European Union, documents the “conflicts and collisions”, and elaborate some constructive approaches towards legalisation, integration and reconciliation.
Recommendations to address the issues of the informal sector involved in e-waste handling	This report suggests recommendations to address the issues of the informal sector involved in e-waste handling in India.
Action plan for the informal sector in Indonesia	The Indonesian government developed an action plan to centralize informal smelter activities and organize smelters through community cooperatives. The government will also provide capacity building both to informal smelters and local government authorities.
A model for partnering with the informal e-waste industry: Rationale, principles and a case study	A report documenting how the management of e-waste can be improved through an incremental series of synergetic solutions that preserve or even improve livelihoods of informal recyclers while greatly reducing their health and environmental impacts.
Recovery of rare earths	The purpose of this report is to identify and analyse the potential of innovative technologies for recovery of rare earths from electronic waste and to evaluate how they could be implemented, in particular by high-tech SMEs.