Waste Electrical And Electronic Equipment Collection Research Articles

The potential impact of the new ‘Right to Repair’ rules on electrical and electronic equipment waste: A case study of the UK

Every year an estimated two million tonnes of waste electrical and electronic equipment (WEEE) are discarded by householders and companies in the United Kingdom (UK). While the UK has left the European Union (EU), its waste-related policies still mirror those of the EU, including the WEEE-related policies. Motivated by the recent introduction the so-called ‘Right to Repair’ policy for electrical and electronic equipment (EEE) across the EU and UK, this paper aims to demonstrate that, depending on the commitment and behavioural changes by the consumers and the government, the future of the WEEE management of the UK will vary. To this end, focusing on landfilled WEEE reduction we develop a generic system dynamics model and apply it to eleven WEEE categories. They depict the flow of EEE and WEEE representing the interaction among the stakeholders (e.g., consumers and producers of EEE) and relevant government regulations of the UK. Our four scenario analyses find that longer use of EEE and better WEEE collection seem to be effective in reducing landfilled WEEE, while more reuse and more recycling and recovery have negligible impacts, despite excluding the additional generation of landfilled WEEE as a result of recycling and recovery. Comparing with the business-as-usual scenario, one year longer EEE use and 10% more of WEEE collection could at maximum reduce landfilled WEEE by 14.05% of monitoring and control instruments and 93.93% of display equipment respectively. Backcasting scenario analyses reveal that significant efforts are required to reduce the targeted amounts.

Does the circularity end justify the means? A life cycle assessment of preparing waste electrical and electronic equipment for reuse

Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment (WEEE) pose a significant threat to the environment and public health due to the hazardous substances and the valuable and often scarce resources they contain. Policies for WEEE recycling have been adopted in most countries, while in the European Union the WEEE Directive renders preparing for reuse as a priority, although specific quantitative targets have not been imposed so far. Preparation for reuse to be effective requires improved WEEE collection networks and additional infrastructure, such as sorting and repair centres, all of which consume energy and materials, which also have environmental impacts. Moreover, refurbished appliances may be less energy efficient and there is a need to assess whether this benefit justifies the preparation for reuse burdens. The aim of this study was to investigate, under real-life operating conditions, whether the life cycle environmental impacts resulting from the preparation for reuse of WEEE are offset by the benefits of avoiding a new product purchase, which may have a lower energy consumption during its use lifespan. Data for desktops, laptops, monitors, printers, smartphones, and vacuum cleaners were collected from the two full-scale sorting centres in Greece, and life cycle assessments were performed. Results indicate that repair and reuse of smartphones leads to a reduction of their environmental impacts up to 25 %. To a lesser degree, laptops, desktops, and monitors, lead to reduce environmental impacts from −1.4 % to 19.2 %. For printers, the reductions are almost negligible, from 0.3 % to 3 %. On the other side, the repair and reuse of vacuum cleaners resulted in an increase of almost all their environmental impacts instead, even more than 70 % for marine and freshwater eutrophication. These findings can be used to the policy discourse for specific preparing for reuse targets and to inform decision-making. This could lead to prioritising specific categories for repair such as smartphones while avoiding specific WEEE categories from preparing for reuse such as vacuum cleaners and instead promote their substitution.

Socio-economic correlation analysis and hybrid artificial neural network model development for provincial waste electrical and electronic equipment generation forecasting in China

Ability to forecast the waste electrical and electronic equipment (WEEE) generation can help formulate a robust future WEEE management system. Previous studies applied forecasting models, such as the grey model and artificial neural networks, to predict WEEE generation from a country perspective, leading to less accurate forecasts due to huge socio-economic differences in rural and urban areas. Additionally, there has been the incompatibility of a single forecasting model for all WEEE types, and this remained a research gap. Taking advantage of respective forecasting models, this study presents a hybrid model, Grey Artificial Neural Network, to forecast the WEEE generation of 31 province-level regions in China while evaluating the socio-economic analysis of seven WEEE types via Pearson correlation analysis. More than 70% of WEEE from province-level regions strongly correlates (R > ±0.8) with the gross domestic product and the population, whereas some top WEEE-generating province-level regions (i.e., Tianjin and Shanghai) correlate weakly to moderately. The root mean square error and mean absolute error of the developed Grey Artificial Neural Network hybrid model are the lowest at 8.29 and 6.48, compared to the grey model (13.53 and 11.13) and back-propagation neural network (9.21 and 7.22). Though the Grey Artificial Neural Network hybrid model has the lowest error, posterior mean square deviation ratio analysis indicates that this hybrid model is only suitable for washing machines, refrigerators, color televisions, and personal computers (urban area), while the back-propagation neural network is suitable for monochrome televisions, air conditioners, and personal computers (rural area). Compared to 2019, it is projected that an additional 32.92 M units of WEEE will be generated by 2025, suggesting that China should build at least 15 extra recycling centers (14% more based on 2016) to handle the increased WEEE generation. This study provides policy implications for effective WEEE monitoring and collection systems to build resilient WEEE management.

Environmental and Social Life Cycle Assessment of Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment Management in Italy According to EU Directives

The current Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment (WEEE) management system of the European Union to be applied in all member states was introduced in 2002 by the first WEEE directive (2002/96/EC). Since the beginning, the system was intended to improve the management of WEEE and promote circular economy principles in the sector. This study aims at evaluating the environmental and social impacts of the WEEE management system in Italy, with a special focus on collection and recycling in Campania Region (the third more populated Italian Region, Southern Italy). The Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) is jointly applied with the Social Life Cycle Assessment (S-LCA). All five categories of WEEE (R1 to R5) are considered in the assessment. The LCA results show that the extraction of metals and materials from 1 tonne of WEEE collection and recycling generates much lower environmental impacts than the extraction and refining of an equivalent amount of virgin resources. In particular, the results of the environmental LCA highlight that the treatment of 1 tonne of WEEE collected in the Campania Region provides the opportunity to recover several metals such as Aluminum, Iron, Steel and ferrous materials, Copper, Nickel, Lead, and precious metals (Gold, Silver, and Palladium). According to S-LCA, the collection and recycling of 1 tonne of WEEE provides positive impacts to the investigated sub-categories of recipients (i.e., local community and society), except in some cases where the collection may potentially generate negative impacts, expressed by a lower “safe and healthy living conditions” indicator in the local community sub-category. In particular, much more must be done to support small Municipalities towards better collection procedures and integration within the largest Regional and national WEEE valorization networks. Solutions are suggested to improve the transition of the WEEE management system towards a more just environmental and social circular economy model.

Circular Economy Management of Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment (WEEE) in Italian Urban Systems: Comparison and Perspectives

This study evaluates the current collection and recycling of Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment (WEEE) in Italy by means of the analysis of national and regional data from EUROSTAT and the Italian WEEE Coordination Centre database, as well as through qualitative interviews with key stakeholders of the WEEE management system of the Campania region (Southern Italy). Urban systems, among which the metropolitan city of Naples in the Campania region, are the main users of Electrical and Electronic Equipment (EEE) and, as a consequence, the main generators of WEEE, which must be managed and recovered properly in order to prevent the loss of valuable resources and the associated environmental impacts. In addition to analysing the current state of WEEE collection and recycling in Italy and its regions and urban systems, the study aims to improve our understanding of the WEEE reverse supply chain and the main barriers and drivers to collection and recycling. The results reveal that the main barriers to the collection/delivery/recycling of WEEE resulted in the low awareness of the citizens about the importance of WEEE recovery, the lack of trust towards administrators, the lack of certified first treatment plants, the aversion of the citizens to the opening of new plants due to past inefficient solutions in solid waste management, the exploitation of high value materials only (so-called “cannibalization”, the illegal trade of WEEE, the influence of the market on the valorization of secondary materials), and, finally, the dominance of economic efficiency over the proximity advantage for the disposal of solid waste. On the other hand, the main drivers for collection emerged to be the adoption of education programmes in schools and constant communication campaigns directed to citizens in order to improve WEEE collection and recycling behaviour; the adoption of economic and non-economic incentives; the availability of municipal collection points (ecological islands) and other collection centres characterised by easy access by citizens for the delivery of their WEEE.

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.

Decision strategies for the WEEE reverse supply chain under the “Internet + recycling” model

Online recycling has been recognized as an efficient method to increase the recovery amount of waste electrical and electronic equipment (WEEE). However, due to lack of supply and demand coordination, the operational performance of the “Internet + recycling” model in WEEE is not ideal. Thus, the question of how to effectively balance the relationship among consumers, recyclers, and the government is of great importance for the establishment of the “Internet + recycling” model. This paper builds a dual-recycling channel reverse supply chain (RSC) decision model using the Stackelberg game model, and discusses the impact of consumer perception, efforts of online recycler, and government regulations on collection price, quantity, and profit. The findings show that increasing the consumer preference for the online recycling channel can enhance the WEEE recovery scale and the profit of the RSC, and the online recycler, through its efforts, can rectify the disadvantage of consumer preference for the online channel. Government subsidy regulation can promote the enthusiasm of consumers and enterprises for recycling. Moreover, reward-penalty regulation will disrupt the stability of forward supply chain, while the RSC is more coordinated. These findings provide valuable reference to increase the WEEE collection quantity and to promote the development of the “Internet + recycling” model.

New Models to Reduce the Health Risks of Informal WEEE Recyclers in MTN Phone Village, Rumukurushi, Port Harcourt, Nigeria.

Waste electrical and electronic equipment (WEEE) management in Port Harcourt, an oil-producing city in Nigeria, has become an environmental challenge for the location. WEEE recycling is predominantly managed by informal recyclers, who lack the skills to perform risk-free recycling, hence raising health risks to individuals in associated communities and degrading the environment. Formal recycling, which embraces the best practices for effective WEEE management, is faced with several limitations, such as a lack of detailed guidelines on waste recycling, reuse, and final disposal techniques, with no opportunities for landfilling. A qualitative approach was adopted for this study. Data were gathered via questionnaires and analysed graphically. A background literature review of the assessment of informal recycling methods and associated challenges was performed. Hence, a new concept for the local management of WEEE processing was introduced. This concept limits the role of informal recyclers to WEEE collection. In this case, informal recyclers are paid for WEEE collection; they no longer engage in further WEEE processing. The results show that 48% and 40% agree to partner and collaborate with government agencies, respectively. Conversely, 52% and 40% agree and strongly agree, respectively, to limit their activities to WEEE collection only if the government is willing to pay for the services.

Enhancement of WEEE Management Practices in MTN Phone Village, Rumukurushi, Port Harcourt, Nigeria

Informal recycling has been a source of challenges to a mobile telephone network (MTN) phone village in Rumukurushi, Port Harcourt, Nigeria, and several locations in developing countries. In order to bring a lasting solution to the menace of informal recycling in this location, the study proposed a new waste electrical and electronic equipment (WEEE) management system. The system comprises the application of two key concepts. The first concept includes limiting the activities of informal recyclers to WEEE collection only. This implies WEEE treatment, dismantling, etc., are carried out by government-approved agencies and experts. The second concept involves the application of the just-in-time (JIT) management concept for managing WEEE. The concept ensures that WEEE is only requested from the recycler or the individuals in possession of it and only on demand. The study adopted a qualitative research approach. Data collection and analysis were achieved via semi-structured phone interviews and thematic analysis, respectively. The outcome of the study limits the activities of the informal recyclers to WEEE collection. Informal recyclers gain revenue from collection. A reduction in the waiting time of workers and WEEE storage space is achieved. This offers safety, efficiency, and an increased productivity. This will help to revolutionise the WEEE management system in the location.

Assessing WEEE sustainability potential with a hybrid customer-centric forecasting framework

Along the line of waste electrical and electronic equipment (WEEE) recovery, customers are the ultimate decision-makers to determine the destinies of the end-of-life (EoL) electronic products. However, inadequacies exist and those are WEEE collection and generation predictions considering uncertain customers’ behavior and deepening discussion of the influence discrepancies of customers’ behavior between an advanced and a fledging recovery system. To bridge these research gaps, this paper aims to propose a customer-centric approach to forecasting the WEEE collection and generation amounts in Taiwan (i.e., a developed recovery system) and Vietnam (i.e., an developing recovery system), respectively, and analysing the influence disparities from these two societies. First, the combination of grey relational analysis (GRA) and principal component analysis (PCA) is employed to deal with factors reflecting customers’ behavior. Second, the forecast model, the grey neural network (NN) optimized by the particle swarm optimization (PSO) and genetic algorithm (GA), is developed to estimate the collection and generation amounts of waste home appliances during 2021-2030 in Taiwan and Vietnam. The collection amount in Taiwan is predicted to increase 2-fold until 2030 and the generation amount in Vietnam increases 6-fold. Moreover, different types of waste home appliances show distinct growth trends. The framework shows the capability to cope with nonlinear and uncertain characteristics and realize high accuracy. Based on the predictions, this paper quantifies the potential sustainability improvement given that realization of a well-established recovery system and a high recycling rate. The total revenue from recovery is estimated to reach 300 million in Taiwan by 2030, and 1.2 billion in Vietnam. Additionally, by 2030 the CO2e emissions in Taiwan are expected to reduce 0.7 million tons and in Vietnam will be reduction of 3.5 million tons. Socially, around 400-500 job vacancies can be created in Taiwan and more than 7000 jobs created in Vietnam in 2030 to achieve effective WEEE collection. The result facilitates the decision-making of the involved industries and regulators for better WEEE management and infrastructure investment. Besides, to have the collection trend in an advanced system (e.g., Taiwan) as a reference, it brightens the way to build and improve a formal collection system in a developing country or region (e.g., Vietnam).

Economic analysis of waste electrical and electronic equipment management: a study involving recycling cooperatives in Brazil

An opportunity to reduce the costs of waste electrical and electronic equipment (WEEE) collection operation is to include WEEE in the already existing selective collection flows (inflows that present idleness). In this context, this paper aims to ascertain whether it is attractive for recycling cooperatives in a determined Brazilian municipality to include a selective collection of WEEE in their operating systems. This research uses a method structured in eight steps, involving WEEE generation, waste treatment, transport and distribution processes, besides the economic analysis steps. We conclude that WEEE inclusion is economically attractive when recycling cooperative receives support from scrap dealers and the government. Two points can be highlighted as barriers to the referred cooperatives operation: the distance between cooperatives and the recycling industry is generally long; and large generators and recycling industries do not establish agreements directly with cooperatives (because these cooperatives do not offer large volumes). This study shows that recycling factories are far from the municipality and estimates that the amount of recyclable materials collected by each cooperative is low. Thus, we suggest as public policies to establish incentives for recycling factories to settle in the municipality and to encourage the formation of cooperative associations. These cooperatives can jointly sell recyclable materials to become medium-sized suppliers. This study also estimates the amount of WEEE generated in the municipality. This estimate was important for the study because there is a lack of studies that estimate WEEE generation at the municipal level mainly in developing countries.

Quantifying WEEE arising in scrap metal collections: Method development and application in Ireland

Quantifying waste electrical and electronic equipment (WEEE) not arising in documented and formal WEEE collection is a major challenge. This paper presents a method to characterize and estimate quantities of WEEE arising in scrap metal. Two European Catalogue List of Waste, codes 17 04 05, construction and demolition wastes—iron and steel and 20 01 40, metals separated out from municipal, household, commercial, and industrial waste, were analyzed on arrival to scrap metal sites. Metal scrap originated from household and business sources and excluded end-of-life vehicles and batteries. The point of sampling eliminated risks of double counting. Four representative sites across Ireland were surveyed over the course of 1 year. UNU-Keys were used to assign estimated masses based on identification of WEEE items as they arrived in loads entering scrap metal sites. In total, 415 tonnes of metal scrap were sampled and 747 individual WEEE items were identified. It is estimated that 3.91% ± 1.88% of the mass sampled was WEEE equating to 2.28 kg/capita. Although large equipment dominated the count and mass-based assessments of untreated WEEE in metal scrap, 35% of items identified were classified as small equipment. Professional equipment made up 29% of the estimated mass and 25% of WEEE items observed. Policy makers tasked with enhancing WEEE collection rates need to consider interventions targeting construction, demolition, and renovation, especially planning so that impending WEEE items such as photovoltaic panels are appropriately treated in the future. This article met the requirements for a gold–silver JIE data openness badge described in http://jie.click/badges.

The Proposition of a Mathematical Model for the Location of Electrical and Electronic Waste Collection Points

Given the environmental impacts produced by the growing increase in waste electrical and electronic equipment (WEEE) and their current inadequate management, this article proposes a mathematical model to define the best location for installing WEEE collection points. The objective is to minimize the cost of the reverse logistics system concerning transportation, installation, opportunity cost, and distance between points and demand. We used a heuristic created from the greedy randomized adaptive search procedure and genetic algorithm meta-heuristics to solve the model, with part of the model variables being defined by another heuristic or by the JuMP v.0.21.2 and CLP Solver v.0.7.1 packages, to guarantee an optimal response to a subproblem of these variables. The model and its solver were written in the Julia Programming Language and executed in two test scenarios. In the first, three vehicles with small loads must collect at five points. In the second, a vehicle with greater available capacity must collect at five points. The results obtained show that the mathematical model and the heuristic are adequate to solve the problem. Thus, we understood that the proposed method contributes to the literature, given the criticality of the current scenario concerning the management of WEEE, and it can assist managers and public policymakers when providing inputs for decision-making related to the choice of the best location for installing collection points.

Dominant platform capability, symbiotic strategy and the construction of “Internet + WEEE collection” business ecosystem：A comparative study of two typical cases in China

“Internet + waste electrical and electronic equipment (WEEE) collection” business ecosystems have attracted considerable attention from industry circles, and they are widely used in practice. However, the construction mechanism of “Internet + WEEE collection” business ecosystems has not been explored. In this paper, based on the mode of entry, “Internet + WEEE collection” platforms are divided into two types: platforms derived from an Internet company (PDICs) and platforms derived from a recycling company (PDRCs), and two typical corresponding platforms are analyzed using a double-case study to explore the interaction and mechanism between dominant platform capability, symbiotic strategy and business ecosystem construction. The results show the following: (1) different types of “Internet + WEEE collection” platforms have different dominant platform capabilities and then construct different business ecosystems based on their capabilities. PDICs take digital capability as the dominant platform capability and prefer to form an embedded business ecosystem, while PDRCs usually take network capability as the dominant platform capability and try to build a central business ecosystem. (2) PDICs and PDRCs prefer different symbiotic strategies, and the strategies affect the construction of business ecosystems. The strategy of mutualism symbiosis is adopted by PDICs, and it promotes them to build an embedded business ecosystem. PDRCs prefer the strategy of predation symbiosis, and they choose to construct a central business ecosystem. (3) Dominant platform capability can also affect the construction of business ecosystems through the symbiotic strategy. This study contributes to revealing the internal logic of “Internet + WEEE collection” business ecosystems construction in theory and helps platforms achieve sustainable development in practice.

The Reverse Supply Chain of the E-Waste Management Processes in a Circular Economy Framework: Evidence from Italy

In the last several decades, Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment (WEEE) reverse supply chain management has increasingly gained more attention due to the development of an environmental awareness, the rapid raise of e-wasted products and the EU regulations. In particular, although the new EU WEEE collection target has not been reached by many EU countries, several studies show that an optimized WEEE wastes management processes could represent a relevant way to achieve economic, environmental and social benefits expected by the adoption of circular economy approaches. According to this, the paper aims to evaluate the extent to which the current Italian organization of the WEEE management system and the related legislation are able to support the achievement of the targets defined by EU with a specific focus on the collection centers (CCs) which play a key role being the initial point of the WEEE reverse logistic cycle. An illustrative analysis based on the transition probability matrix regarding both the e-waste collecting performance and the distribution of collecting centers in the Italian provinces is illustrated. Furthermore, we have analyzed the presence of a correlation between the WEEE collection rate and the presence of the CCs in different provinces in order to better comprehend the role that can play both the investments in CC system and other soft measures in achieving the WEEE collection targets. Results show that the current Italian organization of the WEEE management system and the related legislations are not so effective in supporting the achievement of EU WEEE collection targets at the national level, although some geographical areas and provinces outperform the EU targets.

Simulation and performance improvement of a reverse logistics system for waste electrical and electronic equipment: a case study in Italy

This paper presents a simulation study to evaluate the performance of a real waste electrical and electronic equipment (WEEE) management system of the north of Italy and to investigate alternative scenarios to enhance its effectiveness. A detailed simulation model was developed in Microsoft ExcelTM to reproduce the behaviour of the different players of the system. To this end, two real players, i.e., a WEEE collection company and a treatment plant both located in the north of Italy, were preliminarily observed. Data about the incoming flow of WEEE and the production of recycled goods was retrieved from direct observations. Specific key performance indicators were determined and used to evaluate the performance of the existing network and of some alternative configurations. As it grounds on a real WEEE reverse logistics system, this study provides interesting proposals for future actions on WEEE management.

STUDY ON WEEE COLLECTION AND RECYCLING SCHEME IN TYPICAL ASIA-PACIFIC COUNTRIES

The environmental and economic impacts posed by waste electrical and electronic equipment (WEEE) make an effective collection and recycling scheme necessary for developing countries. Currently, developing countries in the Asia-Pacific regions are highly variable in terms of their present state of WEEE management, due to different economic conditions and levels of management. In this paper, we surveyed existing WEEE collection and recycling system in three Asia-Pacific developing countries China, Sri Lanka, and Pakistan, using SWOT (Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats) Analysis, analyzed key factors for an effective formal collection and recycling system, and identified priority fields that can be targeted by governments. Key factors that were considered include: government involvement, legislation, functional mechanisms, the presence/absence of advanced technology and facilities. Priorities for China were identified, including: expansion of WEEE scope that would be covered by the formal collection and recycling scheme, continued WEEE flow to the formal WEEE recycling sector, and enhancing law enforcement. For Sri Lanka, putting into place specific WEEE legislation and policies, establishing effective facilities for collection and recycling of a greater range of WEEE types, and the enhancement of pollution control are priorities. In Pakistan, commencement of government involvement and policy interventions on WEEE are considered to be of priority. General policy recommendations were also proposed for reference.

A comparative assessment of WEEE collection in an urban and rural context: Case study on desktop computers in Belgium

In order to comply with the targeted collection rates set by new European waste management regulations, a better knowledge of Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment (WEEE) collection flows is needed. This paper highlights the importance of considering the regional spatial context to develop an appropriate waste collection strategy. Through material flow analysis, we compare the collection flows of end-of-life desktop computers in two neighbouring regions and link the differences of collection rates with spatial ones. The Brussels Capital Region (BCR), an urban area, and the Walloon Region (WR), a mixed urban-rural area with a predominance of rural areas, are chosen as case studies. The quantities and collection flows of end-of-life desktop computers are estimated by combining statistics and reporting data. Globally, in the WR, 70.99% of end-of-life desktop computers are collected in accordance with the WEEE Directive while only 32.98% are in the BCR. This difference may be related to spatial context. For instance, the high population density increases the built-up areas and limits space for waste collection infrastructures. As a consequence, in the BCR, only 22.29% of end-of-life desktop computers from households are captured by compliant collection channels against 84.80% in the WR. The collection from businesses still needs to be developed in both regions but also suffers from this lack of infrastructures. While the reliability assessment of our estimates emphasizes a lack of data regarding non-compliant collection channels, our results underline the need to take into account the regional spatial context in setting up the collection of WEEE.

Evaluating the carbon footprint of WEEE management in the UK

The UK produces an estimated 2 Mt of waste electrical and electronic equipment (WEEE) annually and the management of this waste has become a foremost environmental issue in the UK. Whilst the collection, transportation and treatment of WEEE contributes to climate change due to its considerable energy and material requirements, the effective recovery and reuse or recycling of WEEE can contribute towards a net climate benefit. Here, we present a combined material flow analysis and carbon footprint approach (based on a bespoke calculator tool) for quantifying the flows of WEEE through a national waste management system and evaluating their potential climate impacts. We apply this approach to analyse the WEEE management system for the UK from 2010 to 2030 using prospective scenario analysis and assess the carbon footprint of their management pathways. Reuse was identified as the most favourable end-of-life management option in terms of potential climate impact, followed by recycling, with landfill identified as being the least favourable option. Overall, current end-of-life management practices for WEEE in the UK were found to result in a net positive (i.e. beneficial) climatic effect, although this saving was found to reduce when WEEE recycled as non-obligated WEEE was not included. Overall, we recommend that future national policies should focus on formalising indirect WEEE collection pathways to help increase overall collection rates and, thus, reuse and recycling activities.

Recovery of metals from waste electrical and electronic equipment (WEEE) using unconventional solvents based on ionic liquids

Waste electrical and electronic equipment (WEEE) is the fastest growing type of waste globally and is an important challenge due to its heterogeneity, intrinsic toxicity and potential environmental impact. However, WEEE also represents an important secondary source of critical and valuable elements and must be viewed as a resource within the context of a circular economy. The use of ionic liquids (ILs) to recover metals from WEEE is reviewed with a special emphasis on the use of ILs in leaching and solvent extraction processes. The advantages of ILs as a reaction medium compared to existing conventional solvents lies in their tuneability and potential environmental benefits. Many studies have used ILs for the selective extraction and purification of metals from WEEE, particularly from waste fluorescent lamp phosphor and batteries containing rare-earth elements with promising results. However, significant barriers remain to the commercial use of ILs for treating WEEE and key barriers to progress are identified. In particular more focus is required to improve upstream collection and separation of WEEE, as this would greatly increase the potential to use selective, more efficient, ILs for metal recovery.