Consumption, Use and Disposal Patterns of Electronic Devices in a Distinctive Urban Mine in Mar del Plata, Argentina

CLINCKSPOOR, GRETA LIZ; ZULAICA, MARÍA LAURA

CIDADES, Comunidades e Territórios.

DINÂMIA'CET-ISCTE, Centro de Estudos sobre a Mudança Socioeconómica e o Território, an ISCTE-IUL research unit.

Lugar: Lisboa; Año: 2024 vol. 46

2182-3030

The production of electronic devices, based on the exploitation of non-renewable resources, requires novel strategies for the efficient recovery of valuable materials contained in the e-waste stream. To conceive the local management of these particular resources in a decentralized way, the patterns of consumption, use and disposal of electronic devices are analysed in a higher-level educational institution, the National University of Mar del Plata in Argentina, considered as a Distinctive Urban Mine (DUM). A quantitative methodology is developed by distributing a self-administered survey on a sample of 400 university students, statistically distributed among the different faculties. The instrument is divided into the stages that condition the post-consumption paths of electronic waste in Mar del Plata city. Each phase, consumption, use and disposal of electronic devices, are analysed from the variables of habits, information and valorisation.The main results highlight the socio-cultural factors that characterize this particular DUM, as replacement cycles of electronic devices, estimated between two to four years, in relation to the lack of maintenance and yet the valorisation of price and durability. It is the first study that makes a contribution on e-waste based on quantitative data on the territory of Mar del Plata.The conclusions highlight the correlations between stages, which can be effectively measured and conducted to improve the variables in to manage a DUM sustainably.