Dissertations / Theses on the topic 'Electrical and electronic waste (WEEE)'

This thesis reports on results of a novel process to recover metals selectively by electrodeposition by pumping aqueous acidic chloride solutions produced by leaching of shredded waste electrical and electronic equipment (WEEE) through the potentiostatically controlled cathode of an electrochemical reactor. The WEEE solutions contained low concentrations of precious metals, including Ag, Au, Pd and high concentrations of Cu. Electrodeposition from low concentrations of such dissolved metals requires electrodes with high mass transport rate coefficients and specific surface areas to increase cross-sectional current densities and optimise capital and operating costs. Hence, to recover gold from solutions with concentrations < 10 mol m-3 in the WEEE leachate, a three-dimensional cathode was used consisting of a circulating particulate bed of 0.5-1.0 mm diameter graphite particles, on which (AuIIICl4 - + AuICl2 -) ions were reduced. The temporal decay of the solution absorbance of AuCl4 - ions at 312 nm was recorded on-line by a quartz flow cell connected to a UV-visible spectrophotometer using fibre optics, enabling its time dependent concentration to be determined in real time. Total dissolved gold concentrations were determined by Inductively-coupled Plasma Optical Emission Spectroscopy (ICP-OES). The results from the reactor experiments were modelled in terms of a mass transport controlled reaction in a plug flow electrochemical reactor operated in batch recycle with a continuous stirred tank reservoir. As copper is the dominant element in WEEE, and hence in the leach solution, its electrodeposition was investigated using an electrochemical reactor with a Ti/Ta2O5-IrO2 anode, cation-permeable membrane and a Ti mesh cathode in a fluidised bed of 590-840 μm glass beads to enhance mass transfer rates and to improve copper deposit morphologies. As for other metals, the effects were determined of cathode potential and solution flow rate on electrodeposition rates, charge yields, specific electrical energy consumptions, and deposit morphologies, imaged subsequently by scanning electron microscopy, and purities determined by X-ray fluorescence (XRF) and X-ray diffraction spectroscopy (XRD). While depleting CuII concentrations from 500 to 35 mol m-3, copper purities of > 99.79 %, as required for commercial purity Cu, were achieved with charge yields of 0.90 and specific electrical energy consumptions of 2000 kW h tonne-1. In addition, the circulating particulate bed cathode depleted solutions rapidly from 15 mol m-3 CuII ca. 100 ppm. Experiments with a rotating vitreous carbon cathode confirmed predictions from a kinetic model for a small electrode potential window within which to achieve selective electrodeposition of tin from synthetic SnIV-PbII aqueous chloride solutions, from which Pb could be electrodeposited subsequently. AlIII, FeII, ZnII and NiII remained in solution after the recovery of Au, Cu, Sn and Pb from the WEEE leachate. Unlike Al, it is possible to electrodeposit Fe from aqueous solution, and it was decided to add NaOH (+ air) to increase the pH to ca. 3.25 to precipitate ‘Fe(OH)3’, which was recovered by filtration. This option also enabled subsequent electro-co-deposition of Ni and Zn with high charge yields, as the higher pH decreased the driving force for H2 evolution. A one- dimensional mathematical model was developed in MAPLETM to predict the kinetics of Ni-Zn electro-co-deposition, which was validated experimentally. The model also considered the potential and concentration profiles in the cathode | electrolyte boundary layer for conditions in which migration and convective diffusion all contribute to overall transport rates, to predict the behaviour and optimize the process parameters of the electrochemical reactors.

The society is striving to tackle the over-extraction of Earth’s resources due to the ongoing population rise. The increased needs of energy and material resources leads to a growing volume of materials waste, which include a variety of dangerous pollutants among them. Waste of electrical and electronic equipment poses a universal problem due to its vast quantities, responsible for environmental pollution and numerous diseases to humans and animals. The high demand in electrical and electronic equipment along with its short-life time due to its obsolescence, leads to the expansion of WEEE waste stream. Energy and material recovery from WEEE can minimize significantly the over extraction of precious metals and minerals along with fuels towards a more sustainable future. Currently, there are several ways to treat WEEE and recover material fractions along with energy, such as incineration and landfilling. Thermochemical treatment of WEEE offers the possibility to convert waste into energy and material simultaneously, in an environmentally friendlier way, resulting in a more sustainable waste management. In this research, pyrolysis is examined as a method for energy and material recovery from WEEE. Brominated plastics along with Polyethylene plastic mixtures have been acquired from Stena and Boliden AB separation processes respectively. Both materials are subjected to pyrolysis in a fixed bed and an auger reactor. The pyrolysis products show their strong relation to the pyrolysis temperature, the type of the reactor and the initial composition of the feedstock material. The carried-out experiments depict the upward trend of the gaseous products in favor of the oils as the pyrolysis temperature increase. The amount of solid residue remained almost at the same levels throughout the temperature range, meaning that no higher temperatures are needed in order to achieve higher decomposition rates of the tested material. Unreacted carbon and inorganic compounds end up in the solid residue that could be used as fuel in a combustion process. The metal fraction can be separated and recycled, as it possesses commercial value. Main oil compounds listed were, styrene, toluene, ethylbenzene, alpha methylstyrene benzene, phenol. Compounds such as benzene, indene and p-xylene were produced as the organic compounds were further decomposed during the experiments at the highest temperatures. Chlorine and bromine content must be separated in order to be a formidable fuel. The amount of combustible gases was increasing and their energy potential with the temperature rise. The gaseous fraction consists mainly of: H2, CO, CH4, CO2, C2H2, C2H4, C2H6, C3H6, C3H8. Both the gaseous and oil compounds can be used as fuels in a combustion process. The amount of halogens was measured at low levels within the product range, though their separation is important. Pyrolysis of WEEE is a promising method for energy and material recovery that can boost the sustainability of our society.
Samhället strävar efter att ta itu med överutvinningen av jordens resurser på grund av den pågåendebefolkningsökningen. De ökade behoven hos energi och materiella resurser leder till en ökandemängd materialavfall, vilket inkluderar en mängd farliga föroreningar bland dem. Avfall av elektriskoch elektronisk utrustning utgör ett universellt problem på grund av sin stora mängd, ansvarig förmiljöföroreningar och många sjukdomar hos människor och djur. Den stora efterfrågan på elektriskoch elektronisk utrustning tillsammans med den korta livslängden på grund av dess föryngring ledertill utvidgningen av WEEE-avfallsströmmen. Energi och materialåtervinning från WEEE kanbetydligt minska över-extraktion av ädelmetaller och mineraler tillsammans med bränslen mot en merhållbar framtid. För närvarande finns det flera sätt att behandla WEEE och återvinna materialfraktioner tillsammansmed energi, såsom förbränning och deponering. Termokemisk behandling av WEEE erbjudermöjlighet att omvandla avfall till energi och material samtidigt, på ett miljövänligare sätt, vilketresulterar i en mer hållbar avfallshantering.I denna forskning undersöks pyrolys som en metod för energi och materialåtervinning från WEEE.Bromerad plast tillsammans med polyetylenplastblandningar har förvärvats från Stena och BolidenAB separationsprocesser. Båda materialen utsätts för pyrolys i en fast bädd och en skruvreaktor.Pyrolysprodukterna visar deras starka förhållande till pyrolys-temperaturen, reaktortypen och denursprungliga sammansättningen av råmaterialet. De utförda experimenten visar den uppåtgåendetrenden hos de gasformiga produkterna till förmån för oljorna som pyrolystemperaturökningen.Mängden fast substans förblev nästan vid samma nivåer genom temperaturintervallet, vilket innebäratt inga högre temperaturer behövs för att uppnå högre sönderdelningshastigheter för det testadematerialet. Oreagerat kol och oorganiska föreningar hamnar i den fasta återstoden som kan användassom bränsle vid förbränningsprocessen. Metallfraktionen kan separeras och återvinnas, eftersom denhar kommersiellt värde. De angivna huvudolja-föreningarna var styren, toluen, etylbensen, alfa-metylstyrenbensen, fenol.Föreningar såsom bensen, inden och p-xylen framställdes när de organiska föreningarnasönderdelades vidare under försöken vid de högsta temperaturerna. Klor och brominnehåll måstesepareras för att vara ett formidabelt bränsle.Mängden brännbara gaser ökade och deras energipotential med temperaturökningen. Den gasformigafraktionen består huvudsakligen av: H2, CO, CH4, CO2, C2H2, C2H4, C2H6, C3H6, C3H8. Bådegasformiga och oljeföreningar kan användas som bränslen i en förbränningsprocess. Mängdenhalogener mättes vid låga halter inom produktsortimentet, fastän deras separation är viktig.Pyrolys av WEEE är en lovande metod för energi och materialåtervinning som kan öka vårt samhälleshållbarhet.

Due to potential environmental, resource and health problems associated with waste, waste minimisation is a prioritised waste management strategy in many countries. Producer responsibility policies promote waste minimisation by stipulating separate collection and recycling of particular waste streams. In addition, a purpose of the policy is to encourage product development that reduces waste generation and improves recyclability. It is sometimes assumed that the financial responsibility assigned to producers for collection and recycling of their end-of-life products will instigate waste minimising product development in order to reduce costs. However, this view has also been contested. Following the adoption of the WEEE Directive (2002/96/EC) all EU member states have to implement producer responsibility for WEEE. Taking a qualitative multiple case study approach, this study explores company responses to the costs of existing national producer responsibility policies for WEEE in relation product development. The purpose is to inform policy-making on the effectiveness of producer responsibility charges in achieving waste minimising product development. The study comprises both large companies and SMEs in the lighting equipments sector. It also includes companies in EU member states without producer responsibility for WEEE in order to see if there are any differences in waste-minimising product design among countries and if national policies have an impact beyond national borders. Economic principles and previous research findings on ecodesign make up the analytical framework for the study. Quantitative data on cost-benefits of ecodesign and waste minimisation achievements were scarce. However, the company responses show that the costs imposed on the producers by the WEEE policy have had little effect on product development so far. The costs can generally be transferred to customers via product prices. The price increases were generally small and without any negative effects on competitiveness. Other drivers such as bans on certain substances, environmental industry product declarations, commercial advantages including direct customer demands from for instance public procurers, are more effective.

Waste electrical and electronic equipment (WEEE) represents a global environmental and resource-efficiency crisis. However, WEEE is a valuable urban mine of economically, strategically and environmentally important materials e.g. precious metals (PMs) and critical raw materials (CRMs). Economic value derived from WEEE can drive solutions to the ‘WEEE problem’ which are conducive to circular economy, enhance global resource-efficiency, and generate environmental and social benefits. This thesis examines the value of WEEE, and methods for its exploitation to the benefit of global sustainability. The ‘WEEE problem’ is examined in the context of global sustainability, considering environmental & resource-efficiency implications and linear resources use by the electrical & electronic equipment (EEE) industry. Solutions are considered which exploit WEEE as an ‘urban mine’ and embrace circular economy. Within this context, recycling potential of future WEEE is evaluated through projections of PM & Cu content of PCBs, based on temporal trends in historic RAM modules. CRMs are then identified in WEEE and methods of enhancing their recovery through intervention in pre-processing stages of recycling are evaluated. An industrial symbiosis process which recovers Pt from waste thermocouples for use in solar cells is presented as an example of the greater value generation potential offered by circular economy and the potential of such processes to overcome barriers to CRM recovery. Challenges and opportunities in lifecycle optimisation of printable photovoltaics for circular economy is considered as a means of enhancing the industrial ecology of this industry to avoid WEEE generation, reduce primary materials demand and enhance the value derived from these technologies at all stages of their lifecycles. Appropriate battery selection for solar off-grid systems in South Africa is then considered, demonstrating that greater value can be derived from EEE for local economies if compatibility of technologies with local skills and infrastructure for in-use and EoL management.

Title: Inventory Control of WEEE (Waste of Electronic and Electrical Equipment) Reverse Logistics in parts of China  --The HEA (household electrical appliances) manufacturers’ perspective   Background: With economic development, the requirement of public for enterprises and products has become increasingly rational. Price is no longer the only consideration of public, they also pay attention to other factors, such as energy conservation. The manufacturers face enormous challenges because of the late start of products recycling in China. So enterprises start to build their own recycling logistics system in order to have more competitive for themselves.   Purpose: The purpose is to describe the methods of inventory controls in the case HEA manufacturers and the problems of inventory controls, find out what problems exsist in the case manufacturers, then analyze what are the origins of these issues for HEA manufacturers as well as propose how these issues can be alleviated, and what methods would be suitable. By solving these research questions, the thesis tries to offer some suggestions about inventory control improvement not only to the cases, but also wider to the whole HEA manufacturers in China.   Method: Multiple - case study as research method has been applied. Specifically, two case companies, Chinese HEA manufacturers, have been selected. Two telephone focused interviews combined with open-ended interviews have been conducted with two related managers. The empirical evidence has been analyzed by using with-in case study and cross-case analysis method, then model analysis is applied.     Results, conclusion: First, the methods are not good enough in the two case companies, a new model is built to help inventory control in the case companies. Second, from external and internal perspective, the origins to cause the problems are a lot, but the main causes are environmental factors, and in busy seasons of these companies. Besides, for doing reverse logistics is a capital costing job, none of the enterprises would like to step in. and reverse logistics is in an uncertainty environment, doing so need to make sure everything clearly and orderly, or costs will be a large amount. The best way of improving inventory control of WEEE reverse logistics in China is that the enterprises standing together to restore the orders.   Limitations and drawbacks: For one thing, there are not enough previous studies references in China, this brought some difficulties of supporting the view points in the thesis. Two empirical cases are not persuasive enough to represent the whole China due to the limitation of the authors’ knowledge and the huge area of China. Nevertheless, the ideal model in model analysis is not that complicated, which means, for more complex problems and processes, the model would be lame.

The European Union Member States has a common environmental policy. The intention of the environmental policy and the WEEE and RoHS directives are to preserve, protect and improve the quality of the environment, protect human health and make use of natural resources. The WEEE is abbreviation for “Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment”. The WEEE directive purpose is to improve the reuse, recycling and recovery in order to reduce the amount of disposal of equipment and the contents going to landfill. The RoHS directive is abbreviation for “Restriction of the use of certain Hazardous Substances in electrical and electronic equipment”. The six restricted substances are lead, cadmium, mercury, hexavalent chromium and two brominated flame-retardants; PPB and PBDE. The purpose of the RoHS directive is to approximate the laws of the European Member States on the restrictions of the use of hazardous substances in EEE, “Electrical and Electronic Equipment”. The common legislation is needed because the companies shall have the same terms of concerns.

The amount of EEE that the European Member States generate is growing rapidly and that is why a common waste management is needed. The content of hazardous components in EEE is a major concern during the waste management phase and recycling of WEEE. The landfills do not have the possibility to handle the upcoming volumes of waste and the rubbish incineration creates high levels of heavy-alloy metal in our surroundings. The WEEE and RoHS directives covers ten categories of EEE and the producer responsibility shall encourage the design and production of EEE, which take into full account and facilitate their repair, possible upgrading, disassembly, reuse and recycling.

The Commission has not drawn up distinct guidelines and boundaries for the EEE within some of the categories in the WEEE and RoHS directives. This makes it difficult for the producers of EEE to determine if their products are within the scope of the directives. The definition of “large-scale stationary industrial tools” is one of the most difficult definitions to interpret. This definition includes four points that the EEE shall comply with to be allowed as an exemption.

Atlas Copco and CP are two of the concerned companies that have products within the scope of the WEEE and RoHS directives. In the Atlas Copco group there are two divisions; Atlas Copco and CP. Atlas Copco and CP develop, manufacture and market industrial tools, compressed air equipment, construction and mining equipment and assembly systems. It is Atlas Copco and CP’s industrial tools and assembly systems, which are affected by the WEEE and RoHS directives. Due to this Atlas Copco and CP needs to decide which of their products that is within the scope of the directives. Some of their industrial tools and assembly systems are in the grey-area of the legislation. The purpose of this thesis is to interpret the WEEE and RoHS directives and review Atlas Copco and CP’s industrial tools and assembly systems. The author believes that the majority of Atlas Copco and CP’s industrial tools and assembly systems are not “large-scale stationary industrial tools” because they sells as single units which the customers combine as they wish, to get the accurate performance. The tools are furthermore handhold and driven by electricity through a cable or battery and the industrial tools and assembly systems are not permanently fixed. The author’s decision which industrial tools and assembly systems are within the scope of the directives differentiates from Atlas Copco and CP’s decision.

The informal sector is described as groups of persons who act in parallel to official waste management systems without official authorisation. Such informal activities can result in risks as well as benefits both to the environment and involved stakeholders, which explains the continuing lively discussions in politics, science and society. Transhipments of waste electrical and electronic equipment (WEEE) are increasingly focused in Germany. In addition to informal exports via the port of Hamburg to countries such as China, Ghana or Nigeria, informal transports to Eastern European countries have been recognised for decades. This paper describes investigations regarding the characteristics, transhipped amounts as well as the eco-efficiency of informal sector activities originating from Eastern European countries, while thereby highlighting transhipments of used appliances to destination countries and a corresponding sale for reuse. Investigations reveal that a majority of informal collectors originate from Poland, Czech Republic, Hungary and Romania and are recognised across Germany. A high WEEE specialisation was determined, whereby average annual transhipped amounts are estimated at 77,000 tons. Collected materials are transhipped and partially sold for reuse. A case study considers the example of Polish informal collectors. The ratio between economic and environmental performance reveal that informal sector reuse activities in Poland achieve a higher environmentally sound performance in comparison to further usage of appliances under consideration. The informal collection of a television in Germany (and subsequent reuse in Poland) causes 8.34 kg less specific CO2 emissions per spend-costs (€) than the production, usage and further use in Poland. Conversely, a further use of a television in Germany only results in 2.2 kg less CO2 emissions per spend-costs (€). These results demonstrate that reuse as a result of informal sector activities can have a positive effect. Future electrical and electronic products available for reuse will have lower energy consumptions. A positive contribution to resource protection is thereby achieved while extending already short life cycles. Taking into account a dependency on collections with respect to their income, a pure ban of informal sector activities would therefore be socially counterproductive. A structured and controlled accomplishment of informal collection processes would open up new opportunities to enlarge the (already existing) concept of reuse at an international level.

The informal sector is described as groups of persons who act in parallel to official waste management systems without official authorisation. Such informal activities can result in risks as well as benefits both to the environment and involved stakeholders, which explains the continuing lively discussions in politics, science and society. Transhipments of waste electrical and electronic equipment (WEEE) are increasingly focused in Germany. In addition to informal exports via the port of Hamburg to countries such as China, Ghana or Nigeria, informal transports to Eastern European countries have been recognised for decades. This paper describes investigations regarding the characteristics, transhipped amounts as well as the eco-efficiency of informal sector activities originating from Eastern European countries, while thereby highlighting transhipments of used appliances to destination countries and a corresponding sale for reuse. Investigations reveal that a majority of informal collectors originate from Poland, Czech Republic, Hungary and Romania and are recognised across Germany. A high WEEE specialisation was determined, whereby average annual transhipped amounts are estimated at 77,000 tons. Collected materials are transhipped and partially sold for reuse. A case study considers the example of Polish informal collectors. The ratio between economic and environmental performance reveal that informal sector reuse activities in Poland achieve a higher environmentally sound performance in comparison to further usage of appliances under consideration. The informal collection of a television in Germany (and subsequent reuse in Poland) causes 8.34 kg less specific CO2 emissions per spend-costs (€) than the production, usage and further use in Poland. Conversely, a further use of a television in Germany only results in 2.2 kg less CO2 emissions per spend-costs (€). These results demonstrate that reuse as a result of informal sector activities can have a positive effect. Future electrical and electronic products available for reuse will have lower energy consumptions. A positive contribution to resource protection is thereby achieved while extending already short life cycles. Taking into account a dependency on collections with respect to their income, a pure ban of informal sector activities would therefore be socially counterproductive. A structured and controlled accomplishment of informal collection processes would open up new opportunities to enlarge the (already existing) concept of reuse at an international level.

Abstract The production and use of electrical and electronic equipment (EEE) have significantly increased during the last three decades due to technological innovations and new applications of EEE. Fast technological progress, EEE becoming a part of everyday life and rising incomes have led to the situation where EEE are more replaceable than ever causing the rapid growth of waste electrical and electronic equipment (WEEE). In order to reduce negative environmental and health impacts and to improve the recovery of valuable substances from WEEE, the European Union has implemented Directives related to EEE. In this thesis, the national implementation of the WEEE Directive and the development of the WEEE recovery infrastructure in Finland were studied. Furthermore, consumers’ awareness and perceptions toward the WEEE recovery system were assessed through a survey conducted in the Oulu region. Finally, the role of consumer behaviour in storing electronics at home and its impact on the realisation of the waste hierarchy were considered. Results indicate that the implementation of the WEEE Directive has succeeded in Finland. The legislative basis and functional WEEE recovery system with high collection and recovery rates have been enacted within a few years. The study revealed that consumers’ awareness of the importance and existence of WEEE recovery system is high among the residents in Oulu; however, the high storing rates of mobile phones indicate that the proximity and the convenience of the WEEE recovery system are inadequate to motivate the return of small WEEE. Analysing the lifespan of electronics indicates that stockpiling deprives the re-use potential of mobile phones and thus hinders waste prevention. Storage also delays the return of valuable substances for recycling and risks the realisation of the waste management hierarchy. It is concluded that education and awareness raising will continue to be a crucial element in the progress towards a more environmentally conscious WEEE recovery in Finland
Tiivistelmä Sähkö- ja elektroniikkalaitteiden (SE-laitteiden) tuotanto ja käyttö ovat kasvaneet merkittävästi viime vuosikymmenten aikana uusien teknologisten ratkaisujen ja sovellusten myötä. Nopea teknologinen kehitys, SE-laitteiden jokapäiväistyminen sekä elintason nousu ovat johtaneet tilanteeseen, jossa ne ovat helpommin vaihdettavissa kuin koskaan aikaisemmin. Tämän seurauksena myös sähkö- ja elektroniikkaromun (SE-romu, SER) määrä on nopeassa kasvussa. Vähentääkseen SE-romun aiheuttamia haitallisia ympäristö- ja terveysvaikutuksia sekä tehostaakseen hyödyllisten materiaalien talteenottoa SE-romusta Euroopan Unioni on ottanut käyttöön sähkö- ja elektroniikkalaitteisiin liittyviä direktiivejä. Tässä väitöskirjatutkimuksessa on tarkasteltu SER-direktiivin kansallista käyttöönottoa ja keräysverkoston kehittymistä Suomessa. Lisäksi kuluttajakäsitystä ja -tietoisuutta arvioitiin Oulun alueella toteutetulla kyselytutkimuksella. Työssä on arvioitu myös kuluttajien roolia käytöstä poistettujen SE-laitteiden kotivarastoinnissa ja sen vaikutuksia jätehierarkian toteutumiseen. Tulokset osoittavat, että kansallinen implementointi on onnistunut Suomessa; kansallinen lainsäädännöllinen perusta ja toimiva keräysjärjestelmä on saavutettu vain muutamassa vuodessa. Tutkimuksesta selviää, että kuluttajatietoisuus keräysjärjestelmän tärkeydestä ja sen olemassaolosta on hyvällä tasolla; matkapuhelinten korkea säilytysaste kotitalouksissa viittaa kuitenkin nykyisen järjestelmän riittämättömyyteen motivoida kuluttajia palauttamaan pientä SE-romua keräysjärjestelmään. SE-laitteiden elinkaaren vaikutusten tarkastelu osoittaa, että varastointi estää matkapuhelinten uudelleenkäyttöä ja estää jätteen synnyn ehkäisyä. Lisäksi se viivästyttää hyödyllisten materiaalien palautumista kierrätykseen vaarantaen myös jätehierarkian toteutumisen. Siksi koulutus ja tietoisuuden lisääminen ovat tärkeässä roolissa ympäristömyötäisemmän keräysjärjestelmän saavuttamiseksi Suomessa

The work in this thesis aims to develop new systems for the more efficient recovery of metals from aqueous solution using solvent extraction. Understanding the underlying coordination chemistry to improve hydrometallurgical methods is crucial in order to meet the demand for critical metals for use in modern technologies, reduce the environment impact of recovery from primary mining deposits, and recycle valuable metals from secondary sources (e.g. mobile phones, WEEE). Chapter 2 examines the use of a simple primary amide that can load gold and other chloridometalates into a toluene phase through an outer-sphere mechanism. The loading of a variety of metals/metalloids from varying [HCl] is reported, highlighting the selectivity for gold over other metalates and chloride due to a combination of speciation of those metals and the relative ease of extraction of lower charged species (the Hofmeister bias). The advantages in loading/stripping, toxicity and mass balances compared to commercial alternatives are also outlined, in particular the efficacy of separating gold from a mixed-metal solution representative of those found in WEEE. The mode of action of the primary amide (and secondary/tertiary analogues) is determined using slope analysis, Karl-Fischer water determinations, NMR and MS measurements, EXAFS and computational models. The extraction occurs by the dynamic assembly of multiple amide ligands and gold metalates to generate supramolecular clusters held together through hydrogen-bonding and electrostatic interactions. The secondary and tertiary amides are found to be able to extract monoanionic metalates in a similar manner as the primary amide, although clustering occurs to a lesser extent. Whilst the secondary and tertiary amides are stronger gold extractants than the primary amide, they are not observed to be as successful when extracting from a mixed-metal solution. Instead, a 3rd phase is seen to form from these amides and some metals at higher metal concentrations, which removes the ligands from solution and prevents successful extraction of gold. Chapter 3 builds on an observation in Chapter 2 that a synergistic combination of a simple primary amide and an amine can extract chloridometalates that are typically difficult to solvent extract, such as iridium(III) and rhodium(III). These metalates, complexes with increased anionic charge and varying speciation in aqueous solution, are typically recovered last in a metal production flowsheet. The combination of a primary amide and primary amine was found to be the most effective at extracting the chloridometalates; the strength and strippability of the system is of particular interest in the context of rhodium(III) recovery as this metal currently is not extracted in commercial circuits. The mode of action of the system is investigated using similar techniques to Chapter 2, and reveals that the amine is the more important component of the synergistic mixture compared to the amide, with an improvement in extraction observed when both components are present. Rh(III) is extracted as a mixture of RhCl6 3– and RhCl5(OH2)2– complexes, dependent on the initial [HCl] concentration and the age of the initial aqueous solution. Chapter 4 investigates the feasibility of the recovery of lanthanides as anionic metalates from chloride-, nitrate- or sulfate-rich feeds. Reagents that have been found to be strong chloridometalate extractants, fragmented versions of these, and ‘classic’ commercial outer-sphere reagents are studied. The variations of ligand, anion type and concentration, proton concentration and solvent for the extraction of lanthanides is investigated. However, despite these permutations, no extraction of lanthanides is observed due to the difficulty in extracting more highly hydrated species and the lack of stability of the metalates in aqueous solution.

Introdução: O crescente consumo de equipamentos elétricos e eletrônicos (EEE) e o processo acelerado de geração de resíduos é um fenômeno global, que vêm despertando interesse científico e político. Os resíduos de equipamentos elétricos e eletrônicos (REEE) contêm substâncias perigosas como metais pesados e retardantes de chama e quando manejados ou dispostos inadequadamente, causam impactos ao ambiente e à saúde. Diretrizes para a gestão têm sido propostas em diversas partes do mundo, especialmente na União Europeia. No Brasil ainda não há uma política pública específica para a gestão dos REEE. A gestão requer diagnóstico que considere as características dos dois fluxos existentes: o institucional e o domiciliar. O fluxo domiciliar é complexo e problemático por apresentar geração difusa e estar associado a comportamentos e práticas adotadas pelos proprietários dos produtos. Objetivo: Estudar o fluxo domiciliar de geração e destinação de REEE no município de São Paulo/SP, caracterizando as etapas de aquisição dos produtos, armazenagem no domicílio e descarte ao final da vida útil. Método: Estudo transversal de base populacional com amostra representativa dos domicílios do município de São Paulo/SP (n=395). Foi utilizado questionário estruturado pré-elaborado para levantar informações sobre: características, quantidade e comportamentos relativos a 26 tipos de EEE. Foi realizada análise descritiva dos dados, estimando-se o total de equipamentos existentes (em uso e fora de uso) e descartados nos domicílios. Além disso, realizou-se estudo de caso sobre a gestão dos REEE em Portugal à luz da política pública existente para os países da UE, por meio de entrevistas com uso de roteiros semi-estruturados, realizadas com os principais agentes envolvidos. Resultados: No município de São Paulo havia 71,8 milhões de EEE (IC95 por cento : 68,4-75,3), dos quais 8,8 milhões (IC95 por cento : 7,8-9,9) encontravam-se guardados (fora de uso). A média de equipamentos existente nos domicílios foi de 21 EEE/domicílio (IC95 por cento : 19,7-21,7). Embora a maioria dos relatos indicasse tentativa de prolongar o tempo de uso por meio do conserto (50,6 por cento ;IC95 por cento :45,9-55,9) havia limitações econômicas e técnicas; para 65 por cento o custo do conserto é o maior fator impeditivo. Nos últimos anos estimou-se que o descarte no município foi de 20,5 milhões (IC95 por cento : 18,7-22,4) de EEE, envolvendo destinação com intenção de reutilização (59,5 por cento ; IC95 por cento : 57,4-61,5), de reciclagem (20,4 por cento ; IC95 por cento :18,8-22,1) e 16 por cento (IC 95 por cento : 14,5-17,6) descarte no lixo comum. Subsídios para política específica foram apresentados: metas proporcionais aos produtos colocados no mercado; consideração da hierarquia da gestão priorizando a prevenção e a valorização dos REEE; facilitação da entrega por meio de ampla distribuição de pontos de recepção e informação e sensibilização dos usuários; sistema de informação que permita a rastreabilidade dos REEE; obrigatoriedade de autorização ambiental para os operadores de todas as etapas do gerenciamento de REEE. Concluiu-se que a gestão dos REEE necessita de marco regulatório especifico que contemple a responsabilidade estendida do produtor e o controle das condições de manejo e do destino
Introduction: The increasing consumption of electrical and electronic equipment (EEE) and the accelerated waste generation process is a global phenomenon that has been attracting scientific and political interest. Waste electrical and electronic equipment (WEEE) contains hazardous substances, such as heavy metals and flame-retardants, and, when improperly handled or disposed of, has an impact on the environment and health. Management guidelines for this kind of waste have been proposed around the world, especially in the European Union. In Brazil, there is currently no specific policy for WEEE management. This management requires diagnosis that takes into account the characteristics of the two existing flows: the institutional and the household flows. The household flow is complex and problematic in view of its diffuse generation and for its association with behaviors and practices adopted by the product owners. Objective: To study the household flow arising from the WEEE generation and disposal in the City of São Paulo, State of São Paulo, describing the stages of product acquisition, household storage, and disposal at the end of its life. Methods: A cross-sectional population-based representative sample research of households in the City of São Paulo, State of São Paulo (n=395). A previously prepared structured questionnaire was used to assess information on: characteristics, quantities, and behavior regarding 26 types of EEE. Data descriptive analyses were performed with an estimate of the total number of existing (in use and out of use) and discarded equipment in household. In addition, a case study on the WEEE management in Portugal under the existing public policy for the EU countries has been carried out through interviews using semi-structured scripts with key stakeholders. Results: In São Paulo, there were 71.8 million EEE (95 per cent CI: 68.4-75.3), 8.8 million (95 per cent CI: 7.8-9.9) of which were stored (out of use). On average, 21 EEE are found in each home (95 per cent CI: 19.7-21.7). Although most reports indicate an attempt to extend the EEE use through repairs (50.6 per cent ; 95 per cent CI: 45.9-55.9), there are economic and technical limitations (65 per cent of the respondents pointed out the repair cost is the biggest impediment). In the last 5 years, it is estimated that, in the City of São Paulo, 20.5 million (95 per cent CI:18.7-22.4) EEE have been discarded, as follows: for intended reuse (59.5 per cent ; 95 per cent CI: 57.4-61.5), for recycling (20.4 per cent ; 95 per cent CI: 18.8-22.1) and as ordinary waste (16 per cent ; 95 per cent CI: 14.5-17.6). The following elements for a specific policy has been provided: goals that commensurate the number of products in the market; consideration of management hierarchy, prioritizing the WEEE prevention and recovery; facilitation of their delivery through wide distribution of the reception points and information to and awareness of users; an information system allowing the WEEE tracking; mandatory environmental clearance for operators in all stages of WEEE management. Our conclusion is that WEEE management requires a specific regulatory framework, including extended producer responsibility and control of handling conditions and disposal

Nas últimas décadas houve um incremento do uso de equipamentos eletroeletrônicos, que têm vida útil determinada por vários fatores, como o porte de equipamento e o comportamento do usuário, por exemplo. Quando estes equipamentos e seus acessórios são descartados tornam-se resíduos de equipamentos eletroeletrônicos (REEE). O objetivo desta tese é selecionar variáveis a serem utilizadas como base de um modelo de previsão de demanda para os REEE. O método de pesquisa adotado foi a pesquisa exploratória combinada com a pesquisa conclusiva, utilizando abordagens de caráter qualitativo e quantitativo. A parte qualitativa utiliza como técnicas de pesquisa a revisão bibliográfica, a revisão sistemática, o grupo focado e as entrevistas. Já em relação à parte quantitativa foram utilizados questionários, ferramentas estatísticas (gráficos e coeficiente de correlação posto-ordem de Spearman) e o método AHP. Foram elaborados cinco artigos científicos, que atingindo objetivos específicos, contribuem para o objetivo geral. O primeiro artigo visava obter informações sobre métodos e ferramentas utilizados para realizar a previsão de demanda de REEE. O segundo artigo pretendia delinear o cenário atual dos REEE do ponto de vista das responsabilidades dos stakeholders no processo de logística reversa. Os riscos e oportunidades decorrentes dos REEE foram abordados no artigo 3, fornecendo informações para o cenário do ponto de vista social, ambiental e econômico. Já o artigo 4 focou nas indústrias de equipamentos eletroeletrônicos do RS e buscou informações sobre a forma de produção, a composição dos produtos e ações destas indústrias para implantação do sistema de logística reversa para os REEE. No último artigo foi definido um conjunto de 21 variáveis que influenciam na logística reversa dos REEE e foi realizada a priorização destas variáveis. Como resultado, foram selecionadas 7 variáveis: estimativa de vida útil do equipamento (1º); Disponibilização de pontos de coleta de REEE (2o); Existência de um acordo setorial (3º); Número de equipamentos vendidos (4º); Incentivos para empresas de reciclagem/gerenciadoras de REEE na região (5º); Existência de empresas de reciclagem ou gerenciadoras de REEE na região (6º); Distância dos pontos de coleta de REEE (7º).
In recent decades there has been an increase in the use of electrical and electronic equipment that have life cycles defined by several factors such as the size of the equipment and user behavior, for example. When this equipment and its accessories are disposed, they become waste electrical and electronic equipment (WEEE). The aim of this doctoral dissertation is to select variables to be used as basis for a demand forecasting model for WEEE. The research method adopted combined exploratory research and conclusive research, with a qualitative and quantitative approach. The following research techniques were used in the qualitative part: literature review, systematic review, focus group and interviews. Regarding the quantitative part, the following techniques were used: questionnaires, statistical tools (graphs and the Spearman’s rank-order correlation coefficient) and the AHP method. Five scientific articles were written, which contributed to the general objective by reaching specific objectives. The first article aimed at obtaining information on methods and tools used to carry out demand forecasting of WEEE. The second article intended to describe the current scenario of WEEE from the perspective of the stakeholders’ responsibility in the process of reverse logistics. The risks and opportunities resulting from WEEE were the theme of the third article, which provided information about the scenario from a social, environmental and economic point of view. The fourth article focused on the factories of electrical and electronic equipment of Rio Grande do Sul, and collected information on the product composition and production methods of such factories, and their actions to implement a system of reverse logistics for WEEE. The last article defined a set of 21 variables that influence the reverse logistics of WEEE, and arranged these variables in order of priority. As a result, seven variables were selected: estimate of life cycle of equipment (1st); Availability of WEEE collection points (2nd); Existence of a sector agreement (3rd); Number of equipment sold (4th); Incentives to WEEE recycling/managing companies in the area (5th); Existence of WEEE recycling or managing companies in the area (6th); Distance between WEEE collection points (7th).

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This study has been dedicated to 􀁗􀁋􀁈􀀃 􀁕􀁈􀁖􀁈􀁄􀁕􀁆􀁋􀀃 􀁒􀁉􀀃 􀂳􀀨􀁑􀁙􀁌􀁕􀁒􀁑􀁐􀁈􀁑􀁗􀁄􀁏􀀃 􀀰􀁄􀁕􀁎􀁈􀁗􀂴􀀏􀀃 􀁉􀁒􀁕􀀃 􀁗􀁋􀁈􀀃 Master's Degree in Law, International Relations and Development, on Academic Master's Degree of the Pontifical Catholic University of Goiás and presents an 􀂳􀀲􀁙􀁈􀁕􀁙􀁌􀁈􀁚􀀃 􀁒􀁉􀀃 􀀨􀁏􀁈􀁆􀁗􀁕􀁌􀁆􀁄􀁏􀀃 􀁄􀁑􀁇􀀃 􀀨􀁏􀁈􀁆􀁗􀁕􀁒􀁑􀁌􀁆􀁖􀀃 􀀨􀁔􀁘􀁌􀁓􀁐􀁈􀁑􀁗􀀃 􀀺􀁄ste: electronics waste 􀂱 e- 􀁚􀁄􀁖􀁗􀁈􀂴􀀑􀀃􀀷􀁒􀁊􀁈􀁗􀁋􀁈􀁕􀀃􀁚􀁌􀁗􀁋􀀃􀁗􀁋􀁈􀀃􀁄􀁖􀁖􀁘􀁐􀁓􀁗􀁌􀁒􀁑􀀃􀁒􀁉􀀃􀁆􀁒􀁑􀁆􀁈􀁕􀁑􀀃􀁉􀁒􀁕􀀃􀁈􀁑􀁙􀁌􀁕􀁒􀁑􀁐􀁈􀁑􀁗􀁄􀁏􀀃􀁌􀁖􀁖􀁘􀁈􀁖􀀏􀀃􀁗􀁋􀁈􀀃􀁉􀁒􀁆􀁘􀁖􀀃􀁒􀁉􀀃 this scientific study is to identify the reality that permeates the waste of electronics internationally and nationally, combining the available data, identify the risks and to point out need for environmental management and the adequate way to handle ewaste, not only by the government but throughout society, primarily those involved in the production of electrical and electronic products. In face of the domestic and foreign situation will become clear that electronic products are discarded as scrap after its useful life, sometimes inappropriately, given the governmental omission of some States and the lack of specifications for the management and handling of e-waste. In this sense, it has been elucidated critical and positive aspects of domestic and foreign legal policies to the objects of analysis. It matters because the perception of how important the care of the e-waste and how large are the implications and consequences of improper waste management. Remain to be highlighted specific initiatives on recycling and final destination of e-waste for prevention of environmental pollution. And particularly with a view to environmental protection, enable to foster intelligible discussions to provide to government, business and society robust scientific evidence in order to effectuate the mechanisms of protection and control of disposal of electrical and electronic equipment waste. The methodology applied to the academic endeavor is a hypothetical-deductive effort, which is part of a rational analysis of specific and general factors in order to show the reality about the foreign and domestic electronic equipment waste, to emphasize the importance of adequate environment management waste of solid of this kind.
Esta pesquisa volta-􀁖􀁈􀀃 􀁪􀀃 􀁏􀁌􀁑􀁋􀁄􀀃 􀁇􀁈􀀃 􀁓􀁈􀁖􀁔􀁘􀁌􀁖􀁄􀀃 􀂳􀀰􀁈􀁕􀁆􀁄􀁇􀁒􀀃 􀀤􀁐􀁅􀁌􀁈􀁑􀁗􀁄􀁏􀂴􀀏􀀃 􀁇􀁒􀀃 􀀳􀁕􀁒􀁊􀁕􀁄􀁐􀁄􀀃 􀁇􀁈􀀃 Pós-Graduação em Direito, Relações Internacionais e Desenvolvimento, na modalidade Mestrado Acadêmico, da Pontifícia Universidade Católica de Goiás e apresenta 􀁘􀁐􀀃􀂳􀀳􀁄􀁑􀁒􀁕􀁄􀁐􀁄􀀃􀁇􀁒􀁖􀀃􀀵􀁈􀁖􀁴􀁇􀁘􀁒􀁖􀀃􀁇􀁈􀀃􀀨􀁔􀁘􀁌􀁓􀁄􀁐􀁈􀁑􀁗􀁒􀁖􀀃􀀨􀁏􀁰􀁗􀁕􀁌􀁆􀁒􀁖􀀃􀁈􀀃􀀨􀁏􀁈􀁗􀁕􀁻􀁑􀁌􀁆􀁒􀁖􀀝􀀃􀁒􀀃 lixo eletroeletrônico 􀂱 e-􀁏􀁌􀁛􀁒􀂴􀀑􀀃 A par do pressuposto de preocupação para com a questão ambiental, o foco do estudo científico está em identificar a realidade internacional e nacional que permeia o resíduo eletroeletrônico; conjugar os dados disponíveis, identificar os riscos e, apontar a necessidade de gestão e manejo ambientalmente adequado do e-lixo, não somente pelo Poder Público, mas sim, por toda a sociedade, primordialmente, aqueles que participam da cadeia produtiva de produtos elétricos e eletrônicos. Diante da conjuntura estrangeira e doméstica verificar-se-á que produtos eletroeletrônicos são descartados como sucata após o ciclo de vida útil, por vezes de modo inapropriado, face à omissão governamental de alguns Estados e a ausência de ações específicas para a gestão e manejo idôneo do lixo eletrônico. Nesse sentido, são elucidados aspectos críticos e positivos de ordenamentos jurídicos externos e interno em relação ao objeto de análise. Interessa, pois, a percepção de quão importante são os cuidados com o resíduo eletroeletrônico e como são amplas as implicações e reflexos em decorrência da gestão inadequada dos mesmos. Restam evidenciadas iniciativas pontuais sobre reutilização, reciclagem e destinação final do e-lixo, em prevenção à poluição ambiental. Sobretudo e, com vistas à proteção ambiental, enseja-se fomentar discussões inteligíveis, para propiciar à Administração Pública, empresas e sociedade elementos científicos robustos a fim de efetivar mecanismos de tutela e controle do descarte de resíduos de equipamentos elétricos e eletroeletrônicos. A metodologia aplicada ao esforço acadêmico consiste num esforço hipotéticodedutivo, no qual se parte de uma análise racional de fatores gerais e específicos, para evidenciar a realidade internacional e doméstica acerca dos resíduos de equipamentos elétricos e eletrônicos, com a finalidade de ressaltar a importância da gestão ambientalmente adequada dessa espécie de resíduo sólido.

Elektriskt och elektroniskt avfall (WEEE) är den snabbast växande avfallskategorin inom EU, samtidigt som det är en av de mest skadliga formerna av avfall för människors hälsa och miljön om det inte samlas in och tas om hand på rätt sätt. Sverige påbörjade insamlingen av el-avfall 2001 och samlar idag in 16,27 kg el-avfall perperson vilket är av de högsta insamlingsnivåerna inom EU, men trots det slängs fortfarande smått el-avfall så som hushållsprodukter, mobiltelefoner och lågenergilampor i andra avfallsfraktioner. För att lösa detta problem talar man om behovet av ökad tillgänglighet på insamlingsplatser och information, men undersökningar av hushållsavfallets sammansättning visar att innehållet av el-avfall i stort sett är oförändrat, trots ökad tillgänglighet och information. De studier som ligger till grund för dagens förbättringsåtgärder har antingen tittat på insamlingssystemets brister utifrån ett nationellt perspektiv eller på effektiviteten av alternativa lokala insamlingssystem. Utifrån dessa har slutsatser dragits om allmänna brister och potentiella förbättringsåtgärder. Statistik visar samtidigt att insamlingen av el-avfall skiljer sig åt markant mellan olika platser i landet, och att somliga kommuner har förvånansvärt effektiva system jämfört med andra. Med hänsyn till detta så finns en uppenbar risk att dagens förbättringsåtgärder är suboptimala. Istället för att undersöka styrkor och svagheter med specifika insamlingssystem så studeras i denna uppsats skillnaderna mellan två svenska kommuner, en med hög och en med låg insamlingsnivå av diverse elektronik ochgasurladdningslampor, med syftet att skapa en bättre förståelse för vilka faktorer som bidrar till en effektiv insamling. Skillnaderna som studeras är tillgängligheten på insamlingsplatser och informationen i anslutning till dessa, kommunernas arbetsinsatser samt invånarnas kunskap, attityder och preferenser, uppgivna beteenden och subjektiva uppfattning om insamlingssystemens tillgänglighet och funktion. Vidare studeras även om kommuninvånarna informerats i enlighet med den lagstiftning som finns på området och vad invånarna har för attityder till, och preferenser kring, ett eventuellt pantsystem för lågenergilampor och smått el-avfall. Frågeställningarna studeras genom en kombination av intervjuer med nyckelpersoner, inventering av insamlingsplatser samt en enkätundersökning. Resultaten av studien visar att det finns skillnader på samtliga undersökta områden, med undantag för invånarnas kunskap. Av skillnaderna dras slutsatsen att det finns ett antal åtgärder som sannolikt skulle kunna öka insamlingen av el-avfall i Sverige. På lokal nivå kan sannolikt ett ökat kommunalt engagemang och arbete med frågan om el-avfall, i kombination med ökad tillgänglighet på insamlingsplatser samt god och välanpassad information i anslutning till dessa, öka insamlingen av el-avfall. På nationell nivå kan sannolikt en skärpt tillsyn som tvingar kommunerna att följa informationskravet i aktuell lagstiftning leda till en ökad medvetenhet bland svenska medborgare, vilket i sin tur sannolikt kan bidra till minskade mängder felsorterade lågenergilampor och smått el-avfall. Slutligen tycks ett eventuellt pantsystem för lågenergilampor och annat smått el-avfall vara ytterligare ett sätt att öka insamlingen. Studien tyder på att ett pantsystem skulle kunna öka människors benägenhet att lämna in dessa produkter till återvinning, minska mängden upplagrad elektronik i hemmen, erbjuda nya möjligheter vad gäller märkning och uppföljning av produkter samt potentiellt kunna minska insamlingskostnaderna.
Waste electrical and electronic equipment (WEEE) is the fastest growing waste stream within the EU, and at the same time of the most hazardous forms of waste, threatening both human health and the environment if not properly collected and treated. Sweden started a separate collection of WEEE in 2001, and with 16,27 kg of WEEE collected per person in 2011 it has one of the highest collection rates within the EU. Despite this, small WEEE is still ending up in all types of household waste. To solve this issue, the need for increased availability of collections points and information is frequently discussed, but despite improvements in these areas the content of WEEE in household waste remains relatively stable. The studies that make up the basis of today’s improvement work, have either been looking at shortcomings of the collection system from a national point of view, or on the effectiveness of alternative local collection systems. Based on these studies, conclusions about the general shortcomings of the system and potential ways of improvement have been drawn. At the same time, statistics show that the collection of WEEE differs substantially between different parts of Sweden, and that some municipalities have surprisingly efficient collection systems compared to others. With regard to his, current improvement strategies may not be optimal. Instead of looking at the strengths and weaknesses of specific collection systems, this study looks at the differences between two Swedish municipalities, one with a high and one with a low collection rate of small WEEE and compact fluorescent lamps, with the aim of creating a better understanding of factors that may contribute to high collection rates. The differences that are studied are the availability of collection points and the information in connection to these, the municipalities’ work and the resident’s knowledge, attitudes, preferences, subjective behavior and subjective perception of the collection system’s availability and functionality. Furthermore, the thesis examines whether the residents have been informed in accordance with European and national WEEE-legislation and what their attitudes and preferences are regarding a potential deposit system for small WEEE and compact fluorescent lamps. The results show that differences can be seen in all areas but the residents’ knowledge. From the observed differences, conclusions about possible ways of improving the collection of WEEE in Sweden are drawn. On a local level, increased municipal engagement and work efforts, in combination with increased access to collection points along with appropriate and well customized information in connection to these, is likely to increase the collection of WEEE. On a national level, increased supervision that forces municipalities to comply with the information requirements in European and national legislation, may lead to an increased awareness among Swedish citizens, which may in turn lead to a decrease in wrongly sorted small WEEE and compact fluorescent lamps. Finally, a potential deposit system for small WEEE and compact fluorescent lamps may be yet another way of increasing collection rates. The results suggest that a deposit system may in fact increase the motivation of citizens to recycle these products, decrease the amount of old electrical and electronic equipment currently stockpiled in private households, offer new possibilities to mark and track products and potentially lower the costs of collection.

Granskare:

Lisa Dahlén, Universitetslektor vid Institutionen för samhällsbyggnad och naturresurser, avdelningen för Geovetenskap och miljöteknik, Luleå tekniska universitet*Lisa.Dahlen@ltu.se

Thesis evaluator:

Dahlén, Lisa, University Lector (Luleå University of Technology, Division of Geosciences and Environmental Engineering, Department of Civil, Environmental and Natural Resources Engineering)*Lisa.Dahlen@ltu.se

Eco-design is relatively new and fast growing field of research due to its vital importance to the manufacturing industry and its related environmental issues such as reducing waste, and CO2 emission. A major EU programme relating to the environment is the waste of Electrical and Electronic Equipment (WEEE) directive. The (WEEE) directive specifies ten categories and a voltage range which is up to 1.000 volts AC or 1.500volts DC. The developed framework came for the implementation of Eco-design principles that helps to take into account the adaption of the (WEEE) directive and the restriction of hazard substances (RoHS) used in electrical and electronic equipments. As a result of identify gaps and needs such as a lack of a comprehensive Eco-design framework and the need to integrate it to the normal business operation. In this research the PDCA framework for Eco-design and WEEE directive will be discussed. The framework will encompass all of the Eco-design¿s implementation and integration factors and activities such as WEEE and RoHS directives, Eco-design management, Environmental legislations, Eco-design tools and considerations. The literature review covers the topic of Eco-design¿s related issues, and WEEE and RoHS directives rules. Based on comprehensive questionnaire survey of Eco-design, WEEE and RoHS issues and activities among a sample of environmentally aware companies, statistical analysis is carried out using SPSS software. Then the findings of the survey triangulated with the findings of the literature review formed the basis of the design and implementation plan of the proposed framework

Introdução: no Brasil, ainda não há legislação específica, em nível nacional, sobre resíduos de equipamentos elétricos e eletrônicos (REEE). Com a regulamentação da Política Nacional de Resíduos Sólidos, as instituições de ensino superior (IES) no país se deparam com a necessidade de criar sistemas de gestão integrada que incluam logística reversa e disposição desses equipamentos ao final de sua vida útil. Objetivo: estudar a geração, fluxo e destino dos REEE de IES e propor diretrizes para a gestão institucional desses resíduos. Estudou-se o caso de duas IES, em dois cenários distintos: A) a Universidade de São Paulo (Brasil), sem influência de legislação específica sobre o tema e que não possui política de resíduos consolidada; B) A Universidade de Cádiz (Espanha), sob influência das Diretivas da União Europeia e de legislação nacional e que conta com política de resíduos e sistemas integrados de gestão de REEE. Método: análise quali/quantitativa em ambas as IES que constou de: I) Diagnóstico da geração, fluxo e destino dos REEE. Técnica utilizada: levantamento dos dados censitários dos bens que sofreram processo de baixa em um período de dez anos, no sistema de informação da Administração Patrimonial; II) Criação de nova base de dados, com inclusão de classificação dos REEE por tipo, peso médio e periculosidade; III) Pesquisa participativa com os responsáveis por setores envolvidos com a gestão interna de REEE; e IV) Observação sistemática, com registros fotográficos e de dados obtidos, em locais de destino de REEE e em nove Sistemas de Gestão Integrada de REEE (SIG-REEE) da Espanha. Resultados: o diagnóstico foi apresentado aos responsáveis por setores envolvidos com a gestão interna desses resíduos nas instituições, com objetivo de coletar sugestões para um plano de gestão de REEE que atendesse às suas necessidades e expectativas. Os resultados desta pesquisa levaram à proposta de diretrizes para a gestão institucional de REEE, orientando a execução das ações de controle de seus impactos econômicos, sociais, ambientais e de saúde de forma integrada e que seja sustentável e possa ser adaptado a quaisquer tipos de instituição, com flexibilidade para atender a diferentes necessidades e realidades. Conclusão: I) Os procedimentos adotados atualmente nas IES estudadas não atendem aos requisitos fundamentais de sustentabilidade. II) Constatou-se que fatores internos determinam os caminhos da gestão externa do REEE. III) As diretrizes propostas para gestão integrada de REEE baseiam-se em três etapas principais: a) planejamento para aquisição do EEE; b) vida útil; c) gestão de REEE. O estudo conclui que para se conseguir um sistema de gestão sustentável e efetivo, é necessário considerar todas as etapas do ciclo de vida do produto, a partir do planejamento para sua aquisição, até seu destino final. Para que o sistema de gestão de REEE em IES seja efetivo, propõe-se a integração da gestão de EEE/REEE
Introduction: in Brazil, there is no specific law at the national level for the disposal of electrical and electronic equipment waste (WEEE). With the National Solid Waste Policy regulations, Higher Education Institutions (HEI) in the country are faced with the need to create integrated management systems that include reverse logistics and disposal of such equipment at the end of its life time. Objective: to study the generation, flow, and destination of WEEE from HEI and propose guidelines for developing an institutional management system for such waste. Two HEIs in two distinct scenarios were analyzed: A) the University of São Paulo (Brazil), which operates without the influence of legislation on the subject and does not have a consolidated waste policy; and B) The University of Cádiz (Spain), which operates under European Union Directives and national legislation, featuring an integrated waste management policy on WEEE. Methods: qualitative/quantitative analyses in both institutions consisted of: i) Diagnosis of the generation, flow, and destination of WEEE based on census data on goods that have undergone a process of decline over a period of ten years in the Administração Patrimonial (Asset Management) information systems; ii) Creation of a new database, which includes the classification of WEEE by type, average weight, and hazard risk; iii) Research with the participation of the responsible parties of the sectors involved with the internal management of WEEE, and iv) Systematic observation, with photographic records and retrieved data from WEEE destinations and from nine Integrated Management Systems of WEEE (SIG-REEE) in Spain. Results: the diagnoses were presented to the responsible parties of the sectors involved with the internal management of such waste in institutions, with the objective of gathering suggestions for a WEEE management system that meets needs and expectations. The results led to the proposal of guidelines for the preparation of an institutional WEEE management plan, to orient the implementation of sustainable practices in order to better control economic, social, environmental, and health impact in an integrated manner that is sustainable and can be adapted to any type of institution, with enough flexibility to meet different needs and realities. Conclusion: I) the procedures currently in effect in HEI do not meet the core requirements of sustainability II) It was noted that internal factors determine the paths of external WEEE management. III) The guidelines proposed in this study for integrated management of WEEE were based on three main stages: a) acquisition of the EEE, b) useful life period; c) WEEE management. The study concludes that to achieve a sustainable and effective management system, it is necessary to consider all stages of the life cycle of a product, from planning to acquisition, to its final destination. The integration of EEE/WEEE management is recommended

O crescimento econômico e o avanço da tecnologia tem gerado maior produção de equipamentos eletroeletrônicos, cuja vida útil está cada vez menor. A troca constante de equipamentos tem levado a um aumento no descarte dos mesmos. Além da maior produção de resíduos, um agravante é o potencial poluidor deste tipo de resíduo devido aos metais pesados contidos neles, como o chumbo, mercúrio e cádmio. Contudo, apesar disso, há também metais nobres como ouro e prata, o que tem se tornado uma grande oportunidade de negócio para a indústria de reciclagem e os interessados nesta cadeia de resíduos de equipamentos eletroeletrônicos (REEE). Entretanto, apesar do mercado bilionário que gira em torno da produção e troca destes equipamentos, o descarte incorreto dos REEE tem consequências socioambientais muito sérias, como a poluição do solo e da água, o que causa implicações à saúde como doenças neurológicas, câncer e até a morte. Neste contexto, foi estabelecida a Política Nacional de Resíduos Sólidos (PNRS) (Lei 12.305/2010), cujo objetivo é dar a destinação ambientalmente adequada para os resíduos. Com novas obrigatoriedades legais, os envolvidos na cadeia de produção, consumo e descarte dos eletroeletrônicos estão tendo que se reorganizar para manter-se neste mercado. Por isso, o objetivo deste estudo foi entender e mapear o campo no qual os REEE estão inseridos. Ou seja, conhecer quais atores fazem parte deste campo; como se relacionam; quais são os interesses e disputas; como tudo isso está relacionado; como se organiza e quais os campos próximos que interferem nele. A pesquisa se baseou na teoria de campos de Fligstein e McAdam (2012) para entender a existência do campo de ação estratégica estudado, seu estado e características. Foi feito o levantamento de dados através de uma pesquisa bibliográfica e documental. Utilizou-se da observação participante e a entrevista semiestruturada com os principais atores do campo de ação estratégico dos REEE identificados, com apoio de um roteiro. Pôde-se perceber a existência do campo de REEE, como se estabeleceu a crise no mesmo e como isso tem transformado o campo. Foram identificados uma série de atores que participam do fenômeno de transformação do campo de ação estratégica dos REEE: Universidade, empresas, sociedade civil e governo, além de dois campos próximos que exercem influência no campo estudado, o Mercado de EEE e a Indústria internacional de reciclagem de REEE. O Estado se mostrou muito influente no campo de REEE. Os atores e campos envolvidos desejam, portanto, a recuperação destes REEE para a reciclagem, devido, principalmente, às vantagens econômicas que a reciclagem proporciona a eles. A forma de fazer a recuperação dos REEE é o que tem sido discutido e está em disputa no campo. Diversos entraves foram observados para a gestão dos REEE no contexto brasileiro, mas a principal questão foi a necessidade de investimentos, incentivos e ações conjuntas, colaborativas e concomitantes para possibilitar a gestão efetiva dos REEE. Assim, a forma como a responsabilidade compartilhada, em especial o acordo setorial, vem sendo empregados não se mostram suficiente para a gestão dos REEE. Observou-se a necessidade de uma mudança de paradigma no que tange as questões de produção, consumo, troca e descarte dos REEE no contexto brasileiro.
Economic growth and the advancement of technology have generated greater production of electrical and electronic equipment, with a shorter service life. The constant exchange of equipment has led to an increase in their disposal. In addition to increased waste production, an aggravating factor is the potential for this type of waste to be polluted due to the heavy metals contained in them, such as lead, mercury and cadmium. However, despite this, there are also noble metals such as gold and silver, which has become a great business opportunity for the recycling industry and those interested in this waste electrical and electronic equipment (WEEE) chain. However, in spite of the billion dollar market that revolves around the production and exchange of these equipments, the incorrect disposal of WEEE has very serious socio-environmental consequences, such as soil and water pollution, which causes health implications such as neurological diseases, cancer and even the death. In this context, the National Solid Waste Policy (PNRS) (Law 12.305/2010) was established, whose objective is to provide the environmentally appropriate destination for the waste. With new legal mandates, those involved in the chain of production, consumption and disposal of consumer electronics are having to reorganize to stay in this market. Therefore, the objective of this study was to understand and map the field in which WEEE are inserted. That is, to know which actors are part of this field; how they relate; what are the interests and disputes; how all this is related; how it is organized, and what nearby fields interfere with it. The research was based on the field theory of Fligstein and McAdam (2012) to understand the existence of the field of strategic action studied, its state and characteristics. Data collection was done through bibliographical and documentary research. Participant observation and the semi-structured interview with the main actors of the strategic action area of the WEEE identified were used, with the support of a script. It was possible to perceive the existence of the field of WEEE, as it was established the crisis in the same one and how this has transformed the field. A number of actors have been identified in the phenomenon of transformation of WEEE\'s strategic field of action: University, companies, civil society and government, as well as two close fields that influence the field studied, the Electrical and Electronic Equipment Market and the International Industry of recycling of WEEE. The state proved to be very influential in the field of WEEE. The actors and fields involved therefore want the recovery of these WEEE for recycling, mainly due to the economic benefits that recycling provides them. The way to do WEEE recovery is what has been discussed and is in dispute in the field. Several barriers were observed for the management of WEEE in the Brazilian context, but the main issue was the need for investments, incentives and joint, collaborative and concomitant actions to enable the effective management of WEEE. Thus, the way shared responsibility has been used does not prove to be sufficient for the management of WEEE. It was observed the need for a paradigm shift in the issues of consumption, exchange and disposal of WEEE in the Brazilian context.

Electrical and electronic goods production is one of the fastest growing markets in the world. More new electronic goods appear every year. If the electronic waste cannot be managed and recycled properly, more and more electrical and electronic waste (WEEE) would be generated in the future. In fact, improper WEEE treatment causes tremendous harmful effect to the environment and finally affects our health. More effort was put in WEEE recycling worldwide. In recent years, the government, NGOs and other responsible parties worked very hard in Hong Kong WEEE recycling. However, Hong Kong is still lagging behind in terms of WEEE recycling compare with other countries. In Hong Kong, large quantities of WEEE are shipped to developing countries, which are non-ethical. Some of them would also go to landfills in Hong Kong, which causes serious land contamination. Even if the electronic waste is collected, the collectors may not follow the EPD guidelines to recycle the waste. Therefore, it is important to let people know the environmental impact of WEEE, the proper WEEE recycling channels and the importance of WEEE recycling so as to raise their awareness towards WEEE issues. There are few research findings about household WEEE recycling in Hong Kong, especially the household attitude and behavior towards WEEE recycling. The result in this dissertation can fill this knowledge gap. In this study, questionnaires will be used to find out the WEEE generation pattern and recycling frequency in households, the prefer disposal methods for household WEEE and the household attitudes and behavior towards WEEE recycling. Besides, some WEEE recycling facilities will be visited to identify difficulties in WEEE recycling. Finally, possible ways will be suggested to tackle the difficulties of WEEE recycling.
published_or_final_version
Environmental Management
Master
Master of Science in Environmental Management

Les filières de valorisation de déchets ont été mises en place au cours des dernières années pour répondre à des pressions économiques, sociétales, environnementales et réglementaires. Pour que les produits en fin de vie soient valorisés au mieux, il faut que leur conception soit adaptée aux spécificités des différents acteurs de la filière. L’étape de prétraitement consiste en la séparation des différents composants et matières des déchets. C’est une étape essentielle pour la valorisation de produits complexes comme les DEEE (déchets d’équipements électriques et électroniques), qui sont l’objet de ces travaux. Nos recherches bibliographiques montrent que les méthodes de conception existantes pour la valorisation ne prennent en compte ni la diversité et la nature des pratiques de prétraitement ni les raisons qui poussent à réaliser chacune d’elles. Afin de comprendre l’expertise liée à ces pratiques, nous avons réalisé deux modèles.En premier lieu, un modèle macroscopique nous a permis d’identifier les grands facteurs qui affectent le fonctionnement des opérateurs de prétraitement. Il a été établi en deux étapes : la première étape consiste en la caractérisation des opérateurs de traitement ; la deuxième étape s’attache à la classification des opérateurs de traitement. Afin de développer ce modèle nous nous sommes appuyés sur deux études descriptives de la filière DEEE française. Une étude descriptive qualitative nous a permis d’identifier les raisons qui poussent les opérateurs à réaliser les différentes stratégies de fin de vie et les processus de prétraitement. Une analyse statistique en composantes principales (ACP), a été réalisée afin de développer une classification des opérateurs de prétraitement.Dans un deuxième temps, dans le but d’identifier quels sont les conséquences de certains choix de conception pour la fin de vie, nous avons développé une méthode d’analyse systématique et détaillée du traitement réalisé par un type spécifique d’opérateur de DEEE. Celle-ci nous a permis d’obtenir un modèle microscopique des activités. Afin de développer et d’appliquer la méthode, nous nous sommes focalisés sur le désassemblage manuel d’écrans plats en vue de leur recyclage. Nous avons obtenu des données quantitatives qui constituent des preuves solides pour soutenir le développement de recommandations d’éco-conception. Avec ce modèle nous pouvons développer des indicateurs et des règles de conception quantitatives utilisables en conception de produit.Les modèles macro et microscopiques sont des instruments d’acquisition des connaissances sur l’expertise de centres de traitement qui peuvent être adaptés pour une utilisation dans d’autres filières de valorisation de déchets
Compliance schemes have been stablished in recent years to alleviate the burden of economical, societal, environmental and regulatory pressures. To ensure the best recovery of end-of-life products, their design has to meet the requirements of the different waste management operators. The pre-treatment phase consists on the separation of components and materials from waste. It is an essential step when recovering complex product such as waste electrical and electronic equipment (WEEE), which is the focus of this research work. The literature research shows that design for recovery methods do not take into account the diversity and nature of pre-treatment practices or the reasons behind them. In order to increase the understating related to these practices we have developed two models.The first one is a macroscopic model whose aim is to identify the main factors that influence the activity of pre-treatment operators. The development of the method involved two main steps: the characterization and the classification of pre-treatment operators. Two descriptive studies of the French WEEE compliance scheme have been carried out in order to develop the method. A qualitative descriptive study allowed us to identify the reasons why operators realize the different recovery strategies and pretreatment process. A descriptive statistical analysis, more specifically, a principal component analysis (PCA) was performed to develop a classification of the pretreatment operators.The second model that has been developed, a microscopic one, contains detailed information about the treatment operations carried out by one specific type of operator. The aim of this model is to identify what the best and worst design choices are in order to improve product’s pre-treatment. We have proposed a method for manual disassembly analysis to support the ecodesign of flat panel displays. The method enables to obtain quantitative data that provide solid evidence to support the development of eco-design guidelines. It also enables the development of disassembly indicators and recommendations to be used in product design.The macro and microscopic models are instruments of knowledge acquisition on pre-treatment practices that may be applicable to other compliance schemes

O objetivo do presente trabalho consistiu na análise jurídica da responsabilidade compartilhada pelo ciclo de vida do produto (RCCVP) e suas principais implicações na cadeia de resíduos eletroeletrônicos, no contexto brasileiro da Política Nacional de Resíduos Sólidos, instituída pela Lei Federal n. 12.305/2010 (PNRS). A análise desenvolvida compreendeu os principais deveres relacionados à prevenção de resíduos e à logística reversa, com um enfoque especial na gestão integrada de resíduos eletroeletrônicos. Baseada nos princípios do poluidor-pagador, da cooperação, da prevenção e da precaução, a RCCVP impõe à cadeia de suprimentos a priorização de medidas de prevenção e redução de resíduos por meio de uma concepção ecológica (ecodesign) para produtos e embalagens, bem como pelo reaproveitamento de materiais residuais como insumos, seja em seu próprio ciclo, seja em outros ciclos produtivos, inclusive mediante sistemas de logística reversa e coleta seletiva, estendendo a responsabilidade do berço ao berço e flertando com um modelo econômico circular. Com vistas a desestimular a estratégia da obsolescência planejada de qualidade, a relevante informação sobre o tempo de vida útil de cada produto durável, em especial a dos eletroeletrônicos, deverá ser ampla e obrigatoriamente prestada pela cadeia produtiva, para que os consumidores, uma vez informados e esclarecidos sobre a sua durabilidade objetivamente aferida, tenham condições reais de exercer, na prática, o seu direito e ao mesmo tempo dever de efetuar escolhas de consumo (ou desconsumo), da maneira mais consciente possível, inclusive sob a perspectiva ecológica. No momento, encontra-se em andamento no país o processo de construção de acordo setorial de abrangência nacional para implementação da logística reversa de eletroeletrônicos de uso doméstico, inclusive os provenientes do setor de telefonia móvel.
The aim of this work was the legal analysis of product lifecycle shared responsibility and its implications in the supply chain of waste electrical and electronic equipment (WEEE), within the scope of the Brazilian National Solid Waste Policy, established by Federal Law 12,305/2010. The analysis encompassed the main duties related to waste prevention and reverse logistics, with a particular focus on the WEEE integrated management. Based on the principles of polluter pays, cooperation, prevention and precaution, the product lifecycle shared responsibility requires the supply chain to prioritize waste prevention and reduction measures through an eco-design approach for products and packaging, as well as the reuse of waste materials as inputs, either in its own cycle, or in other production cycles, including through reverse logistics systems and selective collection, extending responsibility \"cradle to cradle\" and flirting with a circular economic model. In order to discourage the planned obsolescence strategy, the relevant information about the lifetime of each durable product, especially of electronics, should be comprehensive and mandatorily provided by the production chain, so that consumers, once informed and enlightened about its durability objectively measured, have actual ability to exercise in practice their right and duty at the same time to make consumer choices (or non-consumption), the most sensible way possible, even from the ecological point of view. Procedure for implementation of consumer WEEE take-back systems with a national scope, through preparation of Sector Agreement, is currently in progress in Brazil, including those from mobile industry.

This master thesis focuses on pyrolysis of electronic waste (e-waste) for energy production and material recovery. Firstly, in the theoretical section a description of electronic waste their composition and the current waste management techniques is presented in order to get insights about their properties. As more and more sustainable solutions are required for waste handling, the advantages and disadvantages of the current treatment methods are analyzed in order to compare them with the innovative technique of waste pyrolysis. The substrate used for pyrolysis in terms of this master thesis was the printed circuit boards’ fraction (PCBs) and thus a particular description of this fraction is included. Furthermore, the pyrolysis as a thermal treatment method is fully described for getting an overview of the entire process. The next section of the current master thesis includes a description of the instrumentation used for conducting the experimental part, the thermogravimetric analysis (TGA) and the Analytical Pyrolysis (PY-GC-MS). The experimental part included as well the samples preparation in order to obtain a homogeneous mixture since various substances are used for PCBs manufacturing. Furthermore, samples were sent to an external company for elemental, proximate and ultimate analysis. After the samples preparation, the TGA and GC-MS were both used as analytical tools in order to identify the main substances produced, the reactions kinetics taking place, and various others important parameters. Furthermore, the results derived from the experimental were further analyzed using various calculations tools such as Microsoft Office Excel and Matlab as well as the software of GC-MS. The results section also includes a deep discussion of the results since the pyrolysis of electronic waste is still under research an extensive analysis is necessary. Summarizing, the results illustrates all the data gathered from the composition analysis, the TGA curves and a qualitative and quantitative analysis. The main product of pyrolysis of printed circuit boards is phenol and hydrocarbons with high heating value, while the increased ash content is promising for the recovery of metals. Finally, the report includes several recommendations for the future work to be done and the basic directions for the research of pyrolysis process for materials and energy recovery should get.

O crescimento na geração de rejeitos de equipamentos elétricos e eletrônicos (REEE), legislações mais rigorosas e o valor agregado destes materiais incentivam o desenvolvimento de tecnologias de reciclagem. Contudo, a reciclagem dos componentes poliméricos dos REEE (CP-REEE) precisa superar desafios como a degradação durante o uso e reprocessamento, a presença de diferentes aditivos nos rejeitos e a depreciação de propriedades causada pela mistura não controlada de polímeros. Assim, o objetivo deste trabalho foi desenvolver um estudo sobre a reciclagem mecânica na forma de blendas poliméricas de rejeitos do copolímero acrilonitrila-butadieno-estireno (ABS) e do poliestireno de alto impacto (HIPS), empregando agentes compatibilizantes. No desenvolvimento do trabalho foram realizadas a caracterização dos CP-REEE, análise das propriedades mecânicas, químicas, térmicas e morfológicas dos polímeros e das blendas de ABS/HIPS nas proporções de 1:3, 1:1 e 3:1 com variações na composição dos polímeros reciclados e virgens e por fim, realizado um estudo do envelhecimento foto-oxidativo acelerado de uma blenda ABS/HIPS. Os resultados mostraram que os polímeros ABS e HIPS reciclados ainda apresentam boas propriedades mecânicas e que a presença de agentes compatibilizantes provoca o aumento da tenacidade nas blendas ABS/HIPS. A incorporação de polímeros virgens nos materiais reciclados não promove ganho significativo nas propriedades mecânicas das blendas. Blendas com até 50% de ABS demonstraram ter propriedades próximas às do HIPS, enquanto as blendas com altos teores de ABS não alcançaram valores de propriedades mecânicas similares aos do ABS virgem. O comportamento das propriedades das blendas virgens e recicladas frente ao envelhecimento fotoquímico foi similar, indicando que o material reciclado apresenta grande potencial para aplicações. O estudo de blendas ABS/HIPS de CP-REEE demonstra que o controle da composição das blendas definem a sua aplicação.
The growth in waste electrical and electronic equipment (WEEE) generation, directives more stringent and the aggregate value presents in these waste are encouraging the development of recycling technologies. However, recycling of polymeric components from WEEE (PC-WEEE) must overcome challenges such as degradation during use and reprocessing, the presence of various additives in the waste and the depreciation of properties caused by uncontrolled polymers mixture. The aim of this work was to develop a study of the mechanical recycling in the form blends with of polymeric waste of acrylonitrile-butadiene-styrene copolymer blends (ABS) and high impact polystyrene (HIPS) using compatibilizers. During the study was carried out the characterization of the PCWEEE and mechanical, chemical, thermal and morphological analysis of the polymers and the ABS / HIPS blends in proportions of 1:3, 1:1 and 3:1 with recycled and virgin polymers, as well as a study of the accelerated photo-oxidative aging of the ABS/HIPS blends. The results showed that ABS and HIPS recycled polymers still have good mechanical properties and the presence of compatibilization agents leads to increased toughness in ABS/HIPS blends. The incorporation of virgin polymers in recycled materials does not promote significant gain in the mechanical properties of the blends. Blends with up to 50% ABS have demonstrated to be closer to the HIPS, while blends with high content of ABS did not reach values of mechanical properties similar to the virgin ABS. The mechanical properties of virgin and recycled blends during the photochemical aging were similar, indicating that the recycled material has great potential for applications. The study of ABS/HIPS blends from PC-WEEE demonstrated that control of the blend composition establish their applications.

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Dissertação (Mestrado)
IPEN/D
Instituto de Pesquisas Energeticas e Nucleares - IPEN-CNEN/SP

The market for electrical devices still continues to increase all over the world and as a consequence the quantity of waste in the category of electronics rises. A huge proportion of the electronic waste is exported from the industrial countries to developing countries, in order to save costs, and also because of too few recycling plants in industrial countries. The significant environmental and social problem in this context is that the electronic devices are mostly recycled in informal plants. Thereby the burden for the people as well as the environment increases because e-waste includes a lot of toxic substances. The negative impacts are already obvious in countries of importation. This paper will illustrate this on the basis of the case study in Ghana in Africa. The problem is evident, and research, business as well as governments aim to counter this development. The paper will investigate the current approaches employed for solving the e-waste problem with respect to legal options and also regarding voluntary agreements and the provision of information about the actual situation to the consumers.

Thesis advisor: Brian J. Gareau
For my dissertation research, I am focused on the sociopolitical relations of electronics disposal, a less-considered but increasingly important stage in the life cycle of electronics. Although much has already been written on the global trade in hazardous wastes, the Basel Convention that regulates this trade, and the environmental injustice of the global waste trade--with wealthy countries dumping the "negative externalities" of their consumption on vulnerable communities in the global South--the reality today appears to be more complex. Regulators in the Basel Convention and the UN Environment Program, as well as civil society actors in industry and NGOs, have an increased interest in promoting the development of markets and infrastructure in high tech e-waste recycling. Historically, e-wastes have been both talked about, and treated as, a toxic and unwanted byproduct of the digital age. However, today key actors in the regulatory, industrial and civil society spheres are now discussing e-wastes as critical "resources" for economic and technological development. I hypothesize that uncovering the economic, technological and geopolitical drivers of this shift will reveal that the global trade in e-wastes can no longer be described as a clear-cut North/South, "perpetrator-victim," scenario, rather, it must be seen as a dynamic process where environmental inequalities are mitigated and reconstituted in new forms and at various sites. I identify two dominant paradigms that scholars, activists, policy makers and industry actors employ in evaluating the global trade in electronic wastes. I label these two paradigms the "environmental justice evaluation" and the "resource capture evaluation." By engaging concepts from global political economy and environmental sociology (particularly, O'Connor 1979; Harvey 2003; Pellow 2003) and applying them to my case, my dissertation attempts to bring a nuanced perspective to the e-waste debate. My initial findings suggest that both of these frameworks do not account for the key economic processes that are driving the e-waste trade. A better understanding of these processes will better illuminate the pathway to finding meaningful solutions to the persistent, presently illegal global trade in discarded electronics. My data consists of a comprehensive examination of meeting archives from the Basel Convention (where the experts and political decision makers on this issue implement policies that affect the global e-waste trade) spanning from 1992 to the present, as well as reviews of the proceedings of other relevant actors in e-waste policy (for example, annual meetings of the global organization StEP, and publications and pamphlets from trade organizations in the US and abroad and publications from the US government). In addition, I conducted semi-structured interviews with 25 key actors in the national regulatory, global regulatory, industry and NGO spheres in order to understand how the key decision makers in the e-waste trade understand the drivers and implications of the shift "from waste to resources." Finally, I draw on ethnographic observations conducted at a pivotal Basel Convention meeting in 2011, where a decision was made that has the potential to fundamentally reshape the Basel Convention and enable increased global trade in discarded electronics through the development of formalized recycling centers in less-developed countries
Thesis (PhD) — Boston College, 2014
Submitted to: Boston College. Graduate School of Arts and Sciences
Discipline: Sociology

Small and Medium Sized Enterprises (SMEs) in Thailand that develop and manufacture electrical and electronic products are among other SMEs in the world meeting increasingly stringent legal and customer requirements related to environmental issues. Obstacles for the SMEs around the world to meet these requirements are almost the same in form of lack of knowledge, budget and resources. The differences between SMEs in Thailand and SMEs in the EU, Japan or even Korea are that these countries have been developed the eco-design concept and SMEs have been involved in eco-design activities for many years. This process and activities are new both for the SMEs and for the supporting institutes and organisations in Thailand. Thailand has just started to build up the infrastructure to support the SMEs to implement the eco-design concept and to work more with product related environmental issues. The focus right now for the SMEs in this research is to comply with the EU Directives, RoHS and WEEE, and this is where the main investments are made, e.g. in order to be able to export to the demanding EU market.

This research is investigating what kind of environment demands that SMEs in Thailand that develop and manufacture electrical and electronic products have on their products, how they handle these requirements and also what obstacles there are for implementing a more product related environmental concept, also known as eco-design, Design for the Environment (DfE), Green Design or Environmentally Oriented Design. A research in form of interviews and factory visits has been done with five different SMEs in Thailand. These five SMEs have also participated in the first official eco-design projects in Thailand with funding from the government in Thailand and also some from the EU. Interviews have been conducted with involved parties in these project such as institutes and experts provided by Universities. These interviews were made in order to get their opinion and experience about the present situation for SMEs in Thailand that develop and manufacture electrical and electronic products to work with product related green issues.

The research shows that these companies have the possibilities and conditions to work further on with the eco-design concept in the future. Their participation in the eco-design projects has been a good experience and there is evidence of strong support from the management and owners, environmental awareness, pro-active work and motivation among the companies. The obstacles are as mentioned above concerning lack of resources, knowledge and experience of how these environmental demands and requirements will affect the product development process. This lack of experience depends mostly on the fact that these eco-design projects are the first projects in this field for the companies. These five companies have now built up a fundamental knowledge but are still in need of further support. The communication between the SMEs and supporting parties are important and also one factor these five companies think is functioning well.

This thesis examines the regional electronic and electrical waste (e-waste) recycling network in Malaysia and Singapore, with a secondary focus on the articulations of informal labour within the network. I argue that there is a need to theorise production networks post-consumption; i.e. to focus on the activities and processes that occur after a commodity is consumed and subsequently discarded. I argue that discarded e-waste are not ‘value-less’ waste, but instead embody value (specifically latent use value), and have the potential to be re-inserted as ‘raw materials’ into production networks through the processes of recycling. Also, key to the processes of value (re)creation, enhancement and capture is the labour process. I examine informal labour by focusing on karung guni (a local term for the rag-and-bone man) – analysing their critical role in value (re)creation in this regional e-waste recycling production network through the lens of petty commodity production. I argue that karung guni are constitutive of this production network through their collection and primary processing of e-waste, which forms the basis for subsequent value creation, enhancement and capture by downstream actors. Conceptualising karung guni as petty commodity producers – who own both the means of production and their own labour power – is significant in problematising as not so straightforward the separation of capital and labour into discreet categories as normally presented in global value chains (GVC)/global production networks (GPN) approaches. This thesis makes four significant contributions to the GVC/GPN literature. First, it recognises activities beyond the point of consumption (which has been the focus of present GVC/GPN research). Second, it conceptualises the constitutive role of informal labour in the development and structure of production networks. Third, it emphasises the continued relevance of the state. Fourth, by adopting a multi-sited case study method, it contributes to debates on how to carry out GVC/GPN research.

Miljö- och samhällsbyggnadsdepartementets Johan Gråberg ansåg att Sverige låg långt fram med sina insamlingskvantiteter av elavfall och att det vore bra om Sverige blev en förebild för övriga Europa. Men den svenska modellen med producentansvar reglerar idag endast producenternas ansvar att samla in och förbehandla elavfall, den säger mycket lite om hur transporterna ska ske med hänsyn till infrastruktur och miljö. Den svenska modellen går därför inte att använda i Europa då insamlingen och transporterna skulle öka transportbehovet och nyttjandet av tunga lastbilar med släp (Kallunki & Eknor 2005, s. 39-41). Detta går emot de miljömål och de miljöbestämmelser som finns i Europa (Nationalkommittén för Agenda21 och Habitat 2002, s. 37-39). Det går även emot de miljömål som finns i Sverige (prop. 1997/98:145, s. 44-162). Av denna anledning ville författarna undersöka hur myndigheterna kunde skapa en lag som löser problemet med insamling av uttjänta elektr(on)iska produkter, samtidigt som lagen inte tog hänsyn till att följderna blev onödigt stora och att den även gick emot vissa av de miljömål som fanns uppsatta.

Det svenska ledarskapet är inriktat på att nå samförstånd i besluten, vilket kräver dialog och en ömsesidighet i accepterandet av en gemensam uppfattning (Edström & Jönsson 2000, s. 166-167). Detta ger utrymme för att intressenterna ska kunna vara med i utformandet av lagen. Under arbetet med utformandet av producentansvaret var många aktörer med skilda intressen och på olika nivåer involverade. Men det var det ekonomiska intresset och det ekologiska intresset som var de i särklass starkaste spänningspolerna under hela den svenska beslutsprocessen.

Spänningarna mellan idésystemen förstärktes alltså genom regeringens sätt att låta de som belastas av ett beslut få utforma det. När regeringen överlät ansvaret att sätta målen för producentansvaret på en kretsloppsdelegation bestående av alla olika aktörsgrupper uppstod intressekonflikten mellan de ekonomiska och ekologiska intressena. Lösningen blev i god svensk anda en kompromiss. Målet på lång sikt skulle i enlighet med regeringens direktiv till Kretsloppsdelegationen och den dominerande växtidén bli att skapa ett system med minimal miljöpåverkan. Men det kortsiktiga målet blev att snabbt upprätta ett rikstäckande insamlingssystem med så hög insamlingsgrad som möjligt. I och med detta stöttes transportfrågorna bort helt, de uteslöts från nätverket som arbetade med lagen, alltså löstes ett problem men ett nytt skapades. När El-Kretsen bildades för att lösa insamlingsproblematiken var den geografiska täckningen och en hög insamlingsgrad de enda målfaktorerna.

Mr Johan Gråberg at the Ministry of the Environment was of the opinion that Sweden is one of the best countries in the world when it comes to recycling electronic waste. Mr Gråberg also said that it would be good for Sweden if the Swedish system could be used in other countries in Europe. However, the Swedish model only considers the responsibility of the producers for collecting and recycling electrical and electronical products. There is no consideration of the impact on the infrastructure and the environment caused by the increased transportations. This lack of consideration to the increased transports and use of heavy traffic is the reason that the Swedish model cannot be used in the rest of Europe (Kallunki & Eknor 2005, s. 39-41). This goes against the environmental goals and policies that are used in Europé (Nationalkommittén för Agenda21 and Habitat 2002, s. 37-39), as well as to the environmental goals set up in Sweden (prop. 1997/98:145, s. 44-162). With this background, the authors wished to study why the Swedish government created a law to solve the problem with collecting electronic waste, while the same law did not consider the consequences, especially the unnecessarily large needs for transportation, which goes against some of the environmental goals set up by the Swedish government.

Swedish leadership is based on the attempt of reaching consensus when taking decisions, a leadership which calls for dialogue and a mutual acceptance of a common understanding (Edström & Jönsson 2000, s. 166-167). This leaves an opening for interests to take part in the construction of new laws. When constructing the responsibility of the producer for collecting waste, many parties with separate interests and at different levels in the hierarchy were involved. However, by far the strongest opposition during the process of the decision in Sweden was found between the economical and the ecological interests.

The tension between the two idea systems was thus reinforced by the way the government allowed those who would be burdened by the decision to partake in the construction of the decision. When the government turned over the responsibility of setting the goals for the responsibility of the producer to a delegation of recycling, the Kretsloppsdelegationen, consisting of all different interest groups, the conflict of interest between the economical and the ecological parties arose. In good Swedish spirit the solution to this conflict turned into a compromise. The long term goal would, according to the directive from the government to the Kretsloppsdelegationen and the predominant idea of growth, be to create a system with as little impact as possible on the environment. However the short term goal turned out to be a nation wide collection system, implemented as soon as possible and with the highest possible level of collection. Due to this speedy implementation the transportation issue was out of the picture. The transportation interests were excluded from the network that was working with the law, thus solving one problem but creating another one. Once the El-Kretsen was founded in order to solve the problems with the collection of the waste, geographical coverage and a high level of collection were the only bench-marks considered.

Electronic waste, also called e-waste, are various forms of electrical and electronic equipment (EEE) that have ceased to be of value to their users or no longer satisfy their original purpose. E-waste products have exhausted their utility value through either redundancy, replacement, or breakage and include both “white goods” such as refrigerators, washing machines, and microwaves and “brown goods” such as televisions, radios, computers, and cell phones. Given that the technology revolution has exponentially increased the use of new electronic equipment, it has also produced growing volumes of obsolete products; e-waste is one of the fastest-growing waste streams. Although e-waste contains complex combinations of highly toxic substances that pose a danger to health and the environment, many of the products also contain recoverable precious materials, making it a different kind of waste compared with traditional municipal waste. Globally, e-waste constitutes more than 5 percent of all municipal solid waste and is increasing with the rise of sales of electronic products in developing countries. Most of the world’s e-waste is recycled in developing countries, where informal and hazardous setups for the extraction and sale of metals are common. Recycling companies in developed countries face strict environmental regulatory regimes and an increasing cost of waste disposal and thus may find exportation to small traders in developing countries more profitable than recycling in their own countries. There is also a significant illegal transboundary movement of e-waste in the form of donations and charity from rich industrialized nations to developing countries. E-waste profiteers can harvest substantial profits owing to lax environmental laws, corrupt officials, and poorly paid workers, and there is an urgent need to develop policies and strategies to dispose of and recycle e-waste safely to achieve a sustainable future.

The aim of the thesis was to show that it is possible to develop a sustainable product of a discarded material and provide a framework for how to do that. A great amount of discarded material is today put on landfill due to its low value and difficulties to use. But putting the waste on landfill is the least preferred way of handling it, especially when the resources in the world are not infinite. It is therefore of importance that we find another way of handling the discarded material, which is why this thesis was written.  During the work has a qoute by McDonough and Braungart (2002) been kept in mind, reminding us, as product designers,  of the responsibilty we have  for future generations well-being.  “How can we love the children of all species– not just our own – for all time?” – McDonough and Braungart. 2002. Remaking the way we want things, pp 168. This thesis consisted of three phases. In phase 1 the plastic WEEEBR (a recycled plastic blend from waste from electrical and electronic equipment) was evaluated and a suitable product for it was found. Phase 2 started with a market research trying to find a market opportunity for that product. Thereafter several concepts for the product was developed. The last phase, phase 3, analyzed and evaluated the two previous phases in order to summarize the process and develop a method for how to put requirements on future products.   Phase 1 and 2 are shortly described, thereafter follows the analysis of them. The proposed method are exemplified with concepts and results from phase 1 and 2. The result of the thesis was a method based on following 6 steps: Agree to the company’s vision Evaluate what available material you have Evaluate your technical possibilites with the material Highlight a market possibility Set product requirements Develop the concept This method is generic and shall be used as a guide when developing sustainable products. Developing sustainable products include thinking about what material you have. It is worth thinking about if the product shall be produced locally, with local material and also how the material should be handled after it is used and at last where it ends up.
Waste to Design
Closing the loop

Os produtos da indústria de eletroeletrônicos possuem alta empregabilidade no dia a dia. No entanto, por terem um ciclo de vida curto impactam na demanda por recursos naturais não renováveis. Dentro do universo de equipamentos eletroeletrônicos, os telefones celulares estão entre os mais complexos e os que empregam maior quantidade de elementos químicos diferentes. Apesar de pequenos, são vendidos aos milhares, em parte devido a sua curta vida útil. Esses fatores aliados indicam a existência de riscos à saúde e ao meio ambiente, o que faz repensar como destinar corretamente esses aparelhos no pós-consumo. A proposta do trabalho é fazer uma análise de como os telefones celulares impactam no volume e na complexidade dos Resíduos de Equipamentos Eletroeletrônicos, explicar a razão desse bem essencial ter uma vida útil tão curta e expor os motivos que tornam a sua reciclagem absolutamente necessária para continuar o seu desenvolvimento tecnológico, atender a demanda dos consumidores e reduzir o impacto ambiental da produção ao descarte.
In the last century, through new production processes, the industry has increased the variety and availability of products offered to the population, providing better quality of life. This has happened because the inception of series production has offered a greater supply of consumer goods, including the Electrical and Electronic Equipment (EEE). The evolution of electronics technology has provided, and will continue to provide a better quality of life than the one we used to have. However, the technology of these products is continuously evolving, and this brings advantages and disadvantages.

Electronic waste has become a growing concern in the world among governments, businesses, and consumers. These concerns are well founded as electronics waste presents economic, social, and environmental challenges. Economically, discarding electronic waste into landfills represents inefficient use of valuable materials and energy resources. Socially, improperly recycled electronic waste that takes place in third world countries with poor labor standards represents a moral dilemma for developed countries. Environmentally, electronic waste is a threat to all living organisms as it contains proportionally high levels of poisonous and toxic materials. To deal with these growing challenges a strong response needs to be made by all the stakeholders in the life-cycle of electronic devices. However, despite the apparent need, compared to the rapid increases in electronic technology that make it faster, more available, and more affordable, the technology to process electronic waste has not kept pace. This fact alone points to the inadequate funding, attention, and research that has been invested in the problem. Though it also points to an opportunity; the opportunity to build an efficient system to deal with the problem using what is already known about the lifecycle of electronic devices. Therefore, the goal of this work is to create a modeling tool to help stakeholders in the lifecycle of electronic devices understand the consequences of their choices as they affect the use of material and energy resources. To focus the research, LCD computer monitors are chosen as a case study. LCD computer monitors provide a level of sophistication high enough to be interesting in terms of the stakeholders involved, yet simple enough to provide a reasonable scope for this research that is still accessible to the layman As a corollary to this modeling effort, the relatively new systems modeling language SysML and ParaMagic, a program that integrates analysis modeling capability into SysML, will be evaluated. SysML was designed with Model Based Systems Engineering principles in mind thus it seems that it is a natural fit to the problem domain. Furthermore, testing SysML will provide insight into the advantages and disadvantages of the new language. The findings with respect to LCD computer monitors show that increasing the number of end of life options and the amount of monitors flowing into those options could result in substantial network wide material and energy savings. The findings with respect to SysML and ParaMagic are mixed. Although SysML provides tremendous modeling freedom, this freedom can result in increased upfront costs for developing executable models. Similarly, ParaMagic was found to be an effective tool for creating small executable models, but as the size of models increase its effectiveness tends to zero.

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As questões ambientais passam por uma valorização pelas empresas com uma intensidade muito grande nos últimos anos. Inovações tecnológicas geram rápida obsoletização dos produtos e grande volume de resíduos Eletroeletrônicos - REEE. Embora os programas de qualidade contemplem questões de controle ambiental com utilização racional de recursos, reutilização e descarte, os equipamentos eletroeletrônicos ainda não são tratados como prioridade e rigor necessário para seu descarte, com destinação adequada. Este trabalho, desenvolvido no Parque Tecnológico TECNOSINOS e em três empresas prestadoras de serviços, apresenta um modelo de avaliação e controle de desempenho ambiental nas operações de transporte, tratamento e destino final de REEE a partir da caracterização dos produtos pelo seu perfil de toxicidade, que deve ser monitorado. As três empresas que fizeram parte da pesquisa são: POLLO e CESMAR, nas operações de transporte, CESMAR E DC, tratamento e CESMAR e DC, na operação destino final. Os resultados mostram que as operações apresentam lacunas de desempenho importantes, tanto nos aspectos de atendimento à legislação quanto na definição das prioridades de ação. O resultado aponta um desempenho ambiental dos prestadores de serviço com os seguintes dados para duas empresas em cada operação: para as operações de Transporte de 83,2% para POLLO transportes e 58,9% para CESMAR; na Operações de Tratamento, um desempenho de 85,6% para DC e 92,9% para CESMAR; e para as Operações de Destino Final o resultado de desempenho foi de 83,9% para CESMAR e 89,3% para DC. A operação de Transporte teve o menor desempenho entre as operações analisadas. A avaliação de especialistas indica que aspectos importantes no gerenciamento do desempenho ambiental são os que tiveram em alguns casos o pior desempenho, enquanto que outros com menor impacto ambiental são tratados como mais importantes, apresentando os melhores resultados de desempenho.
Environmental issues go through a valuation of companies with very high intensity in recent years . Technological innovations generate rapid devaluation of products and large volume of waste Consumer Electronics - WEEE. Although the quality programs contemplate issues of environmental control with efficient use of resources, reuse and disposal, electronic equipment are not treated as a priority and rigor needed for its disposal, with proper disposal. This work, carried out at Parque Tecnológico TECNOSINOS and three service companies, presents a model for evaluating and controlling environmental performance in transport operations , treatment and disposal of WEEE from the characterization of the product by its toxicity profile, which should be monitored. The three companies that were part of the research are: POLLO and CESMAR , transport operations, CESMAR and DC treatment and CESMAR and DC operation final destination. The results show that the operations have significant performance gaps, both in the aspects of legal compliance and in setting priorities for action. The result indicates environmental performance of service providers with the following data for two companies in each operation: for operations Transport POLLO 83.2% and CESMAR 58.9% for transport; Processing Operations in a performance DC to 85.6% and 92.9 % for CESMAR, and Transactions of the Final Destination performance result was 83.9 % for CESMAR and 89.3% to DC. Operation of Transportation had the lowest performance among the transactions analyzed . The expert assessment indicates that important aspects in the management of environmental performance are those who in some cases had the worst performance, while others with less environmental impact are treated as more important, showed better performance.

Die vorliegende Ausgabe beschäftigt sich mit dem Thema „Ökonomische Analyse der Rückgewinnung von hochwertigen Metallen aus elektrischen und elektronischen Altgeräten in Deutschland“. Elektro- und Elektronikgeräte sind aus dem täglichen Leben nicht mehr wegzudenken; die Unternehmen entwickeln und produzieren immer leistungsfähigere Produkte, wobei durch die immer schnelleren und kurzlebigeren Innovationszyklen die Abfallberge ausgedienter Elektro(nik)geräte beständig wachsen. Mit Inkrafttreten des Elektro- und Elektronikgerätegesetz am 24. März 2005 werden alte Elektro(nik)geräte zukünftig getrennt gesammelt und weitgehend verwertet. Neu ist, dass die Hersteller mehr Verantwortung für ihre Produkte übernehmen und zur Verwertung der getrennt gesammelten Elektro- und Elektronik-Altgeräten verpflichtet sind. Das Elektro- und Elektronikgerätegesetz geht zum einen aus der europäischen Richtlinie über die Entsorgung von Elektro- und Elektronik-Altgeräten (WEEE) und zum anderen aus der europäischen Richtlinie über die Verwendung bestimmter gefährlicher Stoffe in Elektro- und Elektronikgeräten (RoHS) hervor und gilt als Reaktion auf die wachsenden Elektro(nik)schrott-Berge. Für die Unternehmen der Entsorgungs- und Recyclingbranche ergeben sich mit diesen gesetzlichen Neuerungen neue Chancen auf Weiterentwicklung ihres Geschäftsfeldes. Besonderes Augenmerk gilt den Demontageunternehmen, mit deren Hilfe erst die gesetzlichen Forderungen, hinsichtlich der zu erzielenden Rückgewinnungsquoten und der notwendigen selektiven Behandlung einiger Baugruppen, erfüllt werden können. Die Rückgewinnung hochwertiger Metalle aus Elektro(nik)schrott bedarf im Hinblick der Preissteigerungen auf den Rohstoffmärkten höchster Priorität. Mit Etablierung eines Sekundärrohstoffmarktes kann ein rohstoffarmes Land wie Deutschland der Abhängigkeit des Importes von Primärrohstoffen signifikant entgegenwirken.

Nesta tese é apresentado um novo método de desmontagem das placas de circuito impresso obsoletas ou defeituosas, provenientes de resíduos de equipamentos eletroeletrônicos, para aplicação no processo de reciclagem. A desmontagem tem por objetivo segregar a PCI para que o material reciclado apresente maior pureza, bem como facilitar as etapas posteriores no processo de reciclagem. A desmontagem proposta é classificada como automática, simultânea e destrutiva. O método apresentado não requer o uso de tecnologias avançadas e de alto custo. Para aplicação deste método foi desenvolvido um protótipo que utiliza aquecimento do ar para derretimento da solda e força centrífuga para remoção dos componentes. O desenho deste equipamento permite a separação da PCI em 3 partes distintas: substrato, solda e componentes eletrônicos. Para a desmontagem no protótipo foram usadas placas marrons de fontes de alimentação, e placas verdes de memórias tipo RAM, com substrato de fenolite e de fibra de vidro respectivamente. A desmontagem foi realizada com sucesso em ambos os casos. Para as placas pesadas ou marrons, a faixa de operação que apresentou maior taxa de recuperação de solda (entre 2,2 e 2,8% do peso da PCI) e de componentes (entre 60 e 80% do peso da PCI) situa-se entre 200 e 206°C e 900 rpm. Para placas leves ou verdes, a desmontagem deve se situar entre 210 e 225°C e 900 rpm, sendo a quantidade de solda recuperada inferior a 1% e a de componentes aproximadamente 32% do peso da PCI. A liga de solda recuperada dos dois tipos de placas possui contaminação abaixo de 3%, teor semelhante à da borra proveniente de processos industriais de soldagem e que é utilizada como matéria prima.
In this work, is presented a new method for disassembly of obsolete or defective printed circuit board, from waste of electrical and electronic equipmente, for use in recycling. Disassembly objetives separate PCB to achives purer recycled material as well facilited the subsequent step in recycling process. Proposed disassembly is classified as automatic, simultaneous and destructive. The presented method doesn\'t required the use of advanced and expensives technologies. For this method, a prototype was developed. It utilizes centrifugal force and air heating for solder melting and components removal. Design of the prototype allows separation of PCB in 3 parts: substrate, solder and electronics components. Very low grades boards of paper laminated phenolic resins, from power supply of computers was used, as well as very high grade boards from RAM memory, made of fiberglass. Disassembly was sucessfully for both cases. For very low grade boards, operation range which has a greater amount of recovered solder (between 2,2 and 2,8% of weight of PCB) and components (between 60 and 80% of weight of PCB) is inside the range of temperature of 200 and 206°C and 900 rpm. For very high grade boards, disassembly is inside the range of temperature of 210 and 225°C and 900 rpm, with quantity of recovered solder under 1% and components aproximatelly 32% of weight of the PCB. Recovery solder for the two kinds of PCB has a contamination under 3%, similar to spare from industrial welding process, used as input in the production of new solders.

Esta pesquisa usou o estudo de caso para analisar os resíduos eletroeletrônicos gerados em uma Empresa prestadora de serviços atuante no setor naval. Após breve reflexão sobre a relação homem-natureza, apresenta-se o conceito de resíduos sólidos e suas classificações, introduzindo-se dados que embasam o impacto dos eletroeletrônicos na geração de resíduos no Brasil. Em seguida, discorre-se sobre a evolução da eletricidade e da eletrônica até os dias atuais, passando-se a comentar os aspectos e impactos da produção e descarte dos dispositivos eletroeletrônicos, que utilizam algumas substâncias tóxicas em sua manufatura. Destacam-se alguns caminhos alternativos para os resíduos eletroeletrônicos como o reuso, o reaproveitamento e a reciclagem que abriram caminhos para novos negócios. O estudo se volta para uma abordagem da legislação ambiental, mencionando aspectos da legislação dos Estados Unidos e da Europa, além de discorrer sobre fatos relevantes do ordenamento jurídico ambiental brasileiro, com ênfase na Política Nacional de Resíduos Sólidos. Esta Seção se encerra com um breve resumo do alinhamento do setor naval à legislação ambiental, através do uso das normas ISO da série 14.000. Prossegue-se com a descrição da Empresa onde se realizou o estudo de caso, apresentando-se um resumo acerca de sua trajetória, estrutura de funcionamento e a situação da gestão ambiental. Em seguida, é descrita a metodologia usada para o desenvolvimento do estudo de caso, detalhando-se os tipos de pesquisa e procedimentos utilizados para a caracterização dos resíduos eletroeletrônicos, bem como as ferramentas de gestão usadas para sua análise. Discorre-se, então, sobre o estudo de caso realizado na Empresa, com a apresentação das ações e pesquisas realizadas acerca de seus processos de geração e descarte de resíduos eletroeletrônicos. Os dados obtidos neste estudo foram analisados à luz do conhecimento ambiental e gestor e, com o auxílio de algumas ferramentas de gestão, foram selecionados os resíduos eletroeletrônicos mais impactantes e os com possibilidade de serem gerenciados pela Empresa. Encerrando o trabalho, as conclusões sobre o estudo e as sugestões para a melhoria do gerenciamento dos resíduos eletroeletrônicos são disponibilizadas para uso da Empresa, propondo-se também a implementação de um sistema de gerenciamento integrado para todos os resíduos nela gerados.
Summary: This research has used the case study to evaluate the e-waste generated in a Company acting n the Navy segment. After a reflection about the relationship between man and nature, the concept of solid waste and its classifications is presented, commenting the impact of the electric and electronic devices in Brazilian e-waste generation. Then, the evolution of the use of electricity and electronic until current days is mentioned, commenting the environmental aspects and impacts of the production and discard of electrical and electronic equipment that are manufactured with hazardous substances. Highlighting some alternatives ways to reuse, recovery and recycling that create new kind of business. The research then explains the environmental policy in the US and in Europe, and then moves into important facts acts in Brazilian environmental legislation, with special attention to National Policy of Solid Residues. This part ends up with the comments about the Brazilian navy alignment to environmental policy, by using the directions of legislation ISO 14.000. After that, there is a brief about the case study Company including its trajectory, pattern of organization and environmental management situation. In the following step, is detailed the methodology that was used, which kind of survey and process were adopted to characterize the electric and electronic residues, as well the proper management tools used to analyze the results. Then, is mentioned the actions and researches were developed, about the electric and electronic components process of generation and discard, in the Company under the study case.The data from the study were performed by using the environmental and manager knowledge, selecting those with potential to impact the environment the most and, using proper management tools, being presented the achieved results. Finalizing, the conclusions about the study and the suggestions to improve the management of e-waste were available to be used by the Company, also proposing the establishment of an integrated management system to all residues generating by the Company.

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Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior (CAPES)
The waste electrical and electronic equipment (WEEE) is a sort of waste that has been experiencing significant arising in its generation rates, consisting of a great challenge to decision makers and to society as a whole when it comes to its management. Toxic substances found in WEEE components are also reason of concern. Thus, the correct disposal of WEEE is essential. In Brazil the law 12.305/2010, the National Solid Waste Policy (NSWP) features the correct destination for WEEE, which now have to be included in reverse logistics systems, taking into consideration all the agents of the generation of WEEE process. Therefore, the aim of this study was to develop a general guideline for the management of WEEE, considering the shared responsibility for the waste, having as a study case the city of Uberaba, Brazil. To reach the aim of this study data was collected from different agents that deal with WEEEs, such as retailers, technical assistance companies, cooperatives and other organizations that receive or give a destination to such waste. It has not been possible to estimate the exact amount of WEEE generated in the visited places, once the respondents have no form of monitoring these amounts. However, it has been possible to identify forms of destination of the waste, and the informal sector was shown to be a frequent option for that purpose. It has also been possible to note that most of the interviewed persons have no knowledge regarding the NSWP nor are taking part in actions aiming the development of reverse logistics programs. Suggestions were listed in the end of the work, hoping to contribute towards future programs for WEEE management, taking into consideration the situation observed and other studies developed by others about the subject.
Os resíduos de equipamentos eletroeletrônicos (REEEs) são um tipo de resíduo cujas quantidades geradas ao redor do mundo têm aumentado significativamente, constituindo um grande desafio aos gestores públicos e à sociedade em geral, no que se refere ao seu gerenciamento. A presença de substâncias tóxicas em componentes existentes nesses resíduos também é motivo de preocupação. Assim sendo, sua correta destinação final torna-se essencial. No Brasil, a lei 12.305/2010, que institui a Política Nacional de Resíduos Sólidos (PNRS), dispõe sobre a correta destinação dos REEEs, que devem ser inseridos em sistemas de logística reversa, observando a responsabilidade compartilhada de todos os envolvidos no processo de geração desses resíduos. Dessa forma, o objetivo principal da presente pesquisa foi desenvolver diretrizes para o gerenciamento dos resíduos de equipamentos eletroeletrônicos (REEE), tendo em vista a responsabilidade compartilhada pelo ciclo de vida dos produtos, tendo como estudo de caso o município de Uberaba, MG. Para se alcançar tal objetivo, foram obtidos dados junto a diferentes agentes que lidam com REEEs, sendo eles comerciantes, empresas de assistência técnica em equipamentos eletroeletrônicos, cooperativas e outras organizações que recebem e destinam esses resíduos, indústria, além do Poder Público Municipal. Não foi possível diagnosticar a quantidade exata de REEEs gerada nos locais visitados, uma vez que a maioria não faz controle de sua geração. No entanto, foi possível identificar as formas de destinação de REEEs dos locais visitados e notou-se forte presença do setor informal na cidade (sucateiros, catadores,ferros velhos). Foi possível também constatar que a maioria dos entrevistados não tem conhecimento acerca da PNRS, ou participação em ações visando a logística reversa de REEEs. Algumas sugestões foram listadas, buscando contribuir em futuros programas de gestão de REEEs a serem implantados na cidade, considerando a situação observada e estudos já realizados acerca do assunto.