Abstract
The increased diversity and complexity of plastics used in modern devices, such as electrical and electronic equipment (EEE), can have negative impacts on their recyclability. Today, the main economic driver for waste electrical and electronic equipment (WEEE) recycling stems from metal recovery. WEEE plastics recycling, on the other hand, still represents a major challenge. Strategies like design ‘for’, but also the much younger concept of design ‘from’ recycling play a key role in closing the material loops within a circular economy. While these strategies are usually analysed separately, this brief report harmonises them in comprehensive Design for Circularity guidelines, established in a multi-stakeholder collaboration with industry leaders from the entire WEEE value chain. The guidelines were developed at the product and part levels. They are divided in five categories: (1) avoidance of hazardous substances; (2) enabling easy access and removal of hazardous or polluting parts; (3) use of recyclable materials; (4) use of material combinations and connections allowing easy liberation; (5) use of recycled materials. These guidelines are the first harmonised set to be released for the EEE industry. They can readily serve decision-makers from different levels, including product designers and manufacturers as well as policymakers.
Highlights
The annual global plastics production increased from 1.5 million tonnes in 1950 to 368 million tonnes in 2019 [1,2]
waste electrical and electronic equipment (WEEE) plastics recycling still represents a major challenge, since the plastic fraction is composed of a complex mix of many different polymers and additives
A variety of practical guidelines to support design for plastics recycling has been published in grey literature in recent years, with an almost exclusive focus on the packaging sector [13,24,25,26,27,28], since packaging represents the highest demand for plastics and generates most of the plastic waste [1]
Summary
The annual global plastics production increased from 1.5 million tonnes in 1950 to 368 million tonnes in 2019 [1,2]. The increased diversity and complexity of plastics used in modern devices (such as electrical and electronic equipment (EEE)) has negative impacts on the later stages of a product’s lifecycle [3,4]. Waste electrical and electronic equipment (WEEE) is considered one of the fastestgrowing waste streams in the EU and at the global level. WEEE plastics recycling still represents a major challenge, since the plastic fraction is composed of a complex mix of many different polymers and additives. SIN list substances represent an indication of substances to be restricted/banned in the future. If these substances are used in materials today, future waste stream might not meet the requirements to be recycled and reused in new products.
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