Time-series product and substance flow analyses of end-of-life electrical and electronic equipment in China

Material Flow Analysis and Waste Management

“…Brazil (Araújo et al 2012 ), China (Liu et al 2006 ;Yang et al 2008 ;Chung 2012 ;Zhang et al 2012 ;Habuer et al 2014 ;Li et al 2015 ), Chile (Steubing et al 2010 ), Czech Republic (Polak and Drapalova 2012 ), Germany (Walk 2009 ), Hong Kong (Chung et al 2011 ;Lau et al 2013 ), India (Dwivedy and Mittal 2010a , b ), Indonesia (Andarani and Goto 2014 ), Iran (Rahmani et al 2014 ;Alavi et al 2015 ), Japan (Yamasue et al 2007 ;Oguchi et al 2008 ;Yoshida et al 2009 ), Nigeria Nnorom and Osibanjo 2008 ), South Korea (Lee et al 2007 ;Kim et al 2013 ), Spain (Gutierrez et al 2010 ), USA (Kang and Schoenung 2006 ;Leigh et al 2007 ;Kahhat and Williams 2012 ;Lam et al 2013 ;Schumacher et al 2014 ), and in the global economy (Yu et al 2010 ). Some studies have estimated fl ows of specifi c materials contained in e-waste such as steel, aluminum, copper, lead, nickel, and zinc (Yamasue et al 2007 ;Lam et al 2013 ;Habuer et al 2014 ) and parts such as lithium-ion batteries (Chang et al, 2009 ). Tracking international trade of second-hand e-products is another research objective of MFA to assess the potential negative impacts on the environment in importing countries Williams 2009 , 2012 ;Yoshida and Terazono 2010 ;Breivik et al 2014 ).…”

Resource-availability scenario analysis for formal and informal recycling of end-of-life electrical and electronic equipment in China

“…Among the EoL EEE, different types of EoL TV-sets including cathode ray tube (CRT), plasma display panel (PDP) and liquid crystal display (LCD) TV-set and PCs including desktop and laptop PC were chosen as targets because of the following reasons: (I) TV-sets are the most frequently owned EEE in households, and PCs have the shortest lifespans [9] and (II) the materials contained in these EEE present high resource shortage potentials and are environmental contaminants. The data in terms of substance contents of EoL TV-sets and PCs are very limited and fragmented.…”

“…These toxins can cause brain damage, allergic reactions, and cancer if excessively absorbed by human [8]. In addition, EoL EEE contains valuable materials such as plastic and metals including common, less common, and precious metals as secondary resources [9,10]. Secondary resource recycling is thus driven by the value of the recovered metals (and materials).…”

“…It was estimated that the total generation of EoL household television (TV) sets, refrigerators, washing machines, air conditioners, and personal computers (PCs) in 2030 will be 2.5 times larger than that in 2010 [9]. However, as far as policies and legislations are concerned, China has little experience in managing EoL EEE recycling and treatment when compared with more developed countries such as Japan.…”

“…Some research groups have focused on the secondary metal resources obtained from EoL EEE [9,[16][17][18][19][20]. Tasaki et al [18] presented three indices (resource consumption, water pollution influencing human health, and aquatic biota conservation) for screening 36 metals in EoL EEE using simple assessment methods.…”