Relation of Brazilian institutional users and technical assistances with electronics and their waste: What has changed?

Abstract

Little is known about the perceptions and practices of institutional users (IUs) and technical assistances (TAs) of electronic equipment, which participate in the WEEE stream as much as the individuals. That is why this study aims to analyze the relationships between these two sectors, the electronic equipment (EEs) and their waste, in Blumenau, Brazil in the years of 2010 and 2015. The seven most frequently used pieces of equipment were selected as follows: the central processing unit, computer monitor, keyboard, mouse, printer, cellular phone, and landline telephone. Questionnaires were used to register the perceptions of IUs and TAs on the useful life, reason to disposal of the EEs, and on their knowledge about the waste and related legislation. The results showed a downward trend for the useful life perception of the equipment. In both years, the most cited reason for the exchange/disposal was related to end-of-use of EEs and one of the highlighted aspects was the difficulty in elimination. For this reason, some IUs and TAs chose to stock their waste in the workplace or dispose them in the municipal solid waste collection. Moreover, the study identifies informal recycling companies of electronic waste (e-waste) as a market that has increased in Brazil. It was also observed that over time there has not been a major change in knowledge about laws of e-waste; therefore it is necessary to consolidate the country's e-waste management with the implementation of a reverse logistics which includes electronic institutional users and technical assistances.