Regional or global WEEE recycling. Where to go?

Li, Jinhui; Lopez, N N Brenda; Liu, Huan; Zhao, Ni; Yu, Keli; Zheng, Lu

doi:10.1016/j.wasman.2012.11.011

Cited by 147 publications

(83 citation statements)

References 12 publications

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“…WEEE contains both hazardous and precious components, and is a rapidly growing waste stream [3][4][5]. The responsible collection and recycling of WEEE reduces environmental harm [6,7] and facilitates the recovery of valuable materials [8][9][10], including rare earth elements and other critical raw materials (e.g., indium and gallium) that are of vital importance for modern economies [11][12][13][14]. The recycling of WEEE is a complex task requiring an effective technical infrastructure and managerial framework [15,16], and it has potential to generate significant economic wealth from recovered rare and important metals [12,17,18].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

The Link between e-Waste and GDP—New Insights from Data from the Pan-European Region

Kusch

Hills

2017

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Waste electrical and electronic equipment (WEEE) is difficult to sustainably manage. One key issue is the challenge of planning for WEEE flows as current and future quantities of waste are difficult to predict. To address this, WEEE generation and gross domestic product (GDP) data from 50 countries of the pan-European region were assessed. A high economic elasticity was identified, indicating that WEEE and GDP are closely interlinked. More detailed analyses revealed that GDP at purchasing power parity (GDP PPP) is a more meaningful measure when looking at WEEE flows, as a linear dependency between WEEE generation and GDP PPP was identified. This dependency applies to the whole region, regardless of the economic developmental stage of individual countries. In the pan-European region, an increase of 1000 international $ GDP PPP means an additional 0.5 kg WEEE is generated that requires management.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

The Link between e-Waste and GDP—New Insights from Data from the Pan-European Region

Kusch

Hills

2017

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“…27 However, both regulation updating and technology innovating, and some emerging negative problems such as new types of ewaste management oblige that to find a new solution for global e-waste problem is extremely necessary. The feasible solution should be strongly relevant to resource recycling and environmental improvement.…”

Section: ■ Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“Control-Alt-Delete”: Rebooting Solutions for the E-Waste Problem

Zeng

Chen

et al. 2015

Environ. Sci. Technol.

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205

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A number of efforts have been launched to solve the global electronic waste (e-waste) problem. The efficiency of e-waste recycling is subject to variable national legislation, technical capacity, consumer participation, and even detoxification. E-waste management activities result in procedural irregularities and risk disparities across national boundaries. We review these variables to reveal opportunities for research and policy to reduce the risks from accumulating e-waste and ineffective recycling. Full regulation and consumer participation should be controlled and reinforced to improve local e-waste system. Aiming at standardizing best practice, we alter and identify modular recycling process and infrastructure in eco-industrial parks that will be expectantly effective in countries and regions to handle the similar e-waste stream. Toxicity can be deleted through material substitution and detoxification during the life cycle of electronics. Based on the idea of “Control-Alt-Delete”, four patterns of the way forward for global e-waste recycling are proposed to meet a variety of local situations.

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“…Countries such as Switzerland, Denmark, Netherlands, Norway, Belgium, Sweden, and Germany already have an established Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) for WEEE. In the case of WEEE facilities, many developed countries including the USA, Europe and Japan have mature technologies for the treatment of this waste stream [2]. However, in developing countries primitive activities predominate , as in the case of the largest e-waste recycling place in Guiyu, China where the practices include: manually classification and ASME ©…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Also the informal sector has a predominant presence in these activities, as in the case of Nigeria, Ghana and Thailand [2]. Traditionally, the recycling of WEEE mainly stays at material level.…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%