Uruguay's Laptop-for-Every-Child Program Now Refurbishes Its Own Dead Laptops

Plan Ceibal collects about 170 tonnes of waste electrical and electronic equipment every year from the devices it distributes to schools, and reuses or recycles more than 75% of it. According to the Uruguayan government in January 2026, its devices are under 1% of the equipment imported into the country, but its recovery practices account for 14% of the e-waste processed nationally. Over the last three years it has collected on average 60% of the e-waste it generates, and 40% of the spare parts it uses come from reused equipment.