Energy And Material Recovery From Waste Of Electrical And Electronic Equipment Case Study
Energy and Material Recovery from Waste of Electrical and Electronic Equipment (WEEE) - Status, challenges and opportunities.
P. Evangelopoulos, E. Kantarelis, W. Yang
1. Introduction
As the technology innovation progresses and the innovation cycles become even shorter, the production of electronic equipment increases and its replacement accelerates which makes electrical and electronic equipment a rapidly growing source of waste.
The United Nations Environment Program (UNEP) has estimated that 20 to 50 million tons of e-waste are generated worldwide annually, which can become a serious risk for human beings and the environment [1]. It has been recorded also that the increasing rate has reached 3 % to 5 % every year, which is approximately …show more content…
The US Environmental Protection Agency reports that 438 million new electronic products were sold while around two million tons of electronic products were ready for end of life management [3]. Based on China’s government statistics 25 million TVs, 5,4 million refrigerators, 10 million washing machines, 1 million air conditioners, 12 million computers, 6 million printers and 40 million mobile phones were discarded in 2009 [4]. Furthermore, almost 3,5 million tons of e-waste was collected in EU on 2010 as every European citizen discards 14-24 kg of WEEE every year …show more content…
Through these derivatives each member state must adopt national legislations in order to meet the specific objectives, which allows each nation to tailor legislations according to each different circumstances exists in national level. Specifically, the Restriction of the use of certain Hazardous Substances in Electrical and Electronic Equipment (RoHS I), which was introduced on 13 February 2003 sets strict maximum limits for lead, mercury, cadmium, hexavalent chromium, polybrominated biphenyls or polybrominated diphenyl ethers used in specified types of electrical and electronic equipment. This legislation has prevented high amount of banned substances from being disposed and potentially released into the environment. Furthermore, the producers have already adopt this directive by implement changes in product design not only for the products sold in the European Union but also worldwide. Finally a revision of this directive has been made in 2011, following the technological improvements and setting new goals and chemical compound´s restrictions for the upcoming years [6], [7]
P. Evangelopoulos, E. Kantarelis, W. Yang
1. Introduction
As the technology innovation progresses and the innovation cycles become even shorter, the production of electronic equipment increases and its replacement accelerates which makes electrical and electronic equipment a rapidly growing source of waste.
The United Nations Environment Program (UNEP) has estimated that 20 to 50 million tons of e-waste are generated worldwide annually, which can become a serious risk for human beings and the environment [1]. It has been recorded also that the increasing rate has reached 3 % to 5 % every year, which is approximately …show more content…
The US Environmental Protection Agency reports that 438 million new electronic products were sold while around two million tons of electronic products were ready for end of life management [3]. Based on China’s government statistics 25 million TVs, 5,4 million refrigerators, 10 million washing machines, 1 million air conditioners, 12 million computers, 6 million printers and 40 million mobile phones were discarded in 2009 [4]. Furthermore, almost 3,5 million tons of e-waste was collected in EU on 2010 as every European citizen discards 14-24 kg of WEEE every year …show more content…
Through these derivatives each member state must adopt national legislations in order to meet the specific objectives, which allows each nation to tailor legislations according to each different circumstances exists in national level. Specifically, the Restriction of the use of certain Hazardous Substances in Electrical and Electronic Equipment (RoHS I), which was introduced on 13 February 2003 sets strict maximum limits for lead, mercury, cadmium, hexavalent chromium, polybrominated biphenyls or polybrominated diphenyl ethers used in specified types of electrical and electronic equipment. This legislation has prevented high amount of banned substances from being disposed and potentially released into the environment. Furthermore, the producers have already adopt this directive by implement changes in product design not only for the products sold in the European Union but also worldwide. Finally a revision of this directive has been made in 2011, following the technological improvements and setting new goals and chemical compound´s restrictions for the upcoming years [6], [7]