The Sustainable Recycling Industries (SRI) programme contributes to favourable framework conditions that enable the development of a sustainable recycling industry for e-waste and related waste streams in developing countries. Through recycling initiatives in Colombia, Peru, Egypt, Ghana and South Africa, SRI aims at building capacity for sustainable e-waste management by supporting national activities and implementing pilot projects. The objective of SRI is the sustainable integration and participation of small and medium enterprises from developing and transition countries in the global recycling of secondary resources.

The programme is coordinated by the Swiss Federal Institute for Materials Science and Technology (Empa) and the World Resources Forum Association.

DURATION: 2019 – 2023

COUNTRIES: Colombia, Peru, Egypt, Ghana, South Africa 

FOCUS AREA: Resource Recovery 

FUNDED BY: Swiss Secretariat of Economic Affairs (SECO)

As part of SRI, we are currently developing the ISO Standard ‘Secondary Materials — Principles, Sustainability and Traceability Requirements‘ under the parent committees ISO TC207/SC5 (Environmental Management) and TC323 (Circular Economy). As convenor of the ISO process, we coordinate a joint working group with 50 members from 20 countries. This multi-stakeholder process complements the recycling initiatives by leveraging synergies with the international community, supporting normative processes and providing metrics and methods to measure and monitor SRI induced changes.