Documento de STEP Documento de STEP sobre movimiento internacional de RAEE (en inglés)

Executive Summary
Despite growing interest and concern surrounding transboundary movements of used electronics around the world, there is a dearth of data on their movements. Although a multitude of different data sources exist, coherent sets of information on used electronics  and their movement are lacking because of inherent challenges in obtaining such  information. These challenges include limited mechanisms for data collection,  undifferentiated trade codes, lack of consistent definitions for categorizing and labeling  used electronics as well as their components, minimal regulatory oversight, and limited  agreement on the definitions of end uses (i.e., reuse vs. recycling). In spite of these
challenges, a characterization of the sources, destinations, and quantities of used electronics flows would inform strategic decision‐making of numerous stakeholders.
The first step of this research effort involved examining available methodologies to  calculate quantities of used electronics generated (coming directly out of use or post‐use  storage destined for collection or disposal), collected (for recycling versus disposal), and  exported (as whole units to developed or developing countries), and assessing the effort required and the quality of information for each approach. A few of the most promising approaches were evaluated in more detail and demonstrated using laptops as a case study.
This study builds off of the outcomes of the previous work and details the results from a more comprehensive effort to calculate generation and collection quantities for whole units  (i.e., not disassembled product or material streams) of used electronics in the United States,  along with transboundary flows from the United States for a range of products including:
TVs, mobile phones, computers and monitors. The year of analysis is 2010.
A hybrid approach of several methods is used for calculating the quantities of
generated, collected, and exported whole units. The sales obsolescence method is used to  stochastically (i.e., including uncertainty) estimate the generation of used electronics.
Collection rates are modeled and applied to the generation results; the collection results  serve as upper bounds on export estimates. Export quantities are calculated using a trade data approach. The advantage of this method is that trade data for all types of electronic products is widely available (including extensive historical data), updated relatively frequently, and provides insight into the destinations of products. The disadvantage is that there are no trade codes for used products and exporters may not be reporting shipments of
used products properly. An analytical approach is used here to differentiate used products from new ones in the trade data, but the extent of misclassification by exporters is unknown. Thus, it is not currently possible to say how much error exists in the export estimates as a result of misclassification. Still, it is safe to assume that the estimates of export quantities are lower bounds of actual export quantities due to this likely
misclassification error. And ever, if it is a stopping point before reexport, the final destination is likely in the same region.

This study depicts the destination regions and the economic classifications of the regions for all products. Basically, bulky electronics, especially TVs and monitors, were more likely to be exported overland or by sea to destinations such as Mexico, Venezuela, Paraguay and China. The major destinations for mobile phones were Asia (Hong Kong,

HKSAR) and Latin America and the Caribbean (Paraguay and Guatemala, Panama, Peru and Colombia). By contrast, Asian countries and regions which serve as key transit ports for international distribution in Asia and Africa, including Hong Kong (HKSAR, China), United Arab Emirates (UAE) and Lebanon, were more likely to receive used computers (especially laptops) and therefore may be re‐exporting to surrounding countries. It is interesting to
note that Africa makes up a very small fraction of the total used electronics exported directly from the US. Around 80% of used electronics, including TVs, monitors and mobile phones have been exported to countries with upper middle, low middle, and low income economies. However, the majority of the upper middle economies, like Honk Kong and UAE, are likely re‐export hubs for further distribution to neighboring low income economies.
This analysis provides insights on the quantities of used electronics generated and collected in the United States, and exported from the United States. To summarize, the key findings from this report include:
• The methodology used to make the calculations is comprehensive from
generation of used electronics at end‐of‐life all the way to export to a foreign
destination. In addition, the method accounts for uncertainty in generation
and collection.
• The scope of products includes information technology (computers and
monitors), telecommunication (mobile phones), and consumer electronics
products (TVs).
• Approximately 258.2 million units or 1.6 million tons of used electronics were generated in the US in 2010.
• Of the amount generated, 66% was collected for reuse or recycling on a unit
basis, or 56% on a weight basis.
• Of the amount collected, 8.5% were exported on a unit basis, or 3.1% on a
weight basis.
• Mobile phones dominate generation, collection, and export on a unit basis, but TVs and monitors dominate on a weight basis.