20 August 2012: The UN University (UNU) and the Basel Convention Regional Center for Asia and the Pacific (BCRC) held a “Stakeholder Workshop and Solving the E-waste Problem (StEP) Open Meeting,” in Beijing, China, from 16-17 July 2012. The workshop provided an interactive platform to understand stakeholder activities on e-waste management. UNU intends to publish a summary document incorporating a participant survey, and an online information-sharing platform.

Participants heard presentations on e-waste and used electronics management in China, including on electronics recycling technology and recent policy progress, both in China and internationally. Participants compared challenges and identified key priorities for different organizational sectors. Identified priorities include: building institutional and technical capacity for the informal recycling sector; creating a communication platform for knowledge sharing; developing third-party recycling certification and licensing systems; and strengthening regulations to promote formal channels for e-waste collection and to increase environmental standards for electronics recycling.

The Chinese Ministry of Environmental Protection (MEP) and the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) provided support for the workshop, which was attended by more than 50 Chinese and international participants from government agencies, collection and recycling companies, electronic producers, research institutes and UN organizations.

The UNU Institute for Sustainability and Peace (UNU-ISP) in Bonn, Germany hosts the StEP Initiative Secretariat. A similar workshop will be held in Guangdong, China in September 2012. UNU, StEP and the Global e-Sustainability Initiative (GeSI) also organized a week-long “E-waste Academy” in July for Western African policymakers, government officials and small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) (recyclers, refurbishers, pre-processors, etc.) on electronic waste management. [UNU Press Release] [StEP Press Release]