Small Waste Electrical And Electronic Equipment Research Articles

Repair and Reuse or Recycle: What Is Best for Small WEEE in Australia?

The global and Australian trends indicate a steady increase in the generation of small waste electrical and electronic equipment (WEEE), constituting 30% of global WEEE in 2019 with an expected 90% increase in Australia over the next 25 years. Given this fact, identifying the most suitable circular economy strategy is vital in managing this waste stream. Hence, followed by a review of the literature, a model was developed to assess the suitability of repair, reuse, and recycling of small electrical and electronic equipment (EEE) by considering the lifespan and products put on the market (PoM) as critical variables. Findings indicate that solely repairing and reusing products, without reducing PoM small EEE, minimally affects short-term waste reduction. A synergistic approach, combining high product reuse with reduced PoM small EEE, is essential to decrease small WEEE generation significantly. Regardless of lifespan changes, the study indicates a proportional relationship between small WEEE generation rates and PoM small EEE changes, emphasising the need for a holistic strategy. Considering this, within stewardship schemes, the primary focus should initially lie on repairing and repurposing small EEE, with the potential for expansion into recycling once sufficient infrastructure and achievable recovery goals are established. Original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) must shoulder substantial accountability, with a firm commitment to extended producer responsibility (EPR) even for historical products. The initial rollout could target four specific categories: toys, food preparation equipment, vacuum cleaners, and household tools, with the scope widening to encompass all categories following successful implementation.

Ignition and fire-related incidents caused by lithium-ion batteries in waste treatment facilities in Japan and countermeasures

Ignition and other fire-related incidents have been increasing at municipal waste treatment and small waste electrical and electronic equipment (WEEE) recycling facilities in Japan. To understand the current status of lithium-ion battery (LIB)-caused ignition and other incidents and to provide information necessary for countermeasures, we conducted interviews at municipal treatment facilities, did real-time monitoring at a treatment facility, and surveyed LIB mixed in non-combustible waste. Several treatment facilities had more than 0.1 ignition and other incidents per tonne of non-combustible and bulky waste collected in FY2020. These accidents were attributed to LIBs in 80–90 % of the cases, primarily because of physical impact on the LIBs during the crushing/shredding stage, even though LIB-containing small WEEE accounted for only about 0.3 % of the total weight of non-combustible waste. The best way to prevent the occurrence of such LIB-caused ignition and other incidents is to avoid crushing/shredding LIB-containing small WEEE.

Management of Small WEEE: Future Directions for Australia

Globally, the generation of small Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment (WEEE) is rapidly increasing and accounted for over 30% of total E-waste in 2019. Managing this critical waste stream has proven challenging in Australia due to diverse product categories, short lifespans, and high frequency of disposal. To address the issue, a Multivocal Literature Analysis was conducted to identify prevailing situations, barriers, and prospects for a practical management framework. Findings were thematically analysed based on sustainability and circular-economy principles. The study revealed several critical obstacles, including the lack of involvement by local governments, the mixing of small WEEE with municipal waste, the absence of an established repair and reuse culture, and the limited domestic application of recovered metals. To address these issues, the study identifies the need for a dedicated co-regulatory stewardship scheme based on extended producer responsibility with eco-modulated fees and realistic scheme targets. Additionally, to accommodate the high product diversity, the expansion of treatment infrastructure is suggested while encouraging responsible consumption among customers. The findings of this investigation hold substantial value for the regulatory bodies in developing and implementing small-WEEE management schemes for Australia.

Feasibility Study of Closed-Loop Recycling for Plastic Generated from Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment (WEEE) in South Korea

Plastics follow a linear economic structure, leading to detrimental environmental effects, such as global warming and ecosystem destruction, through incineration and accumulation throughout their life cycle. This study examined the types, potential generation amounts, and properties of recycled plastics from waste electrical and electronic equipment (WEEE) to assess the feasibility of the closed-loop recycling of plastics from WEEE under South Korea’s EPR system. Actual data from companies were used to determine the factors, such as the processing volume of WEEE. As of 2021, acrylonitrile-butadiene-styrene (53,363 tons), polypropylene (14,320 tons), and polystyrene (8199 tons) were the recycled plastics produced by both large and small WEEE. The properties of recycled plastics meet the specifications of new electrical and electronic products. In addition, an analysis using Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) methodology showed that the recycling effect (avoided emissions) reached 262,033 tons of CO2 eq. per year. Therefore, closed-loop recycling is the most suitable and effective method for reducing greenhouse gases. This paper presents the potential amount of recycled plastics generated from WEEE within South Korea’s regulatory framework, providing valuable foundational data for policy development for promoting the use of recycled plastics.

Household E-Waste Management: A Case Study of Wroclaw, Poland

Improper collection and processing of waste electrical and electronic equipment (WEEE) pose a serious threat to the environment and prevent the recovery of valuable materials. Due to the decreasing availability of resources and production materials, the relevance of WEEE recycling has increased. WEEE should be seen as an important source of raw materials for European economies. Moreover, e-waste recycling has a positive impact on the environment by limiting energy use and CO2 emissions during ore processing. The objective of this study was the analysis of the product use times, the reasons for purchasing new devices, and the consumers’ behavior, knowledge, and awareness concerning WEEE collection and treatment. This study discusses these issues based on a survey on electronic waste management in Wroclaw (Poland). The results from 495 questionnaire respondents indicated a shortening use time of many types of electronic and electric equipment (EEE). The “failure of the device” was the primary reason respondents replaced their products. It was indicated by 90% of the respondents. In many cases, the repair of devices was unprofitable. The most important factor determining the purchase of new devices was their price. The environmental factors, mainly those giving economic benefits, were also considered. Despite the implementation of the extended producer responsibility, the functioning model of WEEE collection has proven to be ineffective. A significant amount of small WEEE ended up in waste bins. For this reason, the willingness of residents to pay an additional fee for WEEE collection was also estimated. The results indicated that campaigns to increase residents’ awareness of WEEE management should continue.

A CNN-Based Fast Picking Method for WEEE Recycling

Recycling of Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment (WEEE) is challenging due to the high variety in both the design and composition of the products in this waste stream. Therefore, targeted demanufacturing and appropriate material sorting processes are crucial, but remain often a manual and thus labor-intensive and costly activity. Despite first steps towards the automation of these sorting processes can be noticed, many of them are in material sorting, but very few in the sorting at product level. In this perspective, one of the key tasks is the automated classification, picking and manipulation of WEEE products.In the presented research, a closed-loop grasp planning method is proposed for the random picking of WEEE products. The presented grasping method combines a Convolutional Neural Network-based quality prediction and Closed-Loop control, named CNNB-CL, to find the optimized grasp region for unknown objects in a dense clutter. A large-scale dataset is generated for the CNN training, containing over 2.3 million synthetic grasps, and their corresponding grasp qualities evaluated by grasp simulations using 3D models. The proposed 7-layer light-weighted CNN quantitatively estimates the grasp quality of each grasp candidate. In addition, the CNNB-CL utilizes the feedback from a force-torque sensor to detect the optimized grasp and to adjust the grasp strategy. Various empirical experiments prove that the CNNB-CL method finds an optimized grasp for a WEEE clutter from 2,000 grasp candidates within 0.3 s and achieves an average success rate of 92% for different WEEE clutters. Furthermore, the average picking speed is as high as 1,400 mm/s for the random picking of small WEEE products (< 300 g) with a FANUC Delta robot (M-2i A 3SL). The fast-picking ability of the presented method reveals its potential application for the (pre-) processing of WEEE.

Life cycle assessment of a small WEEE reverse logistics system: Case study in the Campinas Area, Brazil

The waste electrical and electronic equipment (WEEE) reverse logistics system mapped in this study comprises transportation, dismantling and recycling operations that consume material and energy resources and cause environmental impacts. Considering the few studies on WEEE management, specifically on reverse logistics systems in Brazil, this study's main objective consists in assessing the environmental benefits and burdens resulting from a reverse logistics system that considers a variety of WEEE, by means of life cycle assessment (LCA). The study provides robust information and data that may assist in decision-making regarding reverse logistics processes and operations, in addition to environmental benefits as to WEEE component material recovery. Moreover, the LCA model and material flow scheme presented can be replicated by other dismantling companies, with similar processes, to estimate the burdens and benefits from recycling. The results indicate that the benefits of reverse logistics outweigh its impacts, remarkably due to the saving of metals and mineral resources resulting mainly from recycling printed circuit boards, and to the reduction of the potential environmental impact in human toxicity categories.

Examining the feasibility of the urban mining of hard disk drives

Cities are becoming one of the greatest generators of waste and thus a potential source of secondary materials. One of the most attractive waste streams in cities is waste electrical and electronic equipment (WEEE) as they contain many valuable metals, mainly in the printed circuit board (PCB), with a high risk of a disruption in their supply. Many of the PCBs contained in small WEEE are separated by destructive operations, as the economic feasibility of their separation using non-destructive operations remains unclear. This paper examines the feasibility of separating the PCB and the permanent magnets (PMs) contained in hard disk drives (HDD) using non-destructive operations. The economic cost of separating these parts is evaluated by the disassembly sequences, the disassembly schemes, and using the ‘ease of Disassembly Metric’ (eDiM). In HDD, the economic cost for the non-destructive separation of the PCB is €0.05 while the cost to harvest the PCB as well as the PMs is €0.39. In both cases, such cost is well below the estimated economic value of the gold, silver, and palladium contained in the PCB (€0.85). As a result, the paper concludes that the separation of the PCB and the PMs of HDDs is economically profitable. Measures for promoting the non-destructive separation of the PCBs and the PM of HDDs should be further promoted, as they could help improve the supply of secondary raw materials.

An assessment of achievements of the WEEE Directive in promoting movement up the waste hierarchy: experiences in the UK

Rapidly developing technology and an increasing number of products containing electrical or electronic functions, has led to discarded electrical and electronic equipment (EEE) being one of the fastest growing waste streams. The European Union (EU) has enacted several iterations of the Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment (WEEE) Directive to address this complex waste stream. However, recycling dominates treatments for e-waste, despite the established ‘waste hierarchy’ showing waste prevention and reuse are generally preferable to recycling.This paper reports on 30 semi-structured interviews, undertaken across the EEE value chain, examining the impact of the WEEE Directive in the UK. The interviews confirmed that reuse takes place for a limited number of product types, mostly on a small scale. Additionally, whilst legislation has prompted innovation in recycling and higher capture rates, resource recovery is in practice limited to easily salvageable materials, whilst recovery of critical raw materials is often neglected. Furthermore, there is confusion around available collection networks, particularly for small WEEE, which consistently appears in residual waste streams.The waste hierarchy remains the key component of EU waste strategy and moving to the higher levels of the waste hierarchy is an essential part of achieving sustainable waste management and moving towards a circular economy. The paper proposes a series of measures to this end: promoting recovery routes and practices that facilitate reuse of suitable products, adapting recycling technology to increase recovery of critical raw materials and targeted policies to encourage the application of the waste hierarchy within a resource efficiency-oriented framework.

Separation efficiency of valuable and critical metals in WEEE mechanical treatments

Abstract The high demand of rare earth elements (REEs) in electronics industry and their high supply risk owing to the dependence on limited source countries have increased the interest towards Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment (WEEE) as a potential secondary source of these elements, identified as critical metals. Although REEs are present in a wide range of high-tech products in relative low concentrations, the recycling of critical metals from WEEE is regarded as an important opportunity for promoting the conservation of primary resources and preventing waste production. However, the existing systems for WEEE collection and treatment mainly focus on the recovery of base and precious metals while the fate of REEs has not been addressed yet. To this end, the present study aims at evaluating the substance flows of critical metals in WEEE mechanical pre-treatments as these processes, preceding the metallurgical treatments of refining, determine the amount of metals entering the further recovery chain. The separation efficiency of a full scale mechanical process, including a sequential shredding and selection treatment of small WEEE, was investigated assessing the mass balance of both base metals and special metals as well as the quality of the output products. The mass flow analysis revealed that after pre-treatments only a third of precious metals entering the treatment process was conveyed to the target output destined to further recovery and less than 2% of REEs was concentrated in the potentially recyclable metallic fractions, while approximately 80% of these elements was distributed in the dust stream actually destined to landfill. Furthermore, the study pointed out that the fine fraction of the metallic outputs from the sorting process is characterized by a major degree of purity, indicating that both the dust stream and the fine grain fraction could be regarded as secondary sources for the recovery of valuable and critical metals from WEEE.

Environmental impacts of a hydrometallurgical process for electronic waste treatment: A life cycle assessment case study

The recovery of precious metals through hydrometallurgical techniques is one of the most active research areas on recovery of metals from electronic scraps. In this perspective, a pilot plant was designed for the treatment of small WEEE (Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment) via hydrometallurgy. The process is based on two different leaching steps, in nitric acid and in aqua regia, followed by electrodeposition processes, to mainly recover copper, silver and gold. Two adsorption steps were also carried out to recover nickel and tin.The goal of the present study is to assess the environmental impacts associated with the designed hydrometallurgical treatment of the small WEEE through Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) methodology. The approach considered is cradle-to-gate, i.e., from the collected WEEE entering the collection centre to the secondary metals obtained from the hydrometallurgical treatment.Results obtained by SimaPro software and CML-IA method show that the nitric acid leaching contributes mostly to the impacts of the hydrometallurgical process (from 40% to 80%), followed by the adsorption steps. From an environmental perspective, the latter can still be improved at the design phase by increasing the lifetime of the sorbents.

Thermal and catalytic pyrolysis of a mixture of plastics from small waste electrical and electronic equipment (WEEE)

Pyrolysis seems a promising route for recycling of heterogeneous, contaminated and additives containing plastics from waste electrical and electronic equipment (WEEE). This study deals with the thermal and catalytic pyrolysis of a synthetic mixture containing real waste plastics, representative of polymers contained in small WEEE. Two zeolite-based catalysts were used at 400°C: HUSY and HZSM-5 with a high silica content, while three different temperatures were adopted for the thermal cracking: 400, 600 and 800°C. The mass balance showed that the oil produced by pyrolysis is always the main product regardless the process conditions selected, with yields ranging from 83% to 93%. A higher yield was obtained when pyrolysis was carried out with HZSM-5 at 400°C and without catalysts, but at 600 and 800°C. Formation of a significant amount of solid residue (about 13%) is observed using HUSY. The oily liquid product of pyrolysis, analysed by GC–MS and GC-FID, as well as by elemental analysis and for energy content, appeared lighter, less viscous and with a higher concentration of monoaromatics under catalytic condition, if compared to the liquid product derived from thermal degradation at the same temperature. HZSM-5 led to the production of a high yield of styrene (17.5%), while HUSY favoured the formation of ethylbenzene (15%). Energy released by combustion of the oil was around 39MJ/kg, thus suggesting the possibility to exploit it as a fuel, if the recovery of chemical compounds could not be realised. Elemental and proximate analysis of char and GC-TCD analysis of the gas were also performed. Finally, it was estimated to what extent these two products, showing a relevant ability to release energy, could fulfil the energy demand requested in pyrolysis.

폐소형가전제품 재활용 현황과 전망

폐전자제품의 증가로 인해 재활용의 중요성이 대두되었으며, 그 중 폐소형가전제품은 다양한 품목과 구성품으로 인해 재활용이 어려운 실정이다. 폐소형가전제품에 함유되어 있는 주요금속은 철, 구리, 알루미늄이며, 그 외에 PCBs, 플라스틱 등 다양한 구성품으로 이루어져 있다. 국내외에서 폐전자제품에 대한 재활용 규제가 시행되고 있지만 폐소형가전제품의 재활용 기술은 그 규제를 따라가지 못하는 실정이다. 폐소형가전제품의 재활용 공정은 아직 제대로 보급화 되지 않았으며, 개발이 된다면 국가 기술경쟁력(자원재활용률 등)이 증가할 뿐만 아니라, 자원비축, 환경문제 해결 및 경제성 확보 등 많은 긍정적 효과를 기대할 수 있을 것이다. 따라서 폐소형가전제품의 재자원화 가치와 국내외 기술현황 분석을 통하여 재활용공정 제언 및 앞으로 나가야할 방향을 살펴보고자 한다. The importance of recycling came to the fore by increasing of waste electrical and electronic equipment(WEEE) generation. Small WEEE recycling in particular represents a big challenge in Korea because it has various items and components. Main materials of small WEEE are typically well known for metals (copper, iron, aluminum, etc.), PCBs and plastics. Not only Korea but also overseas, the laws for small WEEE were in effect in order to recycle effectively, but the technology is not catched up with the regulation which has to recycle an allocated account of WEEE. In addition, recycling technologies and processes for small WEEE are not developed enough to recycling center properly. In that sense, if we develope the recycling process, have not only technology competitiveness but also resource conservation, improving the environment and economic profits. Therefore, through the analysis of economic value of recycled small WEEE, and current technologies both domestically and internationally, we design conceptual recycling process of small WEEE, and consider the way forward.

WEEE and portable batteries in residual household waste: Quantification and characterisation of misplaced waste

A total of 26.1Mg of residual waste from 3129 households in 12 Danish municipalities was analysed and revealed that 89.6kg of Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment (WEEE), 11kg of batteries, 2.2kg of toners and 16kg of cables had been wrongfully discarded. This corresponds to a Danish household discarding 29g of WEEE (7 items per year), 4g of batteries (9 batteries per year), 1g of toners and 7g of unidentifiable cables on average per week, constituting 0.34% (w/w), 0.04% (w/w), 0.01% (w/w) and 0.09% (w/w), respectively, of residual waste. The study also found that misplaced WEEE and batteries in the residual waste constituted 16% and 39%, respectively, of what is being collected properly through the dedicated special waste collection schemes. This shows that a large amount of batteries are being discarded with the residual waste, whereas WEEE seems to be collected relatively successfully through the dedicated special waste collection schemes. Characterisation of the misplaced batteries showed that 20% (w/w) of the discarded batteries were discarded as part of WEEE (built-in). Primarily alkaline batteries, carbon zinc batteries and alkaline button cell batteries were found to be discarded with the residual household waste. Characterisation of WEEE showed that primarily small WEEE (WEEE directive categories 2, 5a, 6, 7 and 9) and light sources (WEEE directive category 5b) were misplaced. Electric tooth brushes, watches, clocks, headphones, flashlights, bicycle lights, and cables were items most frequently found. It is recommended that these findings are taken into account when designing new or improving existing special waste collection schemes. Improving the collection of WEEE is also recommended as one way to also improve the collection of batteries due to the large fraction of batteries found as built-in. The findings in this study were comparable to other western European studies, suggesting that the recommendations made in this study could apply to other western European countries as well.

Estimation of end of life mobile phones generation: The case study of the Czech Republic

The volume of waste electrical and electronic equipment (WEEE) has been rapidly growing in recent years. In the European Union (EU), legislation promoting the collection and recycling of WEEE has been in force since the year 2003. Yet, both current and recently suggested collection targets for WEEE are completely ineffective when it comes to collection and recycling of small WEEE (s-WEEE), with mobile phones as a typical example. Mobile phones are the most sold EEE and at the same time one of appliances with the lowest collection rate. To improve this situation, it is necessary to assess the amount of generated end of life (EoL) mobile phones as precisely as possible. This paper presents a method of assessment of EoL mobile phones generation based on delay model. Within the scope of this paper, the method has been applied on the Czech Republic data. However, this method can be applied also to other EoL appliances in or outside the Czech Republic.Our results show that the average total lifespan of Czech mobile phones is surprisingly long, exactly 7.99years. We impute long lifespan particularly to a storage time of EoL mobile phones at households, estimated to be 4.35years. In the years 1990–2000, only 45 thousands of EoL mobile phones were generated in the Czech Republic, while in the years 2000–2010 the number grew to 6.5 million pieces and it is estimated that in the years 2010–2020 about 26.3 million pieces will be generated. Current European legislation sets targets on collection and recycling of WEEE in general, but no specific collection target for EoL mobile phone exists. In the year 2010 only about 3–6% of Czech EoL mobile phones were collected for recovery and recycling. If we make similar estimation using an estimated average EU value, then within the next 10years about 1.3 billion of EoL mobile phones would be available for recycling in the EU. This amount contains about 31tonnes of gold and 325tonnes of silver. Since Europe is dependent on import of many raw materials, efficient recycling of EoL products could help reduce this dependence. To set a working system of collection, it will be necessary to set new and realistic collection targets.

Composition of plastics from waste electrical and electronic equipment (WEEE) by direct sampling

This paper describes a direct analysis study carried out in a recycling unit for waste electrical and electronic equipment (WEEE) in Portugal to characterize the plastic constituents of WEEE. Approximately 3400 items, including cooling appliances, small WEEE, printers, copying equipment, central processing units, cathode ray tube (CRT) monitors and CRT televisions were characterized, with the analysis finding around 6000kg of plastics with several polymer types. The most common polymers are polystyrene, acrylonitrile–butadiene–styrene, polycarbonate blends, high-impact polystyrene and polypropylene. Additives to darken color are common contaminants in these plastics when used in CRT televisions and small WEEE. These additives can make plastic identification difficult, along with missing polymer identification and flame retardant identification marks. These drawbacks contribute to the inefficiency of manual dismantling of WEEE, which is the typical recycling process in Portugal. The information found here can be used to set a baseline for the plastics recycling industry and provide information for ecodesign in electrical and electronic equipment production.

Assessment of removal of components containing hazardous substances from small WEEE in Austria

Minimum treatment requirements for waste electrical and electronic equipment (WEEE) established by Directive 2002/96/EC provide for the removal of specific components containing hazardous substances. To date, no comparative analysis of removal rates has been undertaken. The present paper examines the state of de-pollution of sWEEE in Austrian treatment plants. The mass of selected components removed and the corresponding mass of hazardous substances is compared to estimated values for sWEEE input material. The results obtained reveal that components are only partly removed, featuring a high variation between components and plants assessed. The overall rate of removal ranged from 72% of the estimated value for batteries to 21% of the estimated value for liquid crystal panels. This implies the forwarding of substantial quantities of hazardous substances to mechanical treatment processes, particularly relevant in terms of dispersion of pollutants. Furthermore, easily releasable pollutants, such as Hg from LCD-backlights, Cd from batteries or highly contaminated dust in general, pose substantial health risks for plant workers. Low removal rates of printed circuit boards, batteries and toner cartridges also lead to a reduction in quantities of valuable recyclable materials (precious metals, plastics).

Small WEEE: Determining recyclables and hazardous substances in plastics

An examination regarding the determination of recyclables and hazardous substances in small waste electrical and electronic equipment (WEEE) found in the residual household waste stream of the city of Dresden, Germany, is described. Firstly, attitudes towards the disposal of small WEEE in the latter are assessed, and product types and categories which mostly contribute to its composition are identified. Physical parameters which could be used as mechanical sorting criteria are measured, and the material composition of the small WEEE found is determined. The hazardous substances’ “base” charge in the residual waste is established by means of atomic absorption spectrometry and ionic chromatography, as a first step in estimating the contribution of small WEEE to its pollutant load. Consequently, the content of small WEEE plastics in key heavy metals and halogens is determined. Key conclusions are drawn concerning the future strategic development and practical implementation of the 2002/96/EC Directive, in relation to small WEEE management and recycling.

Brominated Flame Retardants in Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment: Substance Flows in a Recycling Plant

Brominated flame retardants (BFRs) are synthetic additives mainly used in electrical and electronic appliances and in construction materials. The properties of some BFRs are typical for persistent organic pollutants, and certain BFRs, in particular some polybrominated diphenyl ether (PBDE) congeners and hexabromocyclododecane (HBCD), are suspected to cause adverse health effects. Global consumption of the most demanded BFRs, i.e., penta-, octa-, and decaBDE, tetrabromobisphenol A (TBBPA), and HBCD, has doubled in the 1990s. Only limited and rather uncertain data are available regarding the occurrence of BFRs in consumer goods and waste fractions as well as regarding emissions during use and disposal. The knowledge of anthropogenic substance flows and stocks is essential for early recognition of environmental impacts and effective chemicals management. In this paper, actual levels of penta-, octa-, and decaBDE, TBBPA, and HBCD in waste electrical and electronic equipment (WEEE) as a major carrier of BFRs are presented. These BFRs have been determined in products of a modern Swiss recycling plant applying gas chromatography/electron capture detection and gas chromatography/mass spectrometry analysis. A substance flow analysis (SFA) technique has been used to characterize the flows of target substances in the recycling process from the bulk WEEE input into the output products. Average concentrations in small size WEEE, representing the relevant electric and electronic appliances in WEEE, sampled in 2003 amounted to 34 mg/kg for pentaBDE, 530 mg/kg for octaBDE, 510 mg/kg for decaBDE, 1420 mg/kg for TBBPA (as an additive), 17 mg/kg for HBCD, 5500 mg/kg for bromine, and 1700 mg/kg for antimony. In comparison to data that have been calculated by SFA for Switzerland from literature for the 1990s, these measured concentrations in small size WEEE were 7 times higher for pentaBDE, unexpectedly about 50% lower for decaBDE, and agreed fairly well for TBBPA (as an additive) and octaBDE. Roughly 60% of the total bromine input determined by SFA based on X-ray fluorescence analysis of the output materials of the recycling plant cannot be assigned to the selected BFRs. This is an indication for the presence of other brominated substances as substitutes for PBDEs in electrical and electronic equipment. The presence of BFRs, in particular PBDEs in the low grams per kilogram concentration range, in the fine dust fraction recovered in the off-gas purification system of the recycling plant reveals a high potential for BFR emissions from WEEE management and point out the importance for environmentally sound recycling and disposal technologies for BFR-containing residues.

Household recycling behaviour and attitudes towards the disposal of small electrical and electronic equipment

Waste electrical and electronic equipment (WEEE) is recognised as the fastest growing waste stream in the European Union (EU), with estimates of up to 20 kg per person per annum. A wide variety of WEEE is discarded by consumers, often in different ways depending on size with small items (e.g. toasters) being easier to dispose of than larger ones (e.g. washing machines). Currently, small WEEE is not treated as a priority waste stream in the UK as in order to meet targets under the WEEE Directive 2 2 Directive 2002/96/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 27 January 2003 on waste electrical and electronic equipment (WEEE). Published in OJ L 37/24, 13.2.2003. Brussels: Commission of the European Communities. ( CEC, 2003c) it makes more sense to focus on larger items for which collection, reuse and recycling systems already exist, but small items need to be tackled for a number of reasons, including the long term strategic development of infrastructure. In light of this, the paper will assess consumer attitudes towards the disposal of small WEEE, and identify key problems raised by the implementation of the WEEE Directive in relation to these small product groups. The findings from a large scale postal questionnaire, and semi-structured interviews conducted in Cardiff, Wales will be used, and key literature and research carried out to date on the disposal of WEEE, and household attitudes to waste and recycling will be assessed. It will also look at how the implementation of the WEEE Directive ‘fits in’ with the current transition in the UK towards more sustainable waste management practices at the household level, and then explore the most effective ways of engaging householders in the recycling of small WEEE. Key recommendations will then be outlined concerning the future strategic development and practical implementation of the WEEE Directive in relation to consumer involvement and small product types.