The recycling of e-waste in the Industrialised Global South: the case of Sao Paulo Macrometropolis

Abstract

E-waste production increase in the industrialised countries of the Global South follows the worldwide trend in the early 21st century. In large urban centres of these territories, e-waste disposal occurs in more significant quantities, and the need to implement a reverse logistics system within a proper regulatory and technical conditions has become a challenge. To the extent that most researches on the ewaste recycling in the developing world are dedicated to the analysis of informal stakeholders -especially in the waste collection and processing stages -, this article aims to contribute to the scientific debate by analysing the organisation of formal recyclers in Sao Paulo Macrometropolis, the most expressive consumer market of Brazil, encompassing more than 30 million inhabitants. Through a comparative case study of formal recyclers operating before the enforcement of national e-waste management regulation (2020), it was revealed some logistics limitations related to the low/irregular flow of e-waste collected, and the lack of technologies to enable the final stages of recycling. Research also points to possible synergies between the demands of these formal companies and the instruments that will be enforced by the recently approved regulation as a way to overcome these limitations in the short term partially..

Unequal geographies of urban mining: E-waste management in London, Sao Paulo and Accra

“…According to Jacobi and Bessen (2011) and Gutberlet (2015), these actors are responsible for a significant portion of the collection of solid waste and, in addition to often organising themselves in associations and cooperatives, they specialise in the collection of certain types of materials, such as cardboard and aluminium, but not in WEEE. The low recycling rate of WEEE in the country (around 2%) is due, among other factors, to the population's lack of knowledge about the proper way to dispose of it (Santos, 2020).…”

Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment (WEEE): global and contemporary challenge to production chains and the urban environment

“…Brazil, a major producer of EEE and the fifth largest generator of WEEE, instituted the National Solid Waste Policy (PNRS) in 2010 through Law 12,305, legislating, among other things, on Shared Responsibility for EEE and a mandatory reverse logistics system for these products and their components (Brasil, 2010;Lopes dos Santos, 2020). The PNRS instituted shared responsibility for the life cycle of products, consisting of a set of actions coordinated by producers and traders, importers and distributors, consumers and those responsible for cleaning services and solid waste management to reduce the volume of generated waste and minimize the impacts on public health and the quality of the environment (Brasil, 2010).…”

Mechanical Property Assessment of Interlocking Plastic Pavers Manufactured from Electronic Industry Waste in Brazil

“…It is necessary to implement a reverse logistics system within a regulatory and technical framework. There are possible synergies between the demands of formal companies and the instruments that will be applied to a recently approved regulation as a way to overcome these limitations [16]. Some solutions have been developed.…”

“…According to the annual report of the ABRIN-Brazilian Association of Recycling and Innovation, 986 t of computer equipment discarded by the Brazilian federal government were processed by the CRC's in 2017 [16], 36% of which consists of CPUs, 4% of notebooks or laptops, 24% of monitors, 10% of printers, 25% of other IT-Information Technology items, and 1% of IT furniture [22]. The CRC "Programando o Futuro" of Valparaíso/GO produces interlocking plastic pavers from housings and plastic components.…”