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Promoting better, greener and greater trade in ICT goods  
Presentation to the World Trade Organization Symposium, 25 
Years of the Information Technology Agreement , Geneva, 16 
and 17 September 2021  
Rt Hon Philip Dunne MP, Chairman,  
House of Commons Environmental Audit Committee 
[Introduction by Ms Katarszyna Stecz, Chairperson, ITA 
Committee]  
Thank you , Katarszyna, for that generous introduction, and 
congratulations on your election as Chair of the IT A. 
Congratulations also on the organisation of a comprehensive and highly informative symposium. I am sorry I am unable to 
be with you live or for the Q&A after my remarks.  
Ladies and gentlemen,  as I have the honour of speaking  at the 
end of five sessions of intensive discussion to mark 25 years of 
the Information Technology Agreement, with much focus on its role and relevance for the future, I am not certain I shall be able to offer any strikingly new perspectives.  CHEC K AGAINS T DELI VERY   Page 2 of 16 
But I thought I should try, as the World  Trade Organization 
contemplates a further expansion in the Agreement, to put 
this prospect into the context of the wider debate on climate 
change and  to make some observations about the importance 
of promoting better, greener and greater trade in ICT good s. 
As the knowledge economy expands, and more and more 
goods contain electronics, the impact of hardware production, consumption and disposal at end of life bears increasingly on 
the global environment, as well as the energy demands to 
operate such goods.  
During 2020 the Environmental Audit Committee of the House 
of Commons  in the United Kingdom, which I chair, conducted 
a thorough inquiry into the  issue  of electronic waste and how 
it is treated in the circular economy. In the UK, as in the rest of 
the world, we are consuming more and more electri cal and 
electronic goods. This trade is welcome: as we all know, it CHEC K AGAINS T DELI VERY   Page 3 of 16 
drives economic opportunities and improves the quality of our 
lives.  
Electronic goods have a key role to play in sustainability. Devices and software connect us like never before. Earlier 
contributions have rightly highlighted the ways in which ICT products were crucial in combatting the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic and in keeping the global economy and society connected . The devices which connect us reduce our 
dependence on long -distance travel for face to face meetings. 
They connect us more reliably; the software they run improves our ability to manage our environment, to monitor and control 
the energy we use and to red uce unwanted and damaging 
emissions.  
There has been a welcome focus on reducing the energy 
consumption of electronic goods in use. Now we must examine how to reduce the environmental impacts of CHEC K AGAINS T DELI VERY   Page 4 of 16 
producing and disposing of these goods, in a way which 
maintains the innovative genius which animates the global trade in ICT while also minimising the all -too-common 
environmental damage  which arises  from the way we  
consume these goods.  
In the coming week s, the world’s focus will be on sustainability 
and the contri bution we all must  make to restoring the health 
of the planet. The UK and Italy are co -hosting Governments 
under the United Nations Conference of the Parties in Glasgow 
to address the negative impacts of climate change, and next 
year in Kunming, China host s the conference to address the 
decline in global biodiversity. We must acknowledge the impact that the manufacture and disposal of ICT products has on the environment: in particular, the dangers of 
unsustainable and damaging practices in the sourcing of CHEC K AGAINS T DELI VERY   Page 5 of 16 
critical and rare minerals on which so much advanced ICT 
depends.  
As you all know, our dependence on these materials is unlikely 
to diminish. Take lithium: an indispensable component of 
rechargeable power sources. Global demand for lithium will 
only increas e as markets switch from conventionally- powered 
vehicles to battery electric vehicles, nudged by governments keen to reduce automotive emissions. New sources of these materials will have to be found: our progress towards net zero 
depends on it, as does the  global trade in ICT. 
So what solutions can be presented to these challenges? How can we promote better, greener and greater trade in ICT 
goods?  
I believe that the answer lies in the development of a more innovative, circular approach to how we consume and  dispose CHEC K AGAINS T DELI VERY   Page 6 of 16 
of our devices, building on technological advances in the 
recycling of ICT and materials recovery. 
On my Committee, my colleagues and I were genuinely 
shocked to learn how much electronic waste is generated in 
the UK by our patterns of consumption. The United Nations 
has estimated the amount of e -waste produce d per head in 
the UK to be the second highest in the world: at 23.9 kg it far outstrips the European average of 16.2 kg and the global average of 7.3 kg. Much of it goes to landfill or is inci nerated, 
or dumped overseas: some have estimated that the UK offshores as much as 40 per cent of the e- waste disposed of 
by consumers. That waste is often dumped, with toxic consequences for the environment and the local population.  
The business models and consumer practices which have 
brought about this tsunami of e -waste are not the subject of 
my remarks today, although my Committee made some CHEC K AGAINS T DELI VERY   Page 7 of 16 
pointed observations about the sustainability of the current 
position and lack of accountability of internet marketplaces. Instead, I would like to look forward to potential solutions: 
promoting the development of the electronics industry, and 
the global trade in ICT, as an inspirer of innovation and a contributor to prosperity and sustainable d evelopment.  
T
he colossal quantity of e -waste per capita produced in the UK 
is indeed shocking: but it has presented business opportunities. The UK Government’s clear focus on tackling 
the issue, through its Resources and Waste Strategy, building 
on legacy  EU Directives, together with growing public 
awareness of the environmental challenges of e- waste, has 
attracted businesses keen to apply innovative approaches to 
recovering what is termed EEE —end- of-life, non -repairable or 
reusable electrical equipment. B ecause of the volume of e-CHEC K AGAINS T DELI VERY   Page 8 of 16 
waste produced in the UK, our skilled engineering base and 
our robust compliance systems, we have begun to attract valuable direct investment in the form of companies which 
have developed technologies to recycle and extract value from 
e-waste in an environmentally responsible way.
One such company, which has developed a low -temperature 
pyrometallurgical technology to recover precious metals and 
minerals from EEE products, while ensuring safe and secure disposal of any data, has rec ently established itself in the UK  
— and is due to open its first recovery facility in my West 
Midlands constituency, as it happens. The technology involved is more sophisticated than that used by existing bulk processors of e -waste and recovers a signific antly greater 
proportion of high -value materials in a form available to re -
use. CHEC K AGAINS T DELI VERY   Page 9 of 16 
This represents an exciting innovation: and I expect the model, 
once successfully deployed in the UK, can be rolled out in other jurisdictions to tackle and extract value fro m electronic 
waste.  
You heard yesterday from Fredrik Forslund, of Blancco Technology, about the use of data protection technology in the ICT circular economy. It is vital for the sector to recognise the potential, and the value, in embracing circular, rath er than 
linear, approaches to ICT products. 
But recovering value from end-of -life products is only part of 
the picture. Because c onsumers increasingly demand an end 
to a culture where ICT products are seen as disposable: they 
are shocked by planned obsolescence as a business model and 
are dismayed to find that their electronic devices are often put 
beyond economic repair , even when simple faults develop or 
batteries cannot be readily changed or upgraded . Consumers CHEC K AGAINS T DELI VERY   Page 10 of 16 
are tech -savvy and they are keen to innovate:  but they also 
have a sharp eye for value.  
Following a recommendation made by my Committee, in July 
this year the UK Government brought in a ‘right to repair’ law , 
mirroring existing EU requirements, which require s 
manufacturers  to make spare parts for cert ain devices 
available from a certain point after putting them on sale, and 
to continue to make them available for a period of between seven and ten years. In the field of ICT, the law at present only 
applies to television sets and other displays,  and not t o other 
popular ICT products  in the  UK.  
There is already considerable pressure for this  law to be 
extended. And this is where the ICT sector can grasp the 
opportunity.  In jurisdictions with strong regulatory and compliance cultures, where governments are developing comprehensive policies to promote a circular economy in all CHEC K AGAINS T DELI VERY   Page 11 of 16 
consumables, it surely makes sense to develop an approach 
which embraces repair and re -use: building brand confidence 
and brand loyalty, increasing the overall longevity of products, 
but ultimately securing a more sustainable approach. 
Some of us may see risks to current levels of ICT trade in 
stepping away from a linear model. It is right to acknowledge those risks: and after all, many may be unwilling to change 
what seems to be a winning formula. 
I am calling for you in the next phase of the ITA,  to examine 
opportunities to develop a new model based on a circular 
economy and sustainable trade in ICT goods.  
As I have argued , new circumstances for business encourage 
fresh thinking, innovative technological approaches and  new 
value propositions. If we value the raw materials in our 
devices, extraction and salvage approaches will develop. If w e CHEC K AGAINS T DELI VERY   Page 12 of 16 
value reusable IT, secure data wiping will ensure that laptops 
can safely be sent for refurbishment and reuse.  
A c
ircular approach to consumer use of ICT can lead to 
significant economies of scale and specialisation, as 
businesses collaborate at different  stages of a product’s 
lifecycle .  
Adopting a circular approach will inevitably lead to better and 
greener trade: the carbon emissions involved in ICT trade will 
diminish  and the industry’s impact on biodiversity and water 
resources will lessen. 
A circular  economy in ICT products will promote the retention 
of economic value in goods, by keeping valuable and highly 
manufactured devices working and in circulation: the value of 
trade in such devices will always be higher than their value to CHEC K AGAINS T DELI VERY   Page 13 of 16 
the mineral extractor or the scrap merchant. This is not a new 
proposition: it was compellingly made by the World Economics Forum , the International Labor Organization and 
the International Telecommunications Union  in their New 
Circular Vision for Electronics  in 2019. But it is one which it is 
easy to overlook, given the constant drive for innovation in the sector.  
The circular economy in ICT will be labour and skills -intensive: 
repair, re -use and remanufacturing  jobs will be to the fore . The 
potential for skills development and job creation is 
considerable, as I am sure many of you will appreciate.  
If
 you still need  persuading  of the merits of a more circular 
approach to ICT, just pause to think about  what might happen 
if a linear approach to the manufacture and trade in ICT products continues . CHEC K AGAINS T DELI VERY   Page 14 of 16 
 
 It seems to me that the risks of not taking this opportunity , 
and of continuing  a linear approach, all have the capacity to 
inhibit global trade flows : 
The first is perhaps the most obvious. The recent reports from 
the IPCC are the starkest yet in terms of the risk to the global 
economy from unmitigated emissions and the climate 
disruption and environmental damage which may result. The 
potential of disruption to the global trade in goods from increased climate instability  is, in my view, real enough to 
merit action across all sectors to mitigate this risk.  
Environmental an d carbon -related regulatory measures  will 
inevitably have an impact on the manufacture of ICT products 
in those states which introduce such measures , potentially 
leading to divergence in product standards: should divergence in standards occur, trade flows could be slowed or disrupted. CHEC K AGAINS T DELI VERY   Page 15 of 16 
 
 Thirdl y, failure properly to realise  the value and the economic 
potential of re -use of manufactured electronic equipment and 
materials represents a substantial missed economic 
opportunity: the linear approach  which prevails at pr esent will 
not unlock the employment opportunities which a circular 
approach would promote. 
 
And—to state the obvious —trade cannot occur unless there 
are willing purchasers for goods. In the United Kingdom, we 
see that consumers are far more prepared to take 
environmental factors into account when making product choices  than they used to be . If manufacturing practices in the 
sector do not respond to consumer signals demanding greater sustainability, the risk is that consumers in some countries will 
begin to t urn away from internationally -traded ICT products, 
leading to downturns in trade . CHEC K AGAINS T DELI VERY   Page 16 of 16 
Chair , ladies and gentlemen, I’ m going to finish  my remarks to 
the final  panel of this excellent symposium on a n optimistic 
note.  Trade fuels the global economy and is a remarkable 
driver of prosperity.  The Information Technology Agreement 
has facilitated genuine progress throughout its 25 years. As 
participating states contemplate a further expansion to the Agreement, now is the time to ensure that the next chapter in the ITA’ s successful history is one of better, greener and 
greater trade in ICT goods.  
Thank you.  
ENDS  
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2087 WORDS]