Waste Electrical And Electronic Equipment Recovery Research Articles

Assessment of direction changes in waste electrical and electronic equipment management in Poland

A growing amount of waste electrical and electronic equipment (WEEE) indicates the need to verify the effectiveness of its management both nationally and globally. An analysis of the WEEE economy in Poland conducted over 5 years confirmed a 16.64% increase in the mass of collected equipment. The maximum annual mass of electrical and electronic equipment introduced to the market during this period was 607,240 Mg, with the average value exceeding 500,000 Mg. The WEEE category with the largest collected mass was waste code 20 01 36, which exceeded 235,000 Mg, whilst the highest waste weight accumulation rate of 45.98 kg per capita was recorded in one of the smallest voivodeships in Poland. This result showed the diversity of WEEE accumulation on a national scale. Overall, a noticeable increase in the WEEE accumulation rate has occurred as Poland’s gross domestic product has increased, despite a decreasing population. An analysis based on the waste accumulation indicators, including socioeconomic factors, confirmed the need to develop forms of WEEE recovery and recycling to transition to a circular economy and promote the synergy of activities amongst all players in WEEE management.

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.

Optimal Decision-Making of Closed-Loop Supply Chains in E-Commerce Platform Considering Sales Cooperations under Environmental Effects and WEEE Regulations.

Nowadays, to achieve carbon neutrality, e-commerce platforms participate in the sales and recycling of electrical and electronic products in consideration of waste electrical and electronic equipment (WEEE) regulations and environmental effects. This study builds a Stackelberg game model for an e-commerce closed-loop supply chain (ECLSC) under different sales cooperation modes between a manufacturer of electrical and electronic products and an e-commerce platform. Reverse induction is used to obtain the optimal decision-making and profit of the ECLSC under three sales cooperation modes, considering the influence of environmental effects on optimal decision and objective functions. The results show the following: the sales cooperation mode and environmental cost do not affect the WEEE recovery prices of manufacturers and e-commerce platforms, nor do they affect government subsidy standards for dismantling WEEEs; they are, however, positively correlated with environmental benefits. Furthermore, the wholesale and retail prices of electrical and electronic products under different sales cooperation modes are related to sales cooperation modes and environmental costs. Moreover, the processing fees imposed on the manufacturers are related to the environmental costs of the electrical and electronic products; the thresholds of environmental costs of products for government to levy processing fees are different under different sales cooperation modes. Finally, the environmental cost of products required by the government's levying of processing fees are the lowest under a hybrid model. Generally speaking, under WEEE regulations, governments should levy more processing fees for electrical and electronic products with higher environmental costs. Meanwhile, increased environmental benefits will always increase the profits of supply chain members, but increased environmental costs do not always reduce the profits of supply chain members, and multichannel product sales do not always generate profits for manufacturers.

Prediction of the Market of End-of-Life Photovoltaic Panels in the Context of Common EU Management System

A significant development of the photovoltaic market in the European Union has been observed recently. This is mainly due to the adopted climate policy and the development of photovoltaic technology, resulting in increased availability for consumers at lower prices. In the long run, increased installed PV capacity is associated with an increased amount of photovoltaic waste generated at the end of life. Since this waste belongs to the group of WEEE (waste electrical and electronic equipment) waste, it is subjected to high recovery levels. Existing installations for the highly efficient recycling of PV panels are just proofs of concept. However, the situation will change in the near future, and it will be necessary to implement a full-scale waste management system dedicated to PV waste. The paper estimates mass streams of photovoltaic waste generated by 2050 in individual EU countries. Consequently, the characteristics of the European market of waste PV panels are considered together with the demand of individual Member States for installations. The estimation enables the fulfillment of the Directive on WEEE recovery rates.

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.

The adoption of internet of things in a circular supply chain framework for the recovery of WEEE: the case of lithium-ion electric vehicle battery packs

The rapid growth in the sales of electric and electronic devices over recent decades is generating worldwide concern about the management of Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment (WEEE). New methodologies to extend the useful life of products have long been sought, accelerating the shift from a linear to a Circular Economy (CE). When products reach the End-of-Life (EoL) stage, the Reverse Supply Chain (RSC) is responsible for managing operations, with greater efforts being needed to improve the associated information infrastructure. In fact, this has become increasingly feasible due to the emergence of a new digital revolution led by the Internet of Things (IoT). To shed light on this matter, we propose the Circular Supply Chain (CSC) framework for EoL management aimed at satisfying the information infrastructure requirements in a particular scenario for the recovery of Electric Vehicle Battery (EVB) packs. We present a qualitative evaluation of the CSC information requirements, and the capabilities of IoT to satisfy them. As a result, a heterogeneous IoT network deployment is proposed in pursuit of a digital CSC information infrastructure.

Operational effectiveness of funding for waste electrical and electronic equipment disposal in China: An analysis based on game theory

This paper analyzes the characteristics of waste electrical and electronic equipment (WEEE) market in China and the findings are as follows: WEEE are still seen as valuable goods, and a recovery and recycling system is thus in place naturally in China like in many other developing countries. A game theory model is therefore built here to find out how effective funding is for this recovery and recycling system. Analysis of this model reveals: (1) Some dismantling enterprises (formal dismantling enterprises) are in this funding system, while others (informal ones) are not, thus forming a dual WEEE dismantling system, after the funding system was launched; (2) To ensure effectiveness of the funding system, the funding provided for formal enterprises for each piece of WEEE they handle, after deducting the incremental cost incurred for environmental compliance, must exceed the difference between the unit selling prices of the dismantled devices at formal and informal dismantling enterprises. This difference is RMB 70.2, RMB 67.9, RMB 22.2, RMB 79.4 and RMB 68.3 respectively for televisions, refrigerators, washing machines, air conditioners and computers; (3) When the funding system was launched, WEEE recovery enterprises would raise WEEE prices to seek profit and this would channel part of the funding into the recovery segment of the market.

Optimizing the WEEE Recovery Network Associated with Environmental Protection Awareness and Government Subsidy by Nonlinear Mixed Integer Programming

Recovery of waste electrical and electronic equipment (WEEE) plays an important role in protecting environment and conserving resources. Design of a more efficient WEEE recovery system is an imperative need for the relevant decision-makers, such as alleviation of overcapacity or insufficient recycling in many developing countries. In this paper, we optimize the WEEE recovery network which is associated with recycling prices and government subsidies by a nonlinear mixed integer programming approach. An integrated model is first proposed to formulate a design problem of WEEE recovery network, being involved with collection centers, two types of transfer stations, processing centers, incineration plants, landfill plants, secondhand product markets, and government subsides. The recycling prices and the transported quantities of WEEE (the number of batches) are endogenous variables of the model, being subject to a number of practical constraints. For solving this model, an algorithm is developed based on the branch and bound method. Scenario analysis and numerical experiments indicate that: (1) appropriate capacities of transfer stations can be provided by the proposed model for designing an environmentally and economically efficient WEEE recycling system, especially for alleviating the existing overcapacity or insufficient recycle. (2) An optimal governmental subsidy can be obtained in virtue of the proposed model and algorithm. (3) Diversity of transportation modes and permission of more than one mode in the same delivery route can greatly reduce the cost of recycling WEEE. (4) Preferred awareness of environmental protection can increase the profit and the recycled quantities, as well as reduction of the total recycling cost.

Recent advances on hydrometallurgical recovery of critical and precious elements from end of life electronic wastes - a review

Waste electrical and electronic equipment (WEEE) contains economically significant levels of precious, critical metals and rare earth elements, apart from base metals and other toxic compounds. Recycling and recovery of critical elements from WEEEs using a cost-effective technology are now one of the top priorities in metallurgy due to the rapid depletion of their natural resources. More than 150 publications on WEEE management, leaching and recovery of metals from WEEE were reviewed in this work, with special emphasize on the recent research (2015–2018). This paper summarizes the recent progress regarding various hydrometallurgical processes for the leaching of critical elements from WEEEs. Various methodologies and techniques for critical elements selective recovery (using ionic liquids, solvent extraction, electrowinning, adsorption, and precipitation) from the WEEEs leachates are discussed. Future prospects regarding the use of WEEEs as secondary resources for critical raw materials and its techno-economical and commercial beneficiaries are discussed.AbbreviationsE-WasteElectronic wasteWEEEWaste electrical and electronic equipmentCRMCritical raw materialsPCBPrinted circuit boardLCDLiquid crystal displayCRTCathode ray tubeFl. LampFluorescent lampHDDHard disk drivesLEDLight emitting diodeEUEuropean UnionUNEPUnited Nations Environmental ProgramREERare earth elementITOIndium-tin oxidePMPrecious metalNiMH batteryNickel-hydride batteryCPUCentral processing unitRAMRandom access memoryLiBsLi-ion batteriesSFLSpent fluorescent lamps

Digital twin-based WEEE recycling, recovery and remanufacturing in the background of Industry 4.0

The waste electrical and electronic equipment (WEEE) recovery can be categorised into two types, i.e. recycling at the material level and remanufacturing at the component level. However, the WEEE recovery is facing enormous challenges of diversified individuals, lack of product knowledge, distributed location, and so forth. On the other hand, the latest ICT provides new methods and opportunities for industrial operation and management. Thus, in this research digital twin and Industry 4.0 enablers are introduced to the WEEE remanufacturing industry. The goal is to provide an integrated and reliable cyber-avatar of the individual WEEE, thus forming personalised service system. The main contribution presented in this paper is the novel digital twin-based system for the WEEE recovery to support the manufacturing/remanufacturing operations throughout the product’s life cycle, from design to recovery. Meanwhile, the international standard-compliant data models are also developed to support WEEE recovery services with high data interoperability. The feasibility of the proposed system and methodologies is validated and evaluated during implementations in the cloud and cyber-physical system.

Performance evaluation of waste electrical and electronic equipment disassembly layout configurations using simulation

Recycling of waste electrical and electronic equipment (WEEE) is crucially important since it handles hazardous waste according to ever tightening laws and regulations and it adds benefits to economy and sustainable environment. Disassembly is one of the most important processes performed during the recovery of WEEE. The overall goal of disassembly is to maximize the retrieval of various metals and plastics contained in WEEE in order to reduce their negative effects on human health and environmental sustainability and to increase economic gains. This study aims to evaluate alternative layout configurations for WEEE disassembly systems (WDS). In this context, various configurations were compared in terms of pre-defined performance criteria, such as the total number of disassembled WEEE and the total revenue from sales, using simulation models. The results of this study show that the performance of a WDS was significantly affected by output transfer systems along with the specialization of operators on certain types of WEEE.

Trade-off between remanufacturing and recycling of WEEE and the environmental implication under the Chinese Fund Policy

China is the second largest producer of waste electrical and electronic equipment (WEEE) in the world. To manage WEEE, the Chinese government has enacted a series of laws and regulations, the most important one being the Chinese Fund Policy. In an industry regulated by disposal fees and subsidies included in the fund policy, companies facing higher manufacturing costs may consider engaging in WEEE collection and recovery. This study considers a manufacturer with a WEEE recycling qualification, which combines remanufacturing and recycling to treat WEEE and sells remanufactured products under its brand name. A stylized model is applied to characterize the optimal solutions for the manufacturer and analyze the effects of the fund policy on the manufacturer's collection and recovery decisions. Furthermore, this study investigates the environmental impact of the product using a life cycle analysis–based (LCA-based) approach and characterizes the conditions under which the recovery of WEEE increases the environmental impact of the fund policy. The results herein show that applying for recycling qualifications is always profitable for the manufacturer, and the profits increase as the subsidy increases and the disposal fee decreases. However, high disposal fees or subsidies may have adverse effects on the environment. Low remanufacturing costs and high remanufacturability are not always conducive to the environment, especially for the products with high environmental impact in usage.

A method for manual disassembly analysis to support the ecodesign of electronic displays

Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment (WEEE) is one of the fastest growing waste streams in contemporary societies. Proper treatment and recovery of WEEE is an important challenge not only because of its content on hazardous substances but also because it contains significant quantities of valuable materials. The pre-processing stage of WEEE recycling plays a major role in the recovery network, in particular when carried out through manual dismantling processes. Dismantling allows components to be separated prior to further treatment. However, recycling organisations usually find this particular stage considerably time-consuming, and hence expensive, since products are not designed to be easily dismantled. One particular waste stream that could reduce dismantling costs through an improved design is the stream of Flat Panel Displays (FPD). However, little detailed data is nowadays available on the dismantling processes, which prevent designing FPD according to the requirements of treatment operators.The purpose of this paper is to propose a method for in-depth analysis of dismantling practices of electronic displays in order to obtain useful data for product design. The method is composed of three stages: (1) study definition, (2) data construction and (3) data analysis. The first stage allows setting out why, how and where the analysis will be performed. The second stage consists in describing dismantling operations in detail to construct a detailed and meaningful dataset. Finally, product indicators are developed and the best and worst design practices from a dismantling point of view are identified.The approach is illustrated through a case study on the manual dismantling of 12 FPD. The sample was dismantled at one of the European recycling facility representatives. Data on the dismantling time spent on each component, operation and tool was obtained. Collected data can be used as empirical evidence to support the development of quantitative ecodesign strategies. Some examples of ecodesign strategies that can significantly reduce the dismantling time of the sample are given. This work opens perspectives on how the quantitative data from the recovery phase obtained within the study can be used in product design.

A Smart Cloud-Based System for the WEEE Recovery/Recycling

Waste electrical and electronic equipment (WEEE) is both valuable and harmful since it contains a large number of profitable and hazardous materials and elements at the same time. At component level, many parts of the discarded equipment are still functional and recoverable. Thus, it is necessary to develop a distributed and intelligent system to support WEEE component recovery and recycling. In recent years, the Cloud concept has gained increasing popularity since it provides a service-oriented architecture (SOA) that integrates various resources over the network. Cloud manufacturing systems are proposed worldwide to support operational manufacturing processes. In this research, Cloud manufacturing is further extended to the WEEE recovery and recycling context. The Cloud services are applied in WEEE recovery and recycling processes by tracking and management services. These services include all the stakeholders from the beginning to the end of life of the electric and electronic equipment. A Cloud-based WEEE recovery system is developed to provide modularized recovery services on the Cloud. A data management system is developed as well, which maintains the knowledge throughout the product lifecycle. A product tracking mechanism is also proposed with the help of the Quick Respond code method.

Planning of waste electrical and electronic equipment (WEEE) recycling facilities: MILP modelling and case study investigation

Waste electrical and electronic equipment (WEEE) consist of many different substances some of which contain hazardous components and valuable materials. The recovery of WEEE plays a key role on environmental sustainability because it minimizes the negative effects of hazardous materials and helps the efficient use of world’s limited resources. Recovery strategies enable companies to collect reusable components and to recycle the material content of WEEE by using operations like sorting, disassembly and bulk recycling. Usually companies associated with municipals collect WEEE from end-users and/or collection points. Then they sell these items to WEEE recycling facilities through bidding. For recycling facilities, it is important to generate the best operational level decisions to receive and handle WEEE. This study contributes to the fulfillment of this need by presenting a mixed integer linear programming model to determine the maximum bid price offer while determining the best operation planning strategies. In order to demonstrate the potential of the proposed model, a real life case study along with several scenarios is studied. The findings of the case study indicate that the model has the potential to enable the decision maker to come with stronger decisions related to both bidding process and operational strategies of the facility.

Characterizing plastics originating from WEEE: A case study in France

Two studies, TRIPLE (For Analyse des gisements DEEE et optimisation des technologies de TRI des PLastiques DEEE (analysis of WEEE and optimization of sorting technologies for WEEE plastics).) and VALEEE (For VALorisation des composants, matières et substances issus du gisement DEEE (Recovery of components, materials and substances from WEEE).), supported by the French State, the Greater Lyon area (Grand-Lyon), the Rhône-Alpes Region and the French eco-organization “Eco-systèmes”, and involving laboratories, recycled material users and recycler partners, were conducted concerning the characterization, sorting and recovery of French WEEE (Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment).To determine the heterogeneity of a 10-ton batch, the WEEE was sorted into families before grinding. Specimens were dismantled and plastic particles were analyzed to estimate their composition. The batch was then crushed and the metals extracted.The residue containing plastics was sampled at the outlet of the plant and analyzed. The detailed characterization of the plastics sample was used to calculate the estimated sampling error and the overall measurement error. The sample size was determined so as to achieve satisfactory accuracy for the most represented polymers likely to be recovered after recycling.A simple characterization methodology for use by recycling plants was proposed in order to determine the plastic composition of this waste. The procedure was validated on a second 10-ton batch of sWEEE collected from another location and treated by a different recycling facility.This article presents the sampling protocol design methodology, then the characterization protocol and its usage limitations.

Overview of the WEEE Directive and Its Implementation in the Nordic Countries: National Realisations and Best Practices

Electronic devices and mobile applications have become a part of everyday life. Fast technological progress and rapid product obsolescence have led to the rapid growth of waste electrical and electronic equipment (WEEE). Due to hazardous substances and also substantial amounts of valuable materials contained in electrical and electronic equipment, the European Union has implemented Directives related to WEEE, in order to reduce negative environmental and health impacts and to improve material recovery of valuable substances from WEEE. This paper provides an overview of the WEEE Directive and its implementation to national legislations in Finland, Sweden, and Norway and, further, describes how the nationwide WEEE recovery infrastructures in the Nordic countries have been built. The Nordic WEEE management systems are evaluated from the point of resource efficiency and best practices. Evidently, the WEEE management systems as established in the Nordic countries have advantages because the WEEE collection rates in 2012 were 12 kg/inhab./year, in Finland, 16 kg/inhab./year, in Sweden, and 27 kg/ inhab./year, in Norway, despite their sparsely populated nature. The Swedish and Norwegian experiences, especially, with long history of WEEE recovery indicate that increasing consumer awareness leads to more environmentally sound behaviour and improves recovery efficiency.

From Cloud manufacturing to Cloud remanufacturing: A Cloud-based approach for WEEE recovery

The modern manufacturing industry calls for a new generation of integration models that are more interoperable, intelligent, adaptable and distributed. Evolved from service-oriented architecture, web-based manufacturing and Cloud computing, a Cloud manufacturing model has been discussed worldwide which enables manufacturing enterprises to respond quickly and effectively to the changing global market. Especially for Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment (WEEE), it is a critical necessity to reuse, remanufacture, recycle and recover it by re-shaping the lifecycle management patterns. In this paper, recent WEEE research works are briefly reviewed. Next, a novel service-oriented remanufacturing platform is introduced based on the Cloud manufacturing concept.

Implementation of Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment Directive in Finland: Evaluation of the collection network and challenges of the effective WEEE management

Further to the European Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment (WEEE) Directive, setting up efficient collection schemes is necessary to ensure the recovery targets set. Following the subsidiary principle, the WEEE Directive defines only the general requirements for mandatory collection and recycling objectives. The modalities of the logistics and the organisation of the take-back schemes are left to the choice of Member States. In this paper, the implementation of the WEEE Directive and the development of the WEEE recovery infrastructure in Finland are described and the challenges to the effective management of the WEEE recovery system in Finland are expressed. It can be said that the implementation of the WEEE Directive has succeeded in Finland and, at the same time, the legislative basis has been enacted. In addition, a functional WEEE recovery infrastructure has been built and, the collection requirements of the WEEE Directive have been exceeded in a relatively short time. However, the paper outlines that some inefficient practices still exist, particularly in the registration and WEEE collection stages. It is concluded that raising awareness would lead to a more environmentally sound behaviour and would, ultimately, improve WEEE recovery efficiency.

Environmental impacts of the Swiss collection and recovery systems for Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment (WEEE): A follow-up

While Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment (WEEE) collection and recovery have significantly gained in importance all over Europe in the last 15 years, comprehensive studies assessing the environmental loads and benefits of these systems still are not common. In this paper we present the results of a combined material flow analysis and life cycle assessment study, which aimed to calculate the overall environmental impacts of collection, pre-processing and end-processing for the existing Swiss WEEE collection and recovery systems, as well as of incineration and landfilling scenarios, in which the same amount of WEEE is either incinerated in a an MSWI plant or landfilled. According to the calculations based on the material flow data for the year 2009 and a new version of the ecoinvent life cycle inventory database (ecoinvent v2.01), collection, recovery and disposal result in significantly lower environmental impacts per t of WEEE for midpoint indicators such as global warming or ozone depletion and the endpoint indicator Eco-Indicator '99 points. A comparison between the environmental impacts of the WEEE recovery scenarios 2009 and 2004, both calculated with ecoinvent v2.01 data, shows that the impacts per t of WEEE in 2009 were slightly lower. This appears to be mainly due to the changes in the treatment of plastics (more recycling, less incineration). Compared to the overall environmental impacts of the recovery scenario 2004 obtained with an old version of ecoinvent (ecoinvent v1.1), the calculation with ecoinvent v2.01 results in an increase of the impacts by about 20%, which is primarily the consequence of a more adequate modeling of several WEEE fractions (e.g. metals, cables or CRT devices). In view of a further increase of the environmental benefits associated with the Swiss WEEE collection and recovery systems, the recovery of geochemically scarce metals should be further investigated, in particular.