Electronic Waste Recycling Campaign at Universidad San Francisco de Quito, Ecuador

Abstract

The increasing consumption of technological products may have serious implications due to the worldwide generation of abundant electronic devices that can become contaminating electronic waste or e-waste after their lifespan. This is due to the hazardous nature of some of their components. In Ecuador, despite the presence of some recycling companies and the governmental policies that attempt to establish an appropriate electronic waste management, much must still be done at public and private level in order to implement e-waste recycling and thus avoid the generation of these hazardous waste. In this study we present the results for the first Electronic Waste Recycling Campaign carried out at Universidad San Francisco de Quito, Ecuador, on which the university community and the civil society cooperated. A total of 1.89 t of e-waste were gathered and more than a half of these materials were intended for recycling or reuse within the country or internationally. The main electronic waste gathered included laptops, CRT monitors, keyboards, tablets, CPU, UPS for PC, mouse, PC speakers, wired for power and ICD monitors. Flow charts were made using VENSIM software, basing the calculation on one unit of each electronic waste. This recycling campaign is the first one organized by an Academic Institution in Ecuador and therefore provides useful information about the role that higher education institutions can play in such sustainable initiatives.

Keywords

• Residuos electrónicos
• campaña de reciclaje
• manejo de residuos
• sustentabilidad
• universidad
• Ecuador