11 February 2015: The UN University Institute for the Advanced Study of Sustainability (UNU-IAS) has produced guidelines on an e-waste measurement framework and classification system, titled ‘E-waste Statistics: Guidelines for classification, reporting and indicators.’ The guidelines propose a sound measurement framework integrating and validating available harmonized statistical data and other non-statistical data sources into e-waste statistics.

UNU says the guidelines are intended to facilitate the implementation of harmonized concepts to measure the size of a country’s: e-waste market; transboundary e-waste movement; and e-waste recycling performance.

According to UNU, the guidelines were produced under the Partnership Measuring Information, Communication and Technology (ICT) for Development and endorsed by the UN Economic Commission for Africa (ECA), the UN Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (ESCAP), the UN Economic and Social Commission for Western Asia (ESCWA), the International Telecommunication Union (ITU), the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), the UN Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD), EUROSTAT and the UN Environment Programme (UNEP).

In addition to supporting e-waste management, the data collected using the guidelines “will contribute to the creation of green jobs and the eradication of poverty, which are central themes from the Rio+20 sustainable development conference and the UN post-2015 development agenda,” explained David Malone, Rector of the UNU and UN Under-Secretary-General. [UNU Press Release] [Publication: E-Waste Statistics, Guidelines on Classification, Reporting and Indicators 2015]