4th ITU Green Standards Week

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4th ITU Green Standards Week
Turning the e-waste challenge into an opportunity

• Cristina Bueti
• Adviser of ITU-T Study Group 5

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Facts about e-waste worldwide

• Last year nearly 50m tonnes of e-waste was
  generated worldwide or about 7kg for every
  person on the planet
• Only 8 of old cell phones are recycled properly
• Only 12.5 of e-waste is recycled
• Recycling one million laptops saves enough energy
  to power 3,600 homes.

Photo credit Andrew McConnell/Alamy Data source
http//www.mailinmobile.com/blog/7-shocking-facts-
ewaste-worldwide-recycle-devices-today/sthash.UFw
lEc7l.dpuf
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Weaknesses of e-waste management systems
E-waste dispersed
Illegal traffic
Speculation on compliance costs
No clear common definition
Lack of internationally comparable data
Heterogeneous reporting requirements
Developing country-specific criticalities
Lack of transparent management of funding
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Prevention is better than cure
Policies and standards

• Sustainable manufacturing practices
• Eco-design
• Choice of reusable and non-toxic materials
• Prolonged products life-cycle
• E-waste disposals

Source http//www.treehugger.com/clean-technology
/crazy-e-waste-statistics-explored-in-infographic.
html
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E-waste in Asia (1)
Asia e-waste market USD 1.85 billion in 2012
USD 4.01 billion in 2017 (Frost Sullivan, 2013)
Challenges

• Lack of legal framework
• Well-established informal sector
• Economic sustainability of formal recycling
• Inadequate recycling infrastructure
• Need to raise awareness
• Data availability
• Illegal shipments of e-waste

• United Nations University, 2013

Country E-waste generation (tons/year) Per capita generation (kg/person)
China 7,253.01 5.36
India 2,751.84 2.25
South Korea 961.33 19.22
Indonesia 708.38 2.90

• Data source StEP, 2012

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E-waste in Asia (2)
Peoples Republic of China

• The country is the second largest producer of
  electronic waste.
• In 2011, it generated 7.253 tons of e-waste 40
  mn TV sets and 66.7 mn computers.

• 2011 Regulation on Management of the Recycling
  and Disposal of WEEE
• Formal sector 61 million home appliances
  collected and treated in 2011
• 250.000 informal recyclers.
• (StEP, 2012
  2013 UNU, 2013)

Ewasteguide, 2011
Basel Convention, 2014
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4th ITU Green Standards Week
International Telecommunication Union (ITU)

• UN specialized agency for ICTs
• unique public/private partnership
• Members
• 193 Member States (Governments and regulatory
  bodies)
• Over 700 Private Sector (Sector Members and
  Associates)
• Over 63 Academia

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4th ITU Green Standards Week
ITUs mandate on e-waste

• Assist countries to develop policies on e-waste
  management
• Develop international standards on life-cycle
  management of ICT equipment
• Help companies becoming more sustainable and
  socially responsible
• Carry out research and development
• Raise awareness

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4th ITU Green Standards Week
ITU-T Study Group 5
Question 13 - Environmental impact reduction
including e-waste
Working Party 3 ICTs and Climate Change
Study Group 5 Environment and Climate Change
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4th ITU Green Standards Week
Research and development Identifying standards
and policy needs

• An Energy-Aware Survey on ICT Device Power
  Supplies

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4th ITU Green Standards Week
ITU Toolkit on Environmental Sustainability for
the ICT Sector

• Purpose enable the ICT industry to drive
  environmental best practice into its own
  performance.

Practical Support Standards Support Checklist
Detailed practical support on how ICT companies can build sustainability into their operations and management Ongoing contribution to ITU-T Study Group 5 which has the goal of developing global standards in this arena Standardized checklist of sustainability requirements specific to the ICT sector
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4th ITU Green Standards Week
Collaboration with over 50 partners

• NTT
• Panasonic
• PE INTERNATIONAL AG
• Research In Motion
• Scuola Superiore SantAnna of Pisa
• Step Initiative
• Telecom Italia
• Telecommunications Networks and Telematics
  Laboratory
• Telecommunication Technology Committee
• Telefónica
• Thomson Reuters
• Toshiba
• United Nations Environmental Programme
• United Nations Environmental Programme Basel
  convention
• United Nations University
• University of Genova
• University of Zagreb
• Verizon
• Vodafone Ghana

• France Telecom/Orange
• Fronesys
• Fujitsu
• GHG Management Institute (GHGMI)
• Hewlett-Packard
• Hitachi
• Huawei
• IBI Group
• Imperial College
• Infosys
• International Telecommunication Union (ITU)
• Mandat International
• MicroPro Computers
• Microsoft
• MJRD Assessment Inc.
• National Inter-University Consortium for
  Telecommunications
• Nokia Siemens Networks
• NEC Empowered by Innovation

• 3p Institute for Sustainable Management
• Alcatel Lucent
• BBC
• BIO Intelligence Service
• BT
• CEDARE
• Climate Associates
• ClimateCHECK
• Cogeco Cable
• DATEC Technologies
• Dell
• Ernst Young
• ETRI
• ETNO
• ETSI
• European Broadcasting Union

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4th ITU Green Standards Week
Toolkit content
Document Summary
Introduction to toolkit A business-led perspective on the use of sustainability in ICT organizations
Sustainable ICT in corporate organizations Sustainability issues with the use of ICT products and services
Sustainable products Sustainability-led design principles and practice for ICT products
Sustainable buildings Sustainability management of the construction, use and decommissioning of ICT buildings
End-of-life management Support in dealing with the various end-of-life stages of ICT equipment
General specifications and KPIs Environmental KPIs that can be used to manage and evaluate sustainability performance
Assessment framework Mapping the standards and guidelines applying to the ICT industry
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4th ITU Green Standards Week
End-of-life management for ICT equipment
End-of-life management
An outline of the various EOL stages (and
accompanying legislation) , and support for
creating a framework for environmentally-sound
management of EOL ICT equipment.
Material recovery and recycling
Clean supply chains
Offsetting and mitigation
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4th ITU Green Standards Week
End-of-life management for ICT equipment

• Key guidance to ensure best practices
• General Material Recovery and Recycling Facility
  Guidelines / minimum criteria to select a service
  provider
• Clean Supply Chain and Conflict Minerals An
  opportunity for a greener industry
• Offsetting Opportunities and Mitigation The ICT
  sector response to Social and Environmental
  issues generated by bad EOL practices

• Structure of analysis
• Legal frameworks
• EOL management steps
• Regulatory compliance
• Best practice guidance
• Clean supply chains and conflict minerals
• Socio-economic issues
• Corporate social responsibility
• Checklists

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4th ITU Green Standards Week
Global portal on ICTs, environment and climate
change
Launched in February 2014
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4th ITU Green Standards Week
Raising awareness

• ITU/NBTC Training for Asia-Pacific Region on
  "Leveraging ICTs for Smart Sustainable Cities29
  September - 2 October 2014, Bangkok, Thailand
• Forum on "Sustainable smart cities from vision
  to reality13 (morning) October 2014, Geneva,
  Switzerland
• 6th meeting of Focus Group on Smart Sustainable
  Cities (FG-SSC)13 (afternoon) -16 October 2014,
  Geneva, Switzerland

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4th ITU Green Standards Week
Next steps

• Policy makers should have long-term
  sustainability ambitions
• Consider e-waste management in the design of ICT
  policies
• Implement international standards at the national
  level
• Encourage concerted cooperation in handling
  e-waste at the national, regional and
  international level
• Improve the sustainability and competitiveness of
  manufacturing and business practices
• Create manufactured products through
  economically-sound processes that minimize
  negative environmental impacts while conserving
  energy and natural resources
• Sustainable manufacturing also enhances employee,
  community, and product safety and promote green
  jobs
• Foster public-private partnerships
• Raise awareness at consumer level

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4th ITU Green Standards Week

• ITU-T and Climate Changeitu.int/ITU-T/climatechan
  ge
• Symposia Events on ICTs and Climate
  Changeitu.int/ITU-T/worksem/climatechange

Thank you

• cristina.bueti_at_itu.int