WEEE Resource Management System in Costa Rica

Costa Rica followed different steps in order to organise and implement a waste of electrical and electronic equipment (WEEE) management system. This paper summarises the challenges, successes, and limitations of its implementation. Two phases were needed to set up the system. The first phase created a baseline followed by the designing of a strategy. The second phase promoted a Decree for WEEE management that prohibits discarding WEEE together with household waste, as well as the creation of a National Executive Committee with representatives of importers, consumers, and government, which will establish the quotes and treatment fees, and so on. Another outcome was the development of a strategy for the implementation of WEEE management for the country, the promotion of population awareness about their responsibility for WEEE management, and an example set up for other Latin American countries. This paper draws conclusions from the regulation and notes the required consistency with the existing national waste legislation in order to reduce approval times. Additionally, the importance of the participation of stakeholders representing different electric and electronic equipment (EEE) sectors with the purpose of obtaining consensus on agreements is highlighted.