Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment: The Anthropocene Knocks on Our Door

Abstract

This review describes the technological, environmental, socio-cultural, economical and health challenges due to the waste electrical and electronic equipment. The rate of production of this waste has reached scary levels in the last years, and the level of perception of the populations facing the challenges imposed for their management greatly varies from one country to another. Solutions for waste electrical and electronic equipment are extremely complex, from the establishment of an effective reverse logistics of used products and reverse manufacturing protocols, to the proposal of technologies capable of processing the components of the various electrical and electronic products. Printed circuit boards, cathode ray tubes and liquid crystal displays are the most difficult components to recycle due to their multi-component nature: although they contain high-added value elements in much larger amounts than those of primary sources, they also present metallic components and organic compounds that are highly toxic to health and lead to environmental impacts. Brazil has begun to pay attention to the problem of e-waste relatively recently. Despite ongoing initiatives, the country still has a long way to go until the establishment of a management system that covers all its stages and peculiarities, such as its territorial extension. Waste electrical and electronic equipment is one of the most eloquent symbols of Anthropocene.