Institution from the Presidency of the Republic recicles and reconditions computers for students from vulnerable sectors.
In 16 years of existence it has brought around 100.000 computer equipment units to more than 11.600 educational institutions and more than 4.190 social organisations, where the core idea is to reduce the country’s digital gap.
Chilenter is one of seven foundations affiliated to a network from the Presidency of the Republic, directed by the First Lady of the Nation, Cecilia Morel Montes, and currently having Gonzalo Lagos as its executive manager.
It’s a non-profit foundation present for the last 17 years, whose core idea is promoting, encouraging, contributing and participating actively in delivering technology and environmental education to children and youth from vulnerable sectors.
By these goals, the foundation receives computers dismissed by public, private institutions and natural people, units that are checked and, depending whether they meet standards or not, they go to overhaul or pretreatment lines for later recycling.
Units overhauled by Chilenter are brought to educational institutions through partnership with Mineduc’s Enlaces, or non-profit social organisations.
From 2009 to the present, Chilenter Foundation has processed, at national and international levels, more than 2.032 tonnes of electronic waste, such as processors, RAM memories, printers, CPUs, cables, printed circuits, DVD and CD readers, mobile phones and iPads, among other components.
“In 2019, thanks to Chilenter and its partnership with the Ministry of Education, it was achieved a historical quantity of 100.000 computers brought to schools in vulnerable conditions across the country. This contribution encourages us to keep working for our children and grant them all tools to give them quality education,” specified Chilenter’s President, Cecilia Morel.
According to Gonzalo Lagos, Chilenter has two fundamental lines of work: overhaling and recycling of computer equipment.
“It’s a process drafted at the foundation, where work is made online. The first thing we do is counting and sorting everything is brought into the plant. Waste that go to the overhaul line is separated to begin their pretreatment and check if they’re suitable to be used again.”
Lagos detailed that the first thing checked is screens; in other words, if they have issues in cables, burnt connectors, aesthetic issues or burnt pixels, they might be overhauled by the area’s operator. “All things that are unsuitable go straight to the recycling line. The rate of recovered things sent for recycling is around 60%.”
It’s soon followed by the valuation process, added the foundation’s executive manager, as all computer units are dismantled. Why are they dismantled? In order to check if internal components like memories, discs, processors, readers and floppy drivers meet the standards. “If they meet them, they’re tagged and moved to our parts-and-pieces area, otherwise they’re sent straight to the recycling area.”
The key and processes
Later comes a key part of the process. In the overhaul area, several fundamental procedures occur. First, a specialised software does a safe deletion of data from hard disk drives (thanks to this step, companies and banks entrust their units to them), and an image is loaded in every single unit (every computer from the foundation is released with an original Windows licence); then they’re assembled, cleaned and checked for later packaging, and delivered to vulnerable schools across the country.
“Our recycling processes are the second corner of work we do at Chilenter. As mentioned before, everything that can’t be overhauled goes straight to our recycling line,” explained Lagos.
Meanwhile, at the valuation and recycling area, all components brought into the foundation are dismantled and distributed by type and material, that is to say, all electronic circuits are sorted by their typology: high, medium and low grades. So all components like power units, floppy drives, readers, hard disk drives not meeting standards for overhauling, cables, plastic, tins, etc.
Plastic, tins, cables and cardboard are valued at national level, but circuits and electronic components are exported. Since the recycling line’s foundation in 2009, they have made 37 exports of electronic circuits. Since 2018 the main destinations are Japan and South Korea, the same country destinations for urban mining processes, in other words, the extraction of precious metals from electronic circuits.
“For example, for the Tokyo 2018 Olympics, Japan processed 30.000 tonnes of electronic circuits to build all medals of the sporting event,” mentioned Lagos.
Pilot work
Last August and because of the 17th anniversary of the foundation, it opened three pioneering processes in terms of recycling in the country.
Thanks to the granting of a CORFO circular economy project, they began a pilot project to recover precious metals through electronic circuits. The process is done through pyrolysis, where circuits are subjected to temperatures ranging between 700° and 1200° Celsius.
They also added technology to the process for sorting, cutting and safe recycling of CRTs (old monitors). Even though these televisions are innofensive at first sight, they become dangerous waste when dismantled, because they contain lead and cadmium sulfide.
Thanks to the technology currently available in the foundation, the safe cutting of CRTs containing these components can be done, giving also a sustainable fate to the remaining components of the monitor.
In the country, these CRT monitors were just send to secure landfills, which isn’t an environmental friendly solution and is also an expensive operation.
We must add that both processes are milestones, because they hadn’t been done in Chile and Latin America. In this sense, Cecilia Morel assured that what they’re doing today at Chilenter must be celebrated.
“We are witnesses of how one of our foundations is evolving and, with a huge effort, they bet on bringing into Chile processes that were done only in some countries in Asia and Europe. Both the metal recovering process and the monitor treatment technology reinforce all innovation plans driven by Sebastián Piñera from the central government,” commented the First Lady.
Also, they installed an industrial grinder including a magnetic sorter. This machine accelerates productive processes, which helps to increase monthly input quantities in our plant.
Impacts and education
What is the environmental impact made by electronic waste?
Among components from electronic or electric waste, we can find non-dangerous elements or materials such as glass, metals and plastic, and other elements with some danger characteristics for their toxicity, for example, cadmium, mercury, lead, chrome, among others. This toxicity can affect, pollute and sicken people and the environment.
Unfortunately, in Chile, rates of colecting and valuation of these residues (reuse and recycling) is too low. According to research requested by the Ministry of Environment and made in 2019, quantities colected in 2017 were just 1.5% of devices sold in the market.
Let’s also consider that, in average, 80% of electric and electronic residues have an unknown destination. It’s projected for 2027 that 400.000 tonnes to be commercialised and more than 250.000 tonnes of this type of waste will be made.
What is the vision and objectives set out from the Presidency of the Republic along with Chilenter to face climate change and pollution made by this type of devices?
From the Presidency and, especially, from the First Lady’s Cabinet, the work by Chilenter is hugely considered. They see with good eyes the work from our foundation, and even more for the mission we’ve been developing for 17 years, which is reducing the digital gap in the country.
Regarding climate change, for every 1000 reconditioned computers, we stop emitting 833 tonnes of CO₂ into the environment. This can also be translated into planting 20.751 trees, replacing 28.433 traditional light bulbs for LED ones, or the electrical consumption made by 118 houses in one year.
What links or partnerships with the private sector do you have?
Together with many private companies, we have set up digital laboratories. Companies fund computer overhauling and they’re later set up for teaching digital literacy courses.
Together with LATAM, we reconditioned computers set up at schools affected by the 2017 wildfires. Together with LG, we also set up laboratories at elders organisations in the Metropolitan Region, Valparaíso and Villarrica.
We are currently going to set up 32 digital laboratories with Claro Chile for elders organisations, with help of the National Elderly Service (SENAMA). Chilenter reconditions the units, SENAMA makes the coordination with centres, and Claro Chile supplies training and internet. This is an example of how public-private partnership can bring huge results.
Regarding logistics of green points for colecting, how many does the foundation have? Any forecasts and expectations?
We have currently settled 42 green points for electronic waste colecting and recycling at companies and institutions all across the Metropolitan Region.
This network allows our partners to give a safe destination to their dismissed electronic components. They regularly request the retirement and we give a certification specifying weight and recycled species.
What is the role of regions in this issue?
Despite being a foundation with a line of action extremely reduced, we have tried to widen our spectrum through projects.
We have been granted two CORFO projects, one in Taltal (where we managed to collect and move 2.800 kg of technological waste to Santiago) and another one in Los Lagos Region, at Chiloé, where we collect and move than six tonnes of waste.
There are other companies that, following previous coordination, move their residues from other regions to our plant in Santiago. Speaking of specific cases, we can name Chilean Technological University-INACAP, Codelco, Sernapesca, Judicial System, Minera Escondida and BHP, among others.