Universidad Nacional de Moreno

Departamento Ciencias Aplicadas y Tecnologías INGLÉS III

Licenciatura en Gestión Ambiental- Licenciatura en Biotecnología

Prof: María Florencia Garabito

Assignment 1 (A)

1) Look at the following definitions and complete them with these words:
Environmentalmanagement / Biotechnology

Biotechnology covers different fields of work like agriculture, disease research, eco-
conservation, fertilizers, vaccines, energy production and animal husbandry.

Environmental management is a systematic approach to finding practical ways for saving

water, energy, and materials, and reducing negative environmental impacts.

Complete the following Venn diagram with words related to these areas:

Biotechnology Environmental management

Vocabulary:

Husbandry: animal breeding

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 Universidad Nacional de Moreno
Departamento Ciencias Aplicadas y Tecnologías INGLÉS III

Licenciatura en Gestión Ambiental- Licenciatura en Biotecnología

Prof: María Florencia Garabito

Assignment 1- (B) E-Waste

2) LISTENING COMPREHENSION

You will be given 2 minutes to read the statements carefully first. Then, listen and write true or
false. Please correct the wrong information. You will listen to the piece twice.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EDVCldfYJ8k

a) The video shows a facility in London City which recycles old electronic objects.
False, the facility is in New York City
b) The supervisor Hugo says that they do everything the customer requires from them
True
c) The hazardous material they remove includes: screens and boxes.
False, the hazardous material they remove includes: bateries, mercury, lead,
d) There are a few separation points in their process.
False, there are variously separartion points in their process.
e) The majority of the material includes cell phones and cameras.
False, the mayority of the materials includes desktop, PC, Tablets, consoles,

READING COMPREHENSION
3) Read the given text and answer the following questions in Spanish :
a) Resuma en 2 o 3 líneas la temática del texto.
b) ¿Por qué los desperdicios electrónicos representan un desafío en cuanto al manejo de la
basura?
c) ¿En qué consiste “el sistema global” para dar solución al problema de la basura
electrónica?
d) ¿Existe reglamentación sobre este tipo de desperdicios en los países subdesarrollados?
Especifique.
e) ¿En qué consiste la iniciativa de la UNU denominada Best-of-2worlds (Bo2W) y por qué se
la denomina así?

A global system can tackle e-waste until developing countries can do so

themselves, say Ruediger Kuehr and Feng Wang.

Rich and poor nations can link up to recycle e-waste

Copyright: Andrew McConnell/Panos

Since the 1990s, electrical and electronic equipment have revolutionised people’s lives. And with ever-
increasing technological innovation, their lifetimes are, on the whole, decreasing. This means that
electronic waste — or e-waste — is a fast-growing waste stream. The UN University (UNU) predicts that
e-waste will rise from the 41 million tonnes currently produced each year to 47 million tonnes in 2017.
[1]

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 Universidad Nacional de Moreno
Departamento Ciencias Aplicadas y Tecnologías INGLÉS III

Licenciatura en Gestión Ambiental- Licenciatura en Biotecnología

Prof: María Florencia Garabito

This is a challenge for waste management as many electronic products contain hazardous materials, as
well as valuable elements.

It’s well documented that used equipment is also shipped to developing countries for reuse, but much of it
still ends up as e-waste. The unsophisticated, informal recycling common in many countries pollutes the
environment and puts people’s health at risk.

But now a more complex picture is emerging: since 2013, the developing and transition countries have
been producing more e-waste than the so called industrialised world. Latin America, for example,
contributed approximately 3.95 million tonnes to the world’s e-waste mountain last year. [1]

“There is a way to offer affordable and environmentally friendly recycling for

developing countries: through cooperation between local dismantling
operations and the global networks of infrastructure that can further refine
materials.”

Ruediger Kuehr and Feng Wang

Innovative models are needed to tackle the problem until developing countries are better equipped to deal
with such waste themselves — and one such model is already being developed.

Limited e-waste regulation

Of the 21 Latin American countries, e-waste regulations are in place only in Argentina, Brazil, Colombia,
Costa Rica, Ecuador, Mexico and Peru. But in the absence of a national strategy, most of them only
operate at the local level.

Meanwhile, only Brazil, Costa Rica and Mexico have R2-certified facilities, an internationally recognised
standard for responsible recycling. This is partly due to limited legal requirements, a lack of awareness of
pollution control during recycling and limited training opportunities.

Overall, in much of the developing world there is a lack of systems covering e-waste management
through the different stages of collection, pre-processing (to liberate components from the waste) and
end-processing (refining and disposing of materials). Often there is insufficient funding to
support technology transfer and a sophisticated recycling industry. Establishing modern infrastructure
requires substantial technological know-how, large investments in industrial equipment and
environmental control measures.

The wide involvement of the informal sector also makes it difficult to establish effective systems to
collect e-waste from consumers. Consumers’ low awareness is another barrier.

Global recycling

But there is a way to offer affordable and environmentally friendly recycling for developing countries:
through cooperation between local dismantling operations and the global networks of infrastructure that
can further refine materials.

This can be achieved through a global ‘reverse supply chain’, where treatment facilities in various
locations work together to deliver recycling solutions for different materials and at different treatment
stages.

Such a concept has already been developed by the institutions involved in the Solving the E-waste
Problem (StEP) Initiative coordinated by UNU. The concept, called Best-of-2-Worlds (Bo2W), aims to
integrate technical and logistical aspects of best practice in advanced, international end-processing

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 Universidad Nacional de Moreno
Departamento Ciencias Aplicadas y Tecnologías INGLÉS III

Licenciatura en Gestión Ambiental- Licenciatura en Biotecnología

Prof: María Florencia Garabito

facilities.

Dismantling is a highly efficient way to separate materials and components from e-waste, and is also
economically viable due to low labour costs and little need for equipment. At the same time, fractions
such as circuit boards and batteries require high-tech treatment that is usually unavailable in developing
countries. Under the Bo2W concept, these would be delivered to global facilities for safe and efficient
refining and disposal.

In this way, the initiative connects the best pre-processing already occurring in developing countries
(manual dismantling) with the best end-processing (material refinery and disposal) in the global treatment
network.

To work effectively, Bo2W also requires a well-functioning reporting, registration and tracking system to
guarantee the safe movement of fractions between countries. Such cooperation through a global network
can also facilitate sharing knowledge on materials and treatment techniques. And, in the long run, it can
help establish local refinery facilities in developing countries, when sufficient financing and technology
know-how become available.

Ruediger Kuehr is head of Sustainable Cycles (SCYCLE), an operating unit of UNU’s Institute for the Advanced Study of
Sustainability based in Bonn, Germany. Feng Wang is a research associate at SCYCLE. Kuehr can be contacted at kuehr@unu.edu
and Wang at fwang@unu.edu

References[1] Kees Baldé and others The global e-waste monitor — 2014, Quantities, flows and resources (UN University, to
be published in 2015)
[2] Feng Wang and others The Best-of-2-Worlds philosophy: Developing local dismantling and global infrastructure network for
sustainable e-waste treatment in emerging economies (Waste Management, 2012)

Source:http://www.scidev.net/global/pollution/opinion/rich-poor-nations-link-up-recycle-electronic-waste.html (05/09/2016)

4) REFERENCE: Contextualize the given words and write down their referent.
1. THEIR ( 1st p)
2. IT (3rd p)
3. THEM (7th p.)
4. THIS (8th p.) this refer to the lack of R2-certified facility in Latin-America,
5. THESE (14th p.)
LANGUAGE EXPONENTS.
5) Find examples in the text of:
• A false friend/cognate Facilities, Parrafo 8, linea 1
The concept, called Best-of-2-Worlds (Bo2W), aims to integrate technical and logistical aspects of
• A non-defining relative clause
best practice in advanced, international end-processing facilities", Parrafo 13, linea 2
• A hyphenated adjective high-tech, parrafo 14, linea 3

• A superlative case the best, parrafo 15, linea 1.

• A present participle working as an adjective parrafo 8, linea 1
• Passive voice -simple present tense

• A possessive case people´s lives. parrafo 1, linea 1

• An adverb of frequency

• A connector that introduces cause

• A word with a negative prefix

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 Universidad Nacional de Moreno
Departamento Ciencias Aplicadas y Tecnologías INGLÉS III

Licenciatura en Gestión Ambiental- Licenciatura en Biotecnología

Prof: María Florencia Garabito

6) Report this sentence extracted from the text:

“There is a way to offer affordable and environmentally friendly
recycling for developing countries: through cooperation between local
dismantling operations and the global networks of infrastructure that
can further refine materials.”
………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………
………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………
………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………
………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………
………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………
7) Tenses: complete the chart :
Tense Example from the text use
Usamos el presente perfecto simple
present Electric and electronic equipment have para referirnos a eventos en el pasado
perfect revolutionized people´s lives. pero que se conectan con el presente
presente El presente perfecto continuo se
Developing countries have been producing usa para hablar sobre una actividad
perfecto
continuo more e-waste ya finalizada en el pasado reciente.
para hablar de acciones que
continous Dismantling is a highly efficient way to estan ocurriendo en el
present separate materials. momento en que se habla

8) Passive Voice: Complete the chart

Active Voice Passive Voice
- The industrialized countries ship used equipment -Used equipment is shipped to developing
to developing countries countries by the industrialized countries.
-The institutions has been develop a such concept -Such a concept has already been
developed by the institutions.

3- ACADEMIC TEXTS-Skim the abstract below and solve these tasks:

9) Make a hypothesis about what the text will be about:

………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………
………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………
………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………
………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………
………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………
10) Translate the title and the underlined phrases in context!
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 Universidad Nacional de Moreno
Departamento Ciencias Aplicadas y Tecnologías INGLÉS III

Licenciatura en Gestión Ambiental- Licenciatura en Biotecnología

Prof: María Florencia Garabito

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Journal of Environmental Management

Volume 90, Issue 1, January 2009, Pages 153–165

Producer responsibility for e-waste management: Key issues for consideration –

Learning from the Swiss experience
Deepali Sinha Khetriwala, , , Philipp Kraeuchib, , Rolf Widmerb,
Abstract
E-waste, a relatively recent addition to the waste stream in the form of discarded
electronic and electric equipment, is getting increasing attention from policy makers as
the quantity being generated is rising rapidly. One of the most promising policy options to
address this issue is to extend the producers responsibility for their products beyond the
point of sale, until end-of-product-life. This paper briefly introduces the concept of
extended producer responsibility (EPR) and its applicability in the area of the end-of-life
management of electronic and electrical equipment (EEE). It then examines the decade-
long experience of Switzerland in using EPR to manage its e-waste, elaborating on the
experience of the Swiss system in overcoming specific issues, and finally wrapping up with
a synopsis of the lessons for policy makers. We consider each issue as an enquiry of
questions confronting a policy maker and the choices that may present themselves. The
five issues discussed are: (i) the challenges in getting an EPR based system started; (ii)
securing financing to ensure a self-sustaining and smooth functioning system; (iii)
organising a logistics network for the take back and collection of the e-waste; (iv) ensuring
compliance of the various actors involved; and finally (v) reducing the threat of
monopolistic practices.
Keywords: e-Waste; WEEE; Extended producer responsibility; EPR; Environmental policy
Corresponding author.
Copyright © 2007 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S030147970700312X