What is the problem? The electronics industry has revolutionized the world: electrical and electronic products have become globally ubiquitous technologies. The widespread use of electrical and electronic equipment (EEE) has raised public awareness of its positive effects such as the reduction of the digital divide, but also of the negative environmental and health effects associated with the inefficient waste management of end-of-life electrical and electronic equipment (WEEE or e-waste). There have been alarming reports of e-waste mismanagement in many countries, particularly in less developed nations and countries with economies in transition. E-waste is a significant contributor to the ICT industry’s impact on the environment, and urgent global action to address this issue is essential if the industry is to fulfill its commitment to a sustainable future.

What ITU is Doing to Tackle E-waste and Protect the Environment What ITU is Doing to Tackle E-waste and Protect the Environment? What can we all do?

Highlights on SG5 - Q21 “Environmental Protection and Recycling of ICT Equipments/Facilities” Some of the tasks include: Environmentally friendly standardization Share national experiences and knowledge related to environmental and sustainability aspects Determine process to analyze the effect on the environment of products and ways to minimize them. Assess environmental effects of recycling related to ICT facilities, equipments, etc. Analyze safe, low-cost social recirculation of ICT equipments through recycling and reuse.

Recommendation ITU-T L.1000 Universal Mobile Charger Q21 Recommendation ITU-T L.1000 Universal Mobile Charger Saves 82,000 tons of waste per year

Best way to deal with e-waste is to avoid its creation ONGOING - Recommendation on Universal Power Supply An ITU-GeSI Energy-aware Survey on ICT Device Power Supplies Study on a wide set (more than 300) of External Power Supplies (EPSs) Found major opportunity to reduce e-waste and weight Main outcomes on e-waste: 1.000.000 tons of EPSs are produced every year There is the opportunity to go for standardization Careful design could save 300.000 tons of e-waste/year A standardized solution could save more than 500.000 tons of e-waste/year the report points to an urgent need for standards to correct glaring inefficiencies in the EPS production process Best way to deal with e-waste is to avoid its creation