Abstract
In the past two decades, the waste electrical and electronic equipment (WEEE) management has become an important environmental issue internationally because it contained hazardous substances like heavy metals and brominated flame retardants. Moreover, some valuable substances were used in the electrical and electronic products, thus representing a circular industry for recycling of WEEE. Therefore, the Taiwan government formulated a legal WEEE recycling system since 1998 in response to the international trends of sustainable waste management and extended producer responsibility (EPR). This article adopted the national statistics in Taiwan regarding the online reporting amounts of collected WEEE since it has been officially designated as one of the mandatory recyclable wastes. Furthermore, the regulatory measures were addressed to update the status and subsidiary fee rates of WEEE recycling in Taiwan. In addition, this article also put emphasis on the regulations governing the toxic chemical substances contained in the WEEE. It showed that the average annual recycling amounts of home electronic appliances, information technology products and lighting in Taiwan during the 2017–2018 were around 117,000, 18,000 and 4500 metric tons, respectively. It was also indicated that the current WEEE recycling market in Taiwan has become saturated, reflecting the regulatory promulgation and promotional measures successfully. In response to the Stockholm Convention on persistent organic pollutants (POPs) and the Minamata Convention on Mercury, the Taiwan government declared some brominated flame retardants and heavy metals (i.e., mercury and cadmium) as a “toxic chemical substance” under the Toxic and Concerned Chemical Substance Control Act (TCCSCA), which shall be prohibited to use in the preparation of electrical and electronic equipment (EEE) since 1 January 2016. Through the central governing authority, local governments, and private recyclers in Taiwan, the successful WEEE recycling system not only reduce the pressure on sanitary disposal systems, but also prevent the chemical hazards from solid waste incineration systems. More significantly, the WEEE recycling in Taiwan echoed the United Nations (UN) Agenda 2030 for sustainable development goals.
Highlights
Over the past decades, municipal solid waste (MSW) generation has increased at a significant rate, which was linked to economic growth and living level
The Stockholm Convention on persistent organic pollutants (POPs), the European Union waste electrical and electronic equipment (WEEE) Directive entered into force in 2003, which set targets for the collection, which came into effect on 17 May 2004, decided to blanket certain polybrominated biphenyls and recovery, and recycling of WEEE covering 10 categories
The public has become more concerned about the environment pollution and human health impacts as a result of waste electrical and electronic equipment (WEEE) recycling, including home electronic appliances, information technology products and lighting
Summary
Municipal solid waste (MSW) generation has increased at a significant rate, which was linked to economic growth and living level. As electrical and electronic equipment often contained a large number of hazardous substances such as heavy metals (e.g., mercury), brominated flame retardants (e.g., polybrominated diphenyl ethers) and other substances, its waste electrical and electronic equipment (WEEE) in the MSW could cause serious environmental pollution and human health problems from disassembling/pulverizing facilities, incineration facilities, sanitary landfills and illegal dumping sites [1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8]. In response to the international trends on sustainable development in the 1990s, the resulting discards have been implemented in the 3R (Reduce, Reuse, and Recycle) frameworks by rethinking them as valuable resources [9,10,11,12,13,14] In this regard, the rapidly growing stream of WEEE continued to be a serious challenge because it is directly related to illegal exports or imports around the world. Toxics 2020, 8, x FOR PEER REVIEW the international initiatives or conventions like the Stockholm Convention on persistent organic pollutants (POPs) [36] and the Minamata Convention on Mercury [37]
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