Disassembly and recycling cost analysis of waste notebook and the efficiency improvement by re-design process

Abstract

This paper evaluates the recycling rates, costs as well as the disassembly time of a notebook at its end-of-life stage through Prodtect 1.3 calculation using data collected during disassembly processes. The results show that the disassembly and recycle of a notebook at its end-of-life stage may exert positive influence on the environment by introducing the eco-design concept to the product re-design, thus creating more resource-conserving products and enhancing recycle efficiency. Through proper disassembly and disposal processes, a notebook at its end-of-life stage may yield the recycling value of 1.61 EUR. Furthermore, the most revenue of 1.44 EUR is attributed to the recycle of metallic and plastic parts, the major constituents of a notebook. As for the time required for disassembly, the Top Case, Motherboard and LCD (CHI MEI) are the three most time-taking parts in the disassembly process, and their total times required are 133, 67 and 64 s, respectively. Prodtect calculation to assess notebook recycling benefits provides a new set of guidelines for the notebook designer to propose potential modifications of the re-design for reducing the environmental impacts arising from the next-generation products.