Electronic Waste in Mexico – Challenges for Sustainable Management

The purpose of this chapter is to analyze the situation of the management of electronic waste in Mexico; it has been organized into four sections. In the first, a brief description of the problem of electronic waste based on the world vision presents the situation of transboundary movements of electronic waste from developed countries to developing countries or emerging stands out, in which it is done an incipient and inadequate management without concern about pollution, and health damage caused. In the second, the law applied to waste management in this country, concerning international, regional and national framework is presented. The third section, an analysis of the actors involved in the production, marketing, use, handling and disposal of electronic waste is presented; highlighting the role currently performed. A conceptual model of the life cycle of electrical-electronic equipment as a starting point for handling electronic waste and the model of management electronic that is now operating in Mexico, in which the actors involved in the value chain of electrical and electronic equipment waste (WEEE’s), is presented. In the last section, efforts that Mexican environmental authorities have done on the management of electronic waste, and WEEE \u27s generation data are analyzed, a generic model is presented enhance the WEEE \u27s in Mexico as a first phase to move from an emerging electronic waste management to a management model

Reducing the environmental impact of surgery on a global scale: systematic review and co-prioritization with healthcare workers in 132 countries

Abstract Background Healthcare cannot achieve net-zero carbon without addressing operating theatres. The aim of this study was to prioritize feasible interventions to reduce the environmental impact of operating theatres. Methods This study adopted a four-phase Delphi consensus co-prioritization methodology. In phase 1, a systematic review of published interventions and global consultation of perioperative healthcare professionals were used to longlist interventions. In phase 2, iterative thematic analysis consolidated comparable interventions into a shortlist. In phase 3, the shortlist was co-prioritized based on patient and clinician views on acceptability, feasibility, and safety. In phase 4, ranked lists of interventions were presented by their relevance to high-income countries and low–middle-income countries. Results In phase 1, 43 interventions were identified, which had low uptake in practice according to 3042 professionals globally. In phase 2, a shortlist of 15 intervention domains was generated. In phase 3, interventions were deemed acceptable for more than 90 per cent of patients except for reducing general anaesthesia (84 per cent) and re-sterilization of ‘single-use’ consumables (86 per cent). In phase 4, the top three shortlisted interventions for high-income countries were: introducing recycling; reducing use of anaesthetic gases; and appropriate clinical waste processing. In phase 4, the top three shortlisted interventions for low–middle-income countries were: introducing reusable surgical devices; reducing use of consumables; and reducing the use of general anaesthesia. Conclusion This is a step toward environmentally sustainable operating environments with actionable interventions applicable to both high– and low–middle–income countries