Dissertations / Theses on the topic 'Electronic waste'

The aim of this thesis was to study governance aspects of informal electronic waste recycling and to provide better knowledge of the business in terms of structure, stakeholders, governance aspects and social impacts. The thesis consists of a cover essay and two papers appended at the end of the thesis. The cover essay summarizes the papers and puts them in context. The objective of Paper I is to study the business of informal electronic waste recycling in Pakistan and highlight its governance issues. Paper II assesses the social impacts of this business using UNEP-SETAC Guidelines. The thesis examines these specific questions: Q1) What is the current situation of informal e-waste recycling in Pakistan? Q2) Who are the important stakeholders and what are their roles in this business? Q3) What are the governance issues enabling this informal business? Q4) What are the social impacts for individuals and society arising from this business? Paper I presents the international and local e-waste flows, business structure, the stakeholders involved and the existing governance issues of the business. It shows weak enforcement of legislation, the complexities emerging with numerous stakeholders, the profitability of informal recycling, little concern for the health damaging exposure for workers from poorest and most vulnerable people in society, and the lack of awareness of the hazards involved results in several governance issues. The paper also highlights how this business lacks characteristics of good governance, which makes it a challenge to control this business. Paper II assesses the social impacts of informal e-waste recycling in Pakistan using UNEP/SETAC guidelines for conducting a Social Lifecycle Analysis (SLCA). It showed that this business has positive impacts relating to societal issues and individual/family economics, and in the economic development of Pakistan but otherwise most impacts were negative. The findings of Paper II fill an important data gap and can be integrated with data on other stages of ICT product lifecycle to produce a full SLCA of such products.
Syftet med denna avhandling var att studera styrningsaspekter informella återvinning elektroniskt avfall och för att ge bättre kunskap om verksamheten i fråga om struktur, intressenter, styrningsaspekter och sociala konsekvenser. Avhandlingen består av en täck uppsats och två tidningar bifogade i slutet av uppsatsen. Locket uppsats samman tidningarna och sätter dem i sitt sammanhang. Syftet med papper I är att studera verksamheten i informella återvinning elektroniskt avfall i Pakistan och belysa dess styrningsfrågor. Papper II bedömer de sociala konsekvenserna av denna verksamhet med hjälp av UNEP-SETAC riktlinjer. Avhandlingen undersöker dessa specifika frågor: Q1) Vad är den nuvarande situationen för informella återvinnings e-avfall i Pakistan? Q2) Vilka är de viktigaste intressenterna och vilka är deras roller i den här branschen? Q3) Vilka styrningsfrågor som möjliggör denna informella företag? Q4) Vilka är de sociala konsekvenserna för enskilda och samhället som följer av detta företag? Papper I presenterar internationella och lokala e-avfallsflöden, företagsstruktur, de inblandade aktörerna och de befintliga styrningsfrågor i verksamheten. Det visar en svag tillämpning av lagstiftningen, komplexiteten växande med många intressenter, lönsamheten för informella återvinning, lite oro för hälsan skadliga exponering för arbetstagare från de fattigaste och mest utsatta människorna i samhället, och bristen på medvetenhet om de risker inblandade resultaten i flera styrningsfrågor. Papperet belyser också hur denna verksamhet saknar egenskaper för god förvaltning, vilket gör det till en utmaning att styra denna verksamhet. Papper II bedömer de sociala konsekvenserna av informella återvinnings e-avfall i Pakistan använder UNEP / SETAC riktlinjer för att genomföra en social livscykelanalys (SLCA). Det visade sig att denna verksamhet har positiva effekter avseende samhällsfrågor och individ / familj ekonomi, och i den ekonomiska utvecklingen i Pakistan men annars de flesta effekterna var negativa. Resultaten av pappers II fyller ett viktigt tomrum uppgifter och kan integreras med uppgifter om andra stadier av IKT produktlivscykeln för att producera en full SLCA av sådana produkter.

QC 20150525

This study aims to find out the solution of electronic waste problem in Hong Kong. Through case study of developed countries, it is found that implementation of Extended Producer Responsibility is the most common way in electronic waste management. This dissertation then evaluates the current situation of Hong Kong and the result show that the local recycling rate is not more than 20% while the remains are exported for recycling. Conclusion is drawn that Hong Kong needs to build up an e-waste recycling system by legislation and implementation of EPR. The interviews to Legislative Council members were conducted to collect the major concern from Legislative Council members and the voters they represent. 13 interviews were conducted and all the interviewees agree e-waste is a problem and have to be solved as soon as it can be. However they hold different opinions on legislation as a measure of e-waste management. The limitation of this study is that the limitation of time makes it hard to reserve a time with Leg Co members to conduct the interview as they were busy to the work of Legislative Council. Education, providing economic incentives, banning of landfill and illegal dumping and storage, prohibit the uncontrolled recycling activities are the possible measures the government can take other than legislation and implementation of EPR in electronic waste management.
published_or_final_version
Environmental Management
Master
Master of Science in Environmental Management

Since a couple of decades, society has been revolutionized by electrical and electronic equipment: it is ubiquitous and once discarded it contributes to generate one of the fastest-growing waste stream categories at this time. The purpose of this study is to discuss the complex nature of the WEEE sector intended as indispensable resource, including also the specific hazards that must be considered for a proper and valorising management. The first chapter introduces the wide background of urban waste in terms of production, collection and disposal. Then, an overview on the flows, classification and legal framework of electronic waste is provided. In the second chapter the analysis will focus on the improper management of e-waste which is extremely intensive and risky, therefore several possible situations will be qualitatively investigated in terms of environmental impacts and risks for human health. The third chapter will explore the concept of urban mining secondary raw materials in the context of e-waste, pointing out the current state of innovation, future challenges and present limitations. The fourth and last chapter of the study applies the Life Cycle Assessment methodology on waste mobile phones for three different End-of-Life scenarios. The aim is to demonstrate through a scientifically based tool the concepts presented in the previous part of the thesis and to outline the environmental benefits of components and materials recovery in terms of saved emissions through the evaluation of three impact categories: Global Warming Potential, Acidification Potential and Ecological Scarcity. Given from one hand the huge quantities involved in the WEEE sector in terms of volumes and impacts, and from the other the scarcity and increasing demand of raw materials, it is reasonable to consider e-waste as a key element to work on in order to adress some of the Sustainable Development Goals adopted by the United Nations.

Previous research on Brominated Flame Retardants (BFRs), including Polybrominated Diphenyl Ethers (PBDEs), has largely focused on their concentrations in the environment and their adverse effects on human health. This thesis explores how these compounds reach the environment, how they are transferred from waste streams to water and soil, and how they are transported to distant locations like Northern Canada. Landfills, which receive a large proportion of society’s discarded consumer waste products, including electronic wastes (e-waste), are the major focus of attention. Leachate was collected and analysed from 27 landfills across southern Canada and 11 dump sites in the Canadian North. There was wide variability in the results, both in terms of the total concentrations of PBDEs and in the distribution of congeners. Northern sites tended to have lower PBDE concentrations than southern ones, but some levels were significant despite the low population density and lack of industry in the north. The North provides a sink for PBDE contaminants. Significant differences in PBDE levels in leachate in contact with wastes originating in different 5-year time intervals suggest that the time-of-manufacture of electronic goods plays an important role in determining the rate of PBDE release into the environment. Electronic components manufactured in the 1985-89 period were found to have especially high PBDE concentrations. Experiments were carried out in which e-waste was contacted with distilled water and leachate from a major urban landfill in a custom-built contactor. There was transfer of PBDEs to the aqueous phase which increased with greater contact time and increasing temperature. Exposing e-waste to distilled water led to lower PBDE concentrations, probably due to dislodgement of fine dust from the surface of e-waste particles. A comprehensive mole balance model was prepared to assist in predicting the concentration of PBDEs in and near landfills. The balances were applied to different homologue groups and different subsystems - field e-waste, non-e-waste solids, and aqueous phase. Mass transfer parameters were obtained from solid-liquid contacting experiments with crushed e-waste. Simulations indicate that PBDEs will persist for decades in the environment even if they are no longer manufactured and incorporated in plastics.

Thesis (S.B.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Dept. of Mechanical Engineering, June 2010.
This electronic version was submitted by the student author. The certified thesis is available in the Institute Archives and Special Collections.
"June 2010." Cataloged from student submitted PDF version of thesis.
Includes bibliographical references (p. 49-52).
This thesis investigates the industry of electronic waste recycling industry in three countries: Germany, the United States, and Chile. Despite differences in the legal structure surrounding the industry, there are many similarities between plant operations and disassembly techniques. Several strategies for improving the recycling rate and improving employee safety within the plants have been identified. Appropriate clothing, included masks and gloves will improve worker safety while the recycling rate can be increased by separating the disassembly process into two tasks: disassembly and sorting. However it seems as though even with significant decreases in cost from the labor associated with recycling, the economic price of electronic waste will continue to outweigh the profits from selling recycled materials. Thus, it is important for countries to recognize the environmental and health benefits of recycling electronic waste and continue to support the electronic waste recycling industry's development.
by Jean E. Theurer.
S.B.

Electronics involve an elaborate process of waste-making, from the mining of raw materials to the production of microchips through toxic solvents, to the eventual recycling or disposal of obsolete equipment. These processes of pollution, remainder and decay reveal other orders of materiality that have yet to enter the sense of the digital. This thesis investigates electronics through this waste and remainder. The thesis is guided by Walter Benjamin's notion of "natural history," and focuses on the dynamic, transient and poetic qualities of outmoded or "fossilized" commodities. Described here are electronic versions of such fossils, as well as the more formless residues that are sloughed off in the pursuit of technological advance.
Electronic technologies expand beyond devices and programs to an assemblage of sites and systems. Instead of a collection of outdated artifacts, this study further suggests that it is necessary not to focus solely on the abandoned electronic gadget, but also to consider the extended contexts through which electronics and electronic waste circulate. My intention here is to crack open the black box of electronics, and track their transformation to waste across a number of fields, from manufacture to disposal, and from archive to landfill, which inform the chapters below. By focusing on waste, this study is less interested in material comprehensiveness, or all that goes into electronics, and is instead more attentive toward material proliferations. In this way, I work through the "inputs and outputs" that take place not only at a material level, but also at cultural, political and economic levels. There is much more to electronics than raw materials transformed into neat gadgets that swiftly become obsolete. This study then considers electronics not from the perspective of all that is new, but rather from the perspective of all that is discarded. These discards, this study suggests, direct us toward considerations of electronics, technologies and material culture that are informed not by "upgrades," but instead by politics and poetics.

The quest for sustainable development has always involved the complex task of reconciling the need for socio-economic development with public health and environmental protection. This challenge has often emerged in the trade and environment debate but has most recently been evident in international trade in used electrical and electronic equipment (UEEE). While international trade in UEEE provides means for socio-economic development in the developing world, it also serves as a conduit for transboundary dumping of e-waste in the developing world giving rise to serious health and environmental concerns. This research investigates the socio-economic as well as health and environmental impacts of international trade in UEEE in two developing countries – Nigeria and Ghana. The research identifies a major loophole in the existing international legal framework as the primary factor responsible for e-waste dumping in the developing world. This loophole relates to the absence of a legal framework for differentiating between functional UEEE and junk e-waste. This has resulted in both functional UEEE and junk e-waste being concurrently shipped to the developing world as “used electrical and electronic equipment”. The research proposes two policy frameworks for addressing this problem. On the part of developing countries, the research proposes a trade policy framework crafted in line with WTO rules. This framework will entail the development of an international certification system which will serve to differentiate functional used electronics from junk e-waste. While the former may be eligible for import, the research proposes an import ban on the latter. On the part of developed countries, the research proposes the development of a policy framework which regulates the toxic and hazardous substances that go into the production of electrical and electronic equipment as well as enhance their reusability and recyclability at end-of-life. The framework should take into consideration the entire life cycle of the products from the design stage to end-of-life. The research argues that the implementation of this design framework will go a long way in reducing the health and environmental impacts of such equipment when subsequently shipped to the developing world at end-of-life.

Despite the extensive research carried out on waste of electrical and electronic equipment (WEEE) over the past decades, little is known about the quality of electronic products discarded and the extent to which quality affects the decisions to dispose and reuse these products as well as the impact of the current design of products for reuse and remanufacture. This information is fundamental to understand the reasons for the recent unfettered growth in electronic waste, and to propose solutions to address this problem. In this thesis, using a multi-method approach, face to face semi-structured interviews and product fault find surveys, the author investigates and reports the reasons consumers dispose of microwave ovens and the quality of the products, in particular microwave ovens, that are discarded in the United Kingdom as well as recommended design changes to original equipment manufacturers in order to facilitate reuse and increase the lifespan of such products. By collecting and testing 189 microwave ovens disposed of cosmetic imperfections, as well as electrical and mechanical defects, the results revealed that: (i) a fifth of all microwaves disposed are in perfect working condition and can be reused without any reuse process, (ii) a high percentage of the microwaves discarded have only very minor defects, (iii) almost all microwaves discarded with minor defects can be safely refurbished for re-use, (iv) very few components are responsible for most mechanical and electrical faults, (v) for most microwaves disposed of, the prices of the parts necessary for repair are a very small fraction of the average price of a new microwave. Using face to face interviews with 82 persons disposing electronic microwaves it was also found that: (i) consumers are largely unaware of alternative routes to send their end-of-life/use functional products other than the public recycling facilities, and (ii) a large proportion of the consumers disposing of microwaves intend to buy a similar product, only partially supporting the widely-held belief that e-waste is driven by a desire for the latest technology. Based on these results, the author argues that, for microwave ovens disposed in the United Kingdom via household waste recycling centres, the quality of the products discarded is not a serious impediment for reuse, neither are the prices of spare parts. Furthermore, the major factor preventing reuse is the current design of this product, which makes remanufacturing difficult and onerous, as well as the receptiveness of the market for second hand items. Using this information, the author also proposes small changes in design that can significantly improve reusability and, as a consequence, increases the life span of these products.

This thesis examined a novel hybrid method to recover gold and copper from electronic waste (e-waste) based on combination of biological and chemical generation of thiosulphate reagent. E-waste is growing waste stream rich with copper and gold. Thiosulphate is an effective leaching reagent to recover these metals however it is hampered by high cost deeming it economically unfeasible. Currently there are no alternative technologies that are able to overcome this limitation. To establish the need for this new hybrid method, we examined the economics of e-waste and current available technologies. The evaluation revealed these metals with will continue to exist in future e-waste stream and their value will continue to increase. Existing technologies were capital cost intensive and required large e-waste volumes to achieve operational cost parity. These findings were indications that copper and gold are appropriate target metals for our new technology. The novel technology exploits the natural ability of sulphate reducing bacteria (SRB) to generate sulphide that is subsequently oxidised to thiosulphate. The approach involved the isolation of SRB to generate sulphide; conversion of sulphide to thiosulphate using sulphite; and metal leaching studies using generated thiosulphate. This study showed thiosulphate was generated from bioreduced sulphide by isolated SRB. Leaching studies compared the efficiency of reagent grade thiosulphate with thiosulphate generated by the hybrid technology. The gold recoveries of the hybrid generated thiosulphate ranged from 9 to 99%. These favourable results demonstrated for the first time the technical feasibility of generating thiosulphate via biological and chemical route and the thiosulphate generated can effectively leach gold from e-waste. Thus paving for a novel and sustainable method of leaching gold from e-waste.

Electronic waste or `e-waste' is a rapidly growing form of solid waste worldwide. The heavy metals present in various electronic components demand attention because such metals may leach and pose significant health and environmental hazards (U.S. EPA, 2007). Knowledge of the potential of heavy metal leaching from e-waste represents an important contribution for developing U.S. standards for classifying e-waste as hazardous waste. Hazardous elements which leach from a variety of electronics wastes were assessed in laboratory batch studies. Electronic components evaluated included PC cathode ray tubes, PC motherboards, PC mice, television remote controls, and cellular phones. Each component was disassembled and digested using the Toxicity Characteristic Leaching Procedure (TCLP), EPA Method 1312, Method EA NEN 7371 (Dutch Environmental Agency), and Method DEV-S4 (Germany). The extracts were analyzed for lead, cadmium, chromium, silver, and cobalt. The TCLP consistently leached the greatest amounts of all metals; TCLP-soluble lead was extracted well beyond federal limits for several electronic devices.
Department of Natural Resources and Environmental Management

Thesis: S.M. in Engineering and Management, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, School of Engineering, System Design and Management Program, 2017.
Cataloged from PDF version of thesis.
Includes bibliographical references (pages 133-139).
With the growth of the smartphone industry a commensurate growth in the volume of electronic waste has occurred. Electronic waste is any electronic or electrical device that has reached the end of its useful life and has been disposed of by a consumer. The volume of this waste stream is the fastest growing waste stream globally and has begun to impact the developing world disproportionately as these regions are often at the receiving end of an endless stream of hazardous waste components. The industries that handle electronic waste must be thought of as a System of Systems or ecosystem if real improvement is to be made. The ecosystem can be decomposed into three major systems: collection, which collects electronic waste from consumers and introduces it to the recycling process; pre-processing, which turns electronic waste into discrete material streams for ultimate recycling; and end-processing, which turns individual material streams into raw materials with market value. Improving the overall recycling ecosystem is a critical component of making global industrialization sustainable. This improvement must address both the individual challenges facing each component system in the ecosystem as well as the broader challenges that span the whole ecosystem. The three component systems of the ecosystem face economic, social, environmental, and technological challenges. As a result, the available solution space is broad and varied. However, from an ecosystem perspective, the greatest challenges exist at system interfaces and the greatest opportunity exists in improving these interfaces. In so doing, improved communication between systems and stakeholders will drive the overall improvement of the ecosystem. This communication should generate a uniform set of requirements for how the system should operate. In turn, measuring success in the ecosystem and meeting the requirements requires alignment of goals for each system with those of the broader ecosystem. Finally, a fourth member of the ecosystem-the device manufacturers-must play a crucial role in facilitating this interface management; in this sense, manufacturers have the opportunity to become the de facto architects of this evolving system. As architects, manufacturers could exert more power to realize the changes required while also guiding the ecosystem to more sustainable ground.
by Joseph Lessard.
S.M. in Engineering and Management

Thesis: M. Arch., Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Department of Architecture, 2016.
Cataloged from PDF version of thesis.
Includes bibliographical references (pages 124-125).
This thesis proposes an electronic waste recycling center in downtown Manhattan as the test site for a new ecosystem of material production and consumption. Discarded electronic materials represent the single fastest growing source of municipal waste, which is often illegally exported to developing countries such as Ghana, Nigeria, India, China before being processed into reusable materials. As urban societies increasingly rely on digital devices, and those devices become obsolete at rapid rates, a new model for managing e-waste is desperately needed. The thesis employs architecture to raise awareness, illuminate deficiencies in the current model of e-waste management, and orchestrate an alternative model to current practices. The project is situated on the Gansevoort peninsula on the west side of Manhattan on a wasteland made from landfill, and the former site of a municipal waste incinerator. Micro collection points throughout the island collect approximately 100 tons of daily e-waste that are then transported to the recycling center, which serves the entire island. The architecture transforms e-waste into commodifiable resources such as gold and silver to make new products. Not only is the architecture a machine for creating new material but it becomes a site for exchanging knowledge, allowing public to engage and participate with the recycling processes. By exploiting the site's latent symbolic and logistical value, this thesis proposes a new urban consumption cycle. "One man's trash is another man's treasure"; obsolete devices enjoy their second lives.
by Jongwan Kwon.
M. Arch.

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.

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.

Reconhecido como um problema mundial, o crescente volume de resíduos eletrônicos tem representado uma preocupação quanto às práticas de descarte destes equipamentos por utilizar na fabricação produtos e metais tóxicos com possíveis danos à saúde dos seres humanos e ao ambiente. Os resíduos de equipamentos eletroeletrônicos também possuem em sua composição metais preciosos como ouro e a prata, além de teores significativos de cobre, representando fonte de interesse comercial na recuperação destes materiais, reduzindo a necessidade de exploração destes recursos na natureza. Estes fatores associados à rápida obsolescência e posterior descarte impulsionou uma complexa cadeia produtiva formada por empresas que coletam, separam, fracionam, recuperam, armazenam e reciclam estes materiais. Neste fluxo ocorrem várias interações entre as empresas e a sociedade com consequentes impactos sociais, econômicos e ambientais. Esta pesquisa realizou um diagnóstico de uma parte desta cadeia, compreendida pelos “processadores de resíduos”, entendido como as empresas que realizam a coleta, armazenagem, segregação e descaracterização dos equipamentos. Seus processos são em sua maioria manuais e, em alguns casos, algumas etapas de processamento mecânico. Operam na etapa de pré-processamento como fornecedores de insumos para o restante da cadeia. Estas empresas não realizam os procedimentos mais complexos da reciclagem, como a pirometalurgia, hidrometalurgia e eletrometalurgia. Para atingir o objetivo proposto foi utilizado um questionário semiestruturado direcionado a empresas previamente selecionadas e de abrangência nacional. Os dados coletados foram tabulados e analisados em seus contextos qualitativos e quantitativos, com o cruzamento de informações. Os resultados da pesquisa forneceram um conjunto de informações a respeito do sistema produtivo, dos volumes processados e de aspectos econômicos e de gestão do setor. Foi possível identificar os vários níveis de amadurecimento e gestão, onde algumas empresas operam com consistente estrutura administrativa, conhecimento, cumprimento da legislação e consciência ambiental, e outras, com sistemas de gestão deficientes e quase informalidade. Possuem capacidade média de processamento de resíduos de 100 toneladas/mês, e utilização de 50% desta capacidade. A parcela reciclável dos resíduos é em média 80% do total do material coletado. Os setores da sociedade que mais contribuem com resíduos são a indústria com 41,25% seguido do comércio e doméstico. No contexto econômico, 70% do faturamento tem origem no processamento de placas de circuito integrado. Quanto à comercialização dos produtos 75,39% tem como destino outros recicladores no Brasil ou exterior. Os dados coletados sobre os custos de processamento não foram satisfatórios pelo reduzido número de respostas, demonstrando que a questão poderia ter sido mais bem formulada ou a técnica de coleta melhor estudada. As principais contribuições resultantes deste trabalho são fornecer uma visão do fluxo e do volume de resíduos processados, possibilitar uma compreensão das interações econômicas entre os diversos interessados e das dificuldades que o setor enfrenta para alcançar um sistema de gestão sustentável para os resíduos eletroeletrônicos.
Recognized as a world problem, the increasing volume of electronic waste gives rise to as much concern as the practice of discarding this equipment because, in its fabrication, toxic metals are used, which causes possible health risks for human beings and for the environment. Electronic equipment waste also has precious metals within its composition, such as gold and silver, besides significant levels of copper, which represents a source of commercial interest in terms of the recuperation of these materials and a subsequent reduction in the necessity of exploration of these natural resources. These factors, together with the rapid transformation into obsolescence and later disposal of the equipment, has stimulated a complex production chain made up of companies who collect, separate, break up, recuperate, store and recycle these materials. In this interchange, various interactions occur between the companies and the society with a consequent social, economic and environmental impact. The present research has made a diagnosis of one part of this chain, as in the “waste processors”, that means the companies which carry out the collection, storage, separation and transformation of the equipment. The majority of the processes are manual with a few cases of mechanical processes in some stages. They operate at the pre-processing stage as input suppliers for the rest of the chain. These companies do not carry out the more complex procedures of recycling, such as pyrometallurgy, hydrometallurgy or electrometallurgy. To achieve the proposed objective, a semi-structured questionnaire was used, directed towards previously selected companies on a national scale. The collected data were tabled and analyzed within their qualitative and quantitative context with a cross-check information. The results of the research produced information in relation to the productive system, the volume which is processed, the economic aspects and the sector management. It was possible to identify the various levels of maturation and management, where some companies operate with a consistent administrative structure, knowledge, compliance with the law and environmental consciousness but where others operate with deficient management and a lack of formality. They have an average capacity of waste processing of residues of 100 tons per month with 50% utilization of this capacity. The recycled part of the waste represents an average of 80% of the total amount of collected material. The sectors that more generate this kind of waste are the industrial sector, with 41.25%, followed by the commercial and domestic sectors. Within an economic context, 70% of the income originates from Printed Circuit Boards (PCBs). Regarding the commercialization of the products, 75.39% are destined for other recycling plants in both Brazil and abroad. The collected data were not satisfactory in relation to the processing costs because of the low number of replies, demonstrating that the questions in relation to this could have been better formulated or the information collecting method should be improved. The main contributions resulting from this study are: create a vision of the volume flux of processed waste and allow for comprehension of the economical interactions between the various interested parties and the difficulties which the sector faces to achieve a sustainable management system for electronic waste.

Thesis advisor: Michael Cermak
Electronic waste (e-waste) is being generated faster than ever, threatening the health of people at home and abroad. This paper advocates for improvements in e-waste management that increase environmental protection in innovative ways that also benefit workers. It reviews what is being done around the world in response to the problem and then introduces suggestions on how public and private actors can cooperate to achieve better results, particularly within the United States. The paper begins by examining the successes and failures of extended producer responsibility (EPR) regulations in Europe, the United States, China, and Japan. It then goes on to advocate for a system combining EPR with a refundable deposit to encourage consumer-driven increases in return rates. If people could receive five to ten dollars for recycling their old cell phone or laptop, far fewer would end up in landfills. The paper culminates with an examination of how the idea of “green-collar jobs” can apply to ewaste management. It examines non-college training programs to prepare people to work in this industry and bring them out of poverty. Several reports have discussed the e-waste issue and its policy implications but this will be the first that brings in the labor aspect
Thesis (BA) — Boston College, 2009
Submitted to: Boston College. College of Arts and Sciences
Discipline: College Honors Program
Discipline: International Studies Honors Program
Discipline: International Studies

In the current economical context, the use of waste material with economic potential should be a priority. In this sense, the increasing production of electrical and electronic equipment waste (WEEE) makes these materials a potential source for valuable and scarce metals. For this reason, it is important to develop new metal recovery methodologies economically that are more profitable, sustainable and environmental friendly. A possible solution to this problem is to take advantage of the metabolic activity of certain microorganisms, mainly bacteria, to regenerate the responsible agents for the extraction of metals from the matrix in which they are contained once the useful life of them has ended. This process is known as bioleaching or biological leaching. In this thesis, a study of this biotechnological process for metal recovery from WEEE has been carried out. Firstly, bioleaching to recover copper from low-grade chalcopyrite was studied to establish the bases of the methodology, already applied in the biomining field, as well as to check the feasibility of the technique in this field. Subsequently, bioleaching was extended to be applied in the field of the electronic waste, thus recovering metals from printed circuit boards (PCB) based on their high metal content and their limited availability in the nature. Given the interest of this process, not very studied in the field of the electronic waste, an adjustment of those parameters that allow optimizing the operation is necessary. For this reason, the effect of several parameters has been studied such as pH effect, PCB concentration or particle size, as well as the most appropriate system to perform the process (flasks, bioreactor or column). After bioleaching, the extracted metals remain in the leaching solution, so a last step to obtain the metals in their metallic state again and separated from the initial matrix should be perform which closes the recovery cycle. The study to recover the bioleached copper has been carried out more superficially in this thesis, focusing on cementation as a simple and cheaper alternative to other more complex processes such as electrolysis. In addition to the metals extraction through bioleaching, this thesis has been also focused on studying the limits of the technology due to the complex and varied composition of the waste, such as the toxic effect that bioleached metals could cause to the microorganisms involved in the process or the evaluation of possible substrate inhibition. The measurement of the biological activity may be the solution when there are limitations of quantifying biomass in systems where the formation of precipitates can be habitual, as in bioleaching occurred. For this reason, a microrespirometry-based procedure has been developed that allows to directly measure the oxygen consumption and, thus, the microbial activity at real time. In microrespirometry, the formation of precipitates does not interfere with the measurement which allows obtaining a reliable result of the microbial concentration. Thus, after affirming the feasibility of bioleaching as a simpler, cheaper and environmental friendly alternative to traditional physical-chemical processes, this thesis establishes the most favourable conditions to obtain the greatest possible copper recovery through bioleaching. These bases are the previous phase to scale-up the technology to be implemented in an industrial environment.
En el actual contexto económico, el provecho de materiales residuales con potencial económico debería ser prioritario. En este sentido, la creciente producción de residuos eléctricos y electrónicos (REES) convierte estos materiales en una potencial fuente de metales muy valiosos y escasos. Por este motivo, es importante desarrollar nuevas tecnologías de valorización de metales que sean económicamente más rentables, sostenibles y respetuosas con el medio ambiente. Una posible solución para este problema consiste en aprovechar la actividad metabólica de determinados microrganismos, principalmente bacterias, para regenerar los agentes responsables de la extracción de metales de la matriz donde se encuentran inmovilizados una vez finalizada la vida útil del aparato eléctrico que los contiene. Este proceso es conocido como biolixiviación o lixiviación biológica. En esta tesis se ha llevado a cabo el estudio de este proceso biotecnológico para la recuperación de metales procedentes de REES. En primer lugar, se estudió la biolixiviación para recuperar cobre a partir de calcopirita de baja ley para establecer el procedimiento de la metodología, ya aplicada en el campo de la biominería, y comprobar la viabilidad de la técnica en este campo. Posteriormente, la biolixiviación fue aplicada al campo de los residuos electrónicos, realizando así la extracción de metales de placas de circuito impreso (PCB, del inglés, printed circuit boards), basándose en la gran cantidad de metales que éstos contienen y su limitada disponibilidad en la naturaleza. Ante el interés de este proceso, no muy estudiado en el campo de los residuos electrónicos, es necesario ajustar aquellos parámetros que permitan optimizar la operación. Por este motivo, se ha estudiado el efecto de varios parámetros que afectan al proceso como el pH, la concentración de residuo o el tamaño de partícula, así como también el sistema más adecuado para llevar a cabo el proceso (matraz, biorreactor o columna). Tras la biolixiviación, los metales extraídos permanecen en solución por lo que es necesario realizar una última etapa para llegar a obtener los metales en su estado metálico nuevamente, aunque separado de la matriz inicial en este caso, y cerrar así el ciclo de la recuperación. En esta tesis el estudio para recuperar el cobre lixiviado se ha realizado de forma más superficial, centrándose en la cementación como alternativa simple y económica a otros procesos más complejos como la electrólisis. Además de la extracción de metales mediante biolixiviación, esta tesis también se ha centrado en estudiar factores que limitan la tecnología debido a la compleja y variada composición de los residuos, como es el efecto tóxico que pueden provocar los metales biolixiviados sobre los microorganismos involucrados en el proceso, así como la evaluación de la inhibición por sustrato. La medición de la actividad biológica puede ser la solución cuando haya limitaciones de cuantificar la biomasa en sistemas donde la formación de precipitados suele ser habitual, como es el caso de la biolixiviación. Por este motivo se ha desarrollado un procedimiento basado en la microrespirometría que permite obtener de forma directa el consumo de oxígeno y, por tanto, la actividad a tiempo real de una muestra biológica. En las microrespirometrías la formación de precipitados no interfiere en la medición por lo que permite obtener un resultado fiable de la concentración microbiana. Así pues, tras afirmarse la viabilidad de la biolixiviación como alternativa más simple, económica y medioambientalmente sostenible a los procesos físico-químicos tradicionales, esta tesis establece las condiciones más favorables para obtener la mayor recuperación de cobre posible mediante biolixiviación. Estas bases son la fase previa para escalar la tecnología a implementar en un entorno industrial.
Recursos naturals i medi ambient

Every day a vast number of electrical and electronic equipments (EEE) end up as waste (e-waste); some of them would be scrapped, others were just obsolete. Without adequate infrastructure to manage e-waste, developing countries are suffering severe environmental impacts induced from e-waste which is either internally generated or imported illegally and facing huge challenges in managing it properly. This study aims at evaluating environmental impacts at prominent primitive e-waste recycling domains in China and proposing integrated approaches to its e-waste management. To explore the severity of environmental impacts due to primitive e-waste recycling, polybrominated diphenyl ethers (PBDEs) were selected to be the contamination indicator in this study because of their high deployment in EEE as flame-retardants and high toxicity. The levels and distributions of PBDEs in air, soil, sediment, biota and human from the two most prominent informal e-waste processing domains in China, Guiyu and Taizhou, were evaluated and all resulted in several orders of magnitude higher than those international comparison values, suggesting a causal relationship between the release of PBDEs during e-waste recycling and the determined concentrations in environmental components, biota and humans. The findings clearly indicate an urgent need for better monitoring and control of the informal recycling sector in China. However, the distinct situations in China pose challenges in managing e-waste: (i) profitability of informal e-waste recycling; (ii) environmental undesirability of trial take-back scheme; (iii) lax governance and law enforcement; and (vi) problems of orphan waste and free riders. To address these challenges and effectively manage e-waste in China, a three-pronged practicable approach, consisting of global initiatives, regional initiatives, and voluntary private initiatives, is proposed.
published_or_final_version
Environmental Management
Master
Master of Science in Environmental Management

Thesis (S.M.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Dept. of Urban Studies and Planning, 2004.
Includes bibliographical references.
What is electronic waste? Why is it considered a problem? What are the public health implications of its mishandling? The electronic industry, a sector that has experienced one of the highest growth rates of the last decade, has had a great success in growing the mass consumer market for personal computers, cell phones, and other types of personal electronic equipment. Supporting this incredible growth, the electric industry has also provided electric cells and battery systems to power all these devices. Unfortunately, personal computers as well as other electric and electronic equipment (EEE) become obsolete faster than ever. The mounting quantities of obsolete EEE and spent batteries represent a serious problem for the industrial sector, as well as for governments and citizens, not only because of the volumes being generated, but because of the hazardous materials and toxic metals, including lead, nickel, cadmium, mercury and chromium to mention some of the most important health wise and the gold, copper, aluminum, nickel, silver and palladium they contain. These contents also offer incentives for their collection and recovery. They need to be diverted from the waste stream reaching the sanitary landfills and in some instances incineration facilities, to reduce public exposure to these toxic substances and avoid the public health burdens they represent. What is the dimension of this problem in Mexico? Mexico has generated at least 6.3 million obsolete computers during the last decade, and by the end of 2006, 10 million additional personal computers will become obsolete. Not all of them will reach the municipal solid waste (MSW) stream the same year they become obsolete.
Hoarding by final users must be considered in designing any collection program. Even taking account of hoarding, almost 3 million computers will be available for collection in 2005 and 10 million computers will be available for collection by 2013. For spent cells and batteries in Mexico, the numbers are not very clear. The best estimate is that 450 million cells and batteries will be purchased annually (90 million rechargeable batteries and 148.5 million primary cells). At least 25% of them (hoarding of spent batteries has been estimated at about 75%) will be introduced into the municipal waste stream, some 37 million batteries every year. Taking into consideration Mexico's waste management infrastructure, what are the related Public Health effects of electronic waste? What are the risks associated with the final treatment options available? What can be done to reduce the E-Waste burden? Which collection and recycling mechanisms can be implemented in the Mexican context? The present work deals with these questions and introduces a proposed collection and recycling program to address Mexico's needs.
by Ricardo Gonzalez Llera.
S.M.

2015 - 2016
The ever-expanding population, the increasing consumption of resources and the shortage of primary raw materials have addressed the transition of waste management strategies from the linear model based on the “wear and tear” on a circular approach aiming at preventing waste and recycling materials. In this view, the attention has been focused on the use of anthropogenic stock resources in place of virgin materials as promoted by the concept of “urban mining”. Waste electrical and electronic equipment (WEEE) is regarded as the backbone stream in urban mining. It represents the waste stream characterized by the highest grow rate per year (3-5%) and by the most wide-ranging source of materials, since WEEE can contain more than 1000 different substances, including base, precious and critical metals. The recovery of metals defined critical raw materials as rare earth elements from electronic waste appears, thus, an important opportunity both in economic and environmental terms. However, the recycling of WEEE is challenged by the complex nature of such waste stream which, beside valuable materials, includes hazardous substances as well. The presence of these toxic components has raised great concern especially in developing countries where the informal recycling sector is still widespread, handling WEEE with unsafe and inadequate practices as a result of a lack of legislation. In high-income countries, separate collection is the first step of a system pursuing the WEEE sustainable management; mechanical processes are then applied to separate the different materials, including metals which are destined to further recycling by means of metallurgical processes. The metallurgical treatments currently used for metal recovery from WEEE are, however, claimed to have severe impacts on the environment due to the generation of secondary pollutants. Moreover, the industry of WEEE recycling is still in its early stage, especially if referred to the recovery of rare earth elements. All these reasons have contributed to increase the interest of both scientific and industrial research in addressing a cost-effective and environmental friendly treatment of end-of-life electrical and electronic products. In this background the present research work aimed to:  the characterization of WEEE in terms of base and critical metal contents, in order to identify and quantify the valuable materials and the hazardous substances for addressing a sustainable recycling strategy;  the assessment of critical metal fate during the conventional mechanical treatments of WEEE with reference to the sorting effectiveness and the recycling potential;  the evaluation of the feasible application of innovative treatments in the field of hydro- and bio-metallurgy for the recovery of valuable and critical metals from WEEE. To this end, the experimental activity was developed in three main steps, matching the specific objectives of the research project:  the first phase was focused on the characterization of WEEE in terms of base and critical metals. Representative samples were collected over the treatment chain of a full scale mechanical treatment plant operating in South Italy and analysed by their metal content;  the data obtained from the metal characterization were, thus, used in the second phase to carry out a mass flow analysis in order to investigate the fate of metals, particularly the critical ones, during the conventional mechanical treatments;  the third phase focused on hydro- and bio-metallurgical tests for the recovery of valuable and critical metals from WEEE. As the results from the previous phase pointed out that after the conventional mechanical treatments significant concentrations of precious metals and rare earth elements were gathered in dust stream originating from process air cleaning, dust was used as secondary source of critical metals and tested for the treatments proposed. Both chemical agents, including a non-conventional one as thiourea, and biological species were used to perform leaching processes. The use of dust, actually destined to landfill disposal, as well as the treatments investigated for the recovery of critical metals marked the novelty of the research. The first two phases were carried out at the Sanitary Environmental Engineering Division (SEED) of Salerno University. The hydrometallurgical tests included in the third phase were performed at SEED laboratory as well, whereas the biometallurgical tests were conducted at the laboratory facility of the Institute for water education Unesco-IHE in Delft (Netherlands). Results of the experimental activity showed that rare earth elements contained in WEEE at trace concentrations do not enter the recovery chain as around 80% in mass were lost in dust streams during the conventional mechanical treatments. Similarly, 24% of precious metals entering the mechanical treatments were conveyed in the dust fraction. Therefore, this matrix appears a potential secondary source of valuable and critical metals to be further processed for metal recovery. Chemical and biological leaching processes proved their great potential in extracting up to 99% of the critical metals contained in the dust. These promising outcomes suggested that both hydro- and biometallurgical processes can be regarded as a suitable option for the management of the dust fractions, which currently represents a cost for the treatment plant. The treatment of dust through these processes provides, indeed, a way to reintroduce this matrix, actually sent to landfill, in the “loop” of product lifecycle, thus limiting the losses of resources in accordance with the new circular economy approach. Moreover, the results of this study are of relevant interest as they highlighted the potential of recovering valuable and critical metals from waste streams using low-cost and environmentally friendly processes in the filed of biometallurgy as an effective alternative to both pyrometallurgical and conventional chemical processes, especially for treating low grade materials as WEEE. [edited by author]
La popolazione in continua espansione, il crescente sfruttamento delle risorse e la conseguente carenza di materie prime hanno orientato negli ultimi anni le strategie di gestione dei rifiuti da un approccio lineare basato sul modello del “estrai-produci-usa-getta” verso una visione circolare in cui i rifiuti di un’attività diventano materie prime per un’altra. L’attenzione è stata, pertanto, sempre più incentrata sulla possibilità di utilizzare i residui delle attività antropiche come scorte di materie secondarie in sostituzione di materiali vergini, così come promosso dal noto concetto dell’ “urban mining” o “miniere urbane”. In tale contesto, i rifiuti di apparecchiature elettriche ed elettroniche (RAEE) costituiscono ad oggi delle vere e proprie miniere urbane. Tale flusso di rifiuti è caratterizzato dai maggiori tassi di crescita per anno (35%) e dalla più varia composizione di materiali dal momento che i RAEE possono contenere più di 1000 differenti sostanze, tra cui metalli di base, metalli preziosi e metalli critici. La possibilità di recuperare dunque “materie prime critiche”, quali le terre rare presenti all’interno dei rifiuti elettronici, si configura come una importante opportunità sia in termini economici che ambientali. Tuttavia, il riciclaggio dei RAEE è ostacolato dalla loro complessa natura che, accanto a materiali di valore, prevede anche sostanze pericolose. La presenza, difatti, di componenti tossiche è motivo di grande preoccupazione specialmente in riferimento ai paesi in via di sviluppo dove il “canale informale” è ancora ampiamente diffuso ed i RAEE vengono gestiti in maniera inadeguata in conseguenza di una mancanza di riferimenti normativi. Nei paesi sviluppati, la raccolta differenziata è il primo step di un sistema che mira a perseguire una gestione sostenibile dei RAEE; processi di trattamento meccanico sono poi implementati per separare i metalli dai restanti materiali per il loro successivo recupero mediante processi metallurgici. I trattamenti metallurgici attualmente utilizzati per il recupero dei metalli dai RAEE hanno tuttavia gravi impatti sull’ambiente a causa della produzione di rifiuti secondari. Inoltre, l’industria del riciclo dei RAEE è ad oggi ancora nella sua fase iniziale soprattutto in riferimento al recupero delle terre rare. Tutte queste ragioni hanno contribuito ad accrescere l’interesse sia del mondo scientifico che di quello industriale verso lo sviluppo di tecnologie a basso costo e minor impatto per il trattamento dei RAEE. In tale contesto, il presente progetto di ricerca è stato mirato a:  caratterizzare i RAEE in termini di metalli di base e metalli critici, in modo tale da identificare e quantificare il contenuto di materiali di valore e sostanze pericolose per sviluppare una valida e sostenibile strategia di trattamento;  valutare il destino dei metalli critici nel corso dei convenzionali trattamenti meccanici dei RAEE con particolare riferimento all’efficienza di selezione e al potenziale di recupero;  investigare la fattibilità dell’applicazione di trattamenti innovativi nel campo dell’idro- e della bio-metallurgia per il recupero dei metalli critici e di valore dai RAEE. A tale scopo, l’attività sperimentale è stata sviluppata secondo tre fasi principali, funzionali al raggiungimento degli obiettivi specifici del progetto di ricerca:  la prima fase è stata incentrata sulla caratterizzazione dei RAEE in termini di metalli di base e metalli critici. Campioni rappresentativi di RAEE sono stati prelevati presso un impianto di trattamento a scala reale localizzato nel Sud Italia e analizzati nel loro contenuto di metalli;  i dati ottenuti dalla caratterizzazione sono stati quindi utilizzati nella seconda fase dell’attività, al fine di condurre un bilancio di massa per investigare il destino dei metalli, in particolare di quelli critici, durante i convenzionali trattamenti meccanici;  la terza e ultima fase è stata focalizzata sull’applicazione dei processi idro- e bio-metallurgici per il recupero dei metalli critici e di valore dai RAEE. Dal momento che i risultati della fase precedente hanno evidenziato che a seguito dei convenzionali trattamenti meccanici significative concentrazioni di metalli preziosi e terre rare vengono raccolte nelle polveri originate dal processo di trattamento dell’aria, tale matrice è stata utilizzata come fonte secondaria di metalli critici per testare i trattamenti proposti. Sia agenti chimici, tra cui un agente non convenzionale come la tiourea, che agenti biologici sono stati utilizzati per eseguire le prove di lisciviazione. L’uso della polvere, al momento destinate a smaltimento a discarica, ed i trattamenti proposti per il recupero dei metalli critici hanno segnato l’innovazione della ricerca. Le prime due fasi sono state svolte presso la Divisione di Ingegneria Sanitaria Ambientale (SEED) dell’Università degli studi di Salerno. Le prove idrometallurgiche incluse nella terza fase dell’attività sperimentale sono state anch’esse condotte presso il laboratorio SEED mentre le prove biometallurgiche sono state svolte presso il laboratiorio dell’Istituto Unesco-IHE di Delf (Paesi Bassi). I risultati dell’attività sperimentale condotta hanno mostrato che le terre rare presenti in tracce all’interno dei RAEE non entrano nella catena di recupero, dal momento che circa l’80% in massa risulta concentrato in flussi, quali le polveri, non destinati al successivo recupero. In maniera analoga, il 24% dei metalli preziosi contenuti nei RAEE in ingresso al trattamento meccanico sono raccolti all’interno di tale frazione. Le polveri si configurano, pertanto, come una potenziale fonte secondaria di materiali critici e di valore da essere sottoposta a successivo recupero. I processi idro- e biometallurgici applicati hanno mostrato il loro grande potenziale nel recupare fino al 99% dei metalli critici concentrati nelle polveri. Tali promettenti risultati hanno evidenziato che i processi idro-e biometallurgici possono essere considerati come una valida opzione di gestione delle polveri derivanti dal trattamento meccanico dei RAEE che attualmente rappresentano un costo di smaltimento per l’impianto. Il trattamento delle polveri mediante tali processi fornisce una strategia per reintrodurre tale matrice, al momento smaltita in discarica, nella spirale del ciclo di vita dei prodotti, limitando la perdita delle risorse in essa contenute in accordo con l’approccio promosso dall’economia circolare. Inoltre, i risultati del presente studio sono di rilevante interesse dal momento che hanno mostrato, in particolare, il potenziale di recupero di metalli critici e di valore dai RAEE mediante processi a basso costo e basso impatto nel campo della biometallurgia, come valida alternativa ai convenzionali trattamenti piromentallurgici ed idrometallurgici. [a cura dell'autore]
XV n.s

Thesis (Master of Engineering in Chemical Engineering)--Cape Peninsula University of Technology, 2018.
The rate of waste electrical and electronic equipment (WEEE) is growing at an alarming rate, especially in countries where markets are saturated with huge quantities of new electronic goods. Printed circuit boards (PCBs) are a substantial portion of the value contained in waste from WEEE although they are only 6% of the total weight. It is reported that WEEE is currently the fastest growing waste stream in South Africa as the general population’s access to electronic goods in the last decade has increased, especially access to mobile phones. PCBs are found in any piece of electrical or electronic equipment and consist of various metals including precious metals such as gold (Au), silver (Ag) and palladium (Pd). It is reported that gold has the highest economic incentive at 15,200 $ per ton of PCBs. The rapid introduction of new and advanced technology into mobile phones has caused mobile phones to have a relatively short life span, 1 to 2 years to be exact. Mobile phones printed circuit boards (MPPCBs) have more Au content compared to computer circuit boards. They contain 350 g/ton Au whereas computer (PC) PCBs contains 250 g/ton. This research project will recover gold from waste mobile phones PCBs pregnant ammonia thiosulphate leach solution using copper cementation. The cementation process is preferred to all the other technologies of metals extraction from solution due to ultrahigh purity metals that can be obtained and to the less consumption of materials and energy. Electronic parts on the PCBs were manually removed using pliers and screwdrivers. PCBs were then cut to smaller pieces of about 2 x 2 m. The pieces were crushed and milled respectively. Some of the particles were recycled back to the crusher to get finer particles. The particles were separated to particles of sizes between 0 and 1350 μm using a shaker. The comminuted fractions of the PCBs were then used in the leaching step. Batch cementation experiments were performed by bubbling N2 in glass reaction vessel with a working volume of 0.5 L. The reactor was connected to a circulating water bath for temperature control. The recovery percentage of gold at various temperatures, agitation speeds and different amounts of copper powder used, was determined while pH was monitored. The temperature was varied at 30 °C, 40 °C, and 50 °C and the agitation speeds at 300 RPM and 900 RPM. Copper powder was added at 0.5 g/L, 1 g/L, and 1.5 g/L. Gold concentrations were measured by atomic adsorption spectrophotometer (AAS). Scanning electron microscope (SEM) and Energy-dispersive x-ray spectrometry (EDS) analyses of the copper powder after cementation (precipitates) were used to determine the surface morphology and to evaluate the quantitative aspect of the precipitate. It was found that the recovery of gold from ammonia thiosulphate leach solution was greatly affected by agitation speed. At an agitation speed of 900 rpm, 40 °C and 0.5 g of Copper powder, 96% of the gold was recovered from the leach solution. The cementation rate increased as temperature was elevated from 30 to 40 °C, but slightly decreased as the temperature reached 50 °C. The change in experimental conditions affected the gold concentration on the precipitate recovered. This study will provide a possible solution to the WEEE problem and more specifically mobile cell phones, in South Africa.

This study compares the procedures of formal and informal e-waste recycling; and investigates the relationship between informal e-waste recycling and the health of residents living near the recycling facilities. The informal e-waste recycling facilities are mainly located in developing countries and are operated by illegally receiving e-waste from developed countries. In these informal recycling businesses, the procedures are raw and crude without any measures in pollution control and state-of-the-art technologies, suggesting the health of the workers and residents living nearby are at risk. By conducting human health risk assessment based on the data from Guiyu town located in China, the actual exposure level of PCDD/Fs for infants is estimated. The total exposure level of infants to PCDD/Fs in Guiyu is 61.5 pg WHO-TEQ 〖kg〗^(-1) 〖day〗^(-1); among the total exposure level, dietary route accounts for over 90%. The total exposure value has also exceeded the WHO standards by 61 times at most, which reflects a harmful level of local PCDD/Fs exposure to the infants and management measures are needed. Implication can be drawn that not only the infants, but also people living near the facilities of informal e-waste recycling, including the mothers and residents are under high level of exposure to PCDD/Fs and other hazardous chemicals presented in the recycling process. Management and regulations are the weaknesses of developing countries to handle the issues on e-waste. The study reviews the e-waste management and regulations in China, India and Nigeria; their common properties have been revealed, including the lack of enforcement and the misconceptions of e-waste. Regarding the national level of regulations and legislations, recommendations have been drawn. Measures in adopting licensing system for recycling business, adopting financial mechanism on top of the existing the Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) system to limit the use of hazardous chemicals, setting up special department for better regulating and enforcing e-waste related issues and enhancing the public education towards e-waste are of benefits. The study suggests an action plan using China as an example to illustrate how the country could act upon the existing regulations and legislations of e-waste issues. The plan could also be adopted by the other developing countries regarding their own conditions.
published_or_final_version
Environmental Management
Master
Master of Science in Environmental Management

Le bien-être de notre société dépend directement de plusieurs métaux tels que les métaux communs, les métaux précieux et, de plus en plus, les terres rares (TR). L’utilisation de ces métaux s’est développée dans de nombreuses applications, notamment pour les équipements électriques et électroniques (EEE), et leur approvisionnement interrompu est un enjeu majeur. Les appareils électroniques modernes contiennent jusqu’à 60 métaux différents. Il y a un intérêt grandissant pour les sources secondaires de ces métaux, en particulier les déchets d’équipements électriques et électroniques (DEEE), afin de compenser des potentiels manques d’approvisionnement. Cette thèse de doctorat montre les avantages et les inconvénients des approches biologiques et chimiques, ainsi que des avancées et perspectives dans le développement de procédés viables for la récupération des métaux des DEEE. Un nouveau procédé for la récupération des métaux des DEEE est décrit et une évaluation économique est fournie. Les cartes de circuits imprimés (CCI) des ordinateurs de bureau, des ordinateurs portables, des téléphones mobiles et des serveurs de télécommunications ont été étudiées. Les CCI jetées contenaient des concentration en métaux dans la gamme (% du poids) cuivre (Cu) 17,6 - 39,0 / fer (Fe) 0,7 - 7,5 / aluminium (Al) 1,0 - 5,5 / nickel (Ni) 0,2 - 1,1 / zinc (Zn) 0,3 - 1,2 , ainsi que de l’or (Au) (en ppm) 21 - 320. Une analyse multicritère (AMC) utilisant la méthodologie du processus d’analyse hiérarchique (PAH) a été appliquée pour la sélection de la technologie de récupération des métaux la plus adaptée. Une preuve du concept d’extraction par une double étape de biolixiviation est fournie, dans laquelle 98,4% et 44,0% de cuivre et d’or, respectivement, ont été extrait. Cette procédure d’extraction à deux étapes a aussi été appliquée pour la lixiviation chimique des métaux des CCI. La lixiviation du Cu a été effectuée dans un mélange acide d’H2SO4 et d’H2O2, alors que l’Au a été extrait par du S2O32− dans un milieu NH4+, catalysé par CuSO4. Avec les conditions opératoires optimales, 99,2% et 92,2% de Cu et d’Au, respectivement, ont été extrait de ces matériaux. La récupération sélective du Cu du lixiviat de biolixiviation a été étudiée en utilisant la précipitation sulfurée et l’extraction électrolytique (electrowinning). Le Cu a été récupéré de manière sélective en 50 min sur la cathode à une densité de courant de 50 mA, avec une efficacité de 97,8% et une purité de 65,0%. L’analyse technico-économique et l’évaluation de la viabilité environnementale de la nouvelle technologie à un stade précoce de développement ont été étudiées
The well-being of the society depends on a number of metals, including base metals, precious metals and increasingly rare earth elements (REE). The usage of these metals increased in numerous applications, including electrical and electronic equipment (EEE), and their interrupted supply is at stake. There is an increasing interest in the secondary sources of these metals, particularly waste electrical and electronic equipment (WEEE) in order to compensate their potential supply deficit. This PhD thesis demonstrates the advantages and bottlenecks of biological and chemical approaches, as well as the advances and perspectives in the development of sustainable processes for metal recovery from WEEE. Furthermore, a novel process for the recovery of metals from WEEE is described, and a techno-economic assessment is given. Discarded printed circuit boards (PCB) from personal computers (PC), laptops, mobile phones and telecom servers were studied. Following an extensive literature review, a novel characterization and total metal assay method is introduced and applied to waste board materials. Discarded PCB contained metals in the range of (%, by weight): copper (Cu) 17.6 - 39.0, iron (Fe) 0.7 - 7.5, aluminum (Al) 1.0 - 5.5, nickel (Ni) 0.2 - 1.1, zinc (Zn) 0.3 - 1.2, as well as gold (Au) (in ppm) 21 - 320. In addition, multi-criteria analysis (MCA) using the analytical hierarchical process (AHP) methodology is applied for selection of the best-suited technology. A proof-of-concept for a two-step bioleaching extraction was given, in which 98.4% and 44.0% of the Cu and Au, respectively, were extracted. The two-step extraction concept was applied to the chemical leaching of metals from PCB. Cu leaching was carried in an acidic oxidative mixture of H2SO4 and H2O2, whereas Au leaching for carried out by S_2 O_3^(2-) in a NH_4^+ medium, catalyzed by CuSO4. Under the optimized parameters, 99.2% and 96.6% of Cu and Au, respectively, were extracted from the board material. Selective recovery of Cu from the bioleaching leachate using sulfidic precipitation and electrowinning was studied. Cu was selectively recovered on the cathode electrode at a 50 mA current density in 50 minutes, with a 97.8% efficiency and 65.0% purity. The techno-economic analysis and environmental sustainability assessment of the new technology at an early stage of development was investigated

Thesis (M.S.)--West Virginia University, 2004.
Title from document title page. Document formatted into pages; contains viii, 75 p. : ill. (some col.). Includes abstract. Includes bibliographical references (p. 71-73).

Thesis (M.S.)--West Virginia University, 2004.
Title from document title page. Document formatted into pages; contains xi, 92 p. : ill. (some col.). Includes abstract. Includes bibliographical references (p. 74-76).

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.

Thesis (S.M. in Technology and Policy)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Engineering Systems Division, Technology and Policy Program, 2008.
This electronic version was submitted by the student author. The certified thesis is available in the Institute Archives and Special Collections.
Includes bibliographical references (p. 63-68).
Many different forms of electronic waste recycling systems now exist worldwide, and the amount of related legislation continues to increase. Numerous approaches have been proposed including landfill bans, extended producer responsibility (EPR) and advance recovery fee (ARF) funded recycling systems. In order for policymakers and system architects to establish the optimal recycling system for their location, they need to know how to evaluate the performance of existing systems, and furthermore, how to use this information to design new systems. This thesis addresses the question: How does the physical system architecture of e-waste systems influence system performance? Specifically, it focuses upon the physical system architecture of collection site density and distribution. This thesis presents a systematic methodology developed with the Materials Systems Laboratory for characterizing recycling systems. Case studies of existing e-waste systems operating in Switzerland, Sweden, the Netherlands, Norway, Belgium, the Canadian province of Alberta and the US States of California, Maine and Maryland are examined for correlations between the environmental and financial performance of existing systems with respect to both the context and the architectural options of those systems. The case study analysis furthermore informs the construction of a model of e-waste systems. This model, which examines architectural choices in collection, transport, processing and system management of e-waste, is used to predict the environmental and financial performance of theoretical e-waste systems for a given location. The model was intentionally developed to be both broad, in order to encompass all pieces of recycling systems, and general, such that many different types of systems, both real and hypothetical, can be analyzed. Following an application of the model to several different combinations of system architecture and context, policy recommendations are made regarding the construction and evaluation of e-waste systems in various locations.
by Susan Fredholm.
S.M.in Technology and Policy

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.

Includes bibliographical references
The trade in and management of electronic waste in Nigeria is significant because of the volumes of e-waste generated from second-hand electrical and electronic equipment (EEE) imports. Current and future e-waste discourse advocate the need for, not only an effective legislative approach, but also a sustainable approach towards e-waste management, best encapsulated through a concept known as the 'Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR)' approach. The EPR approach, which is based on the Polluter Pays Principle (PPP) places legal, financial, informative and physical(including environmental) responsibility on producers of EEE, from 'cradle-to-cradle.'The thesis groups this classification into a general term - the 'EPR Matrix,' which is utilised throughout the thesis to analyse the realistic implementation and enforcement of these responsibilities on a producer in a developing country context. Although the shipment of e-wastes between developed and developing countries is regulated under the Basel Convention 1989 and the Bamako Convention 1991, both treaties, however, do not prohibit it. The efforts of Conference of Parties (CoP) to both Conventions reveal a cognizant change in perception which is aligned with the ideals of the EPR approach to e-waste management. The realistic implementation of this approach in a developing country context is investigated, because the importer, rather than the producer is the key actor in the EEE chain. The identification of this circumstance requires that the EPR approach be extended to include the importer and other actors in the EEE chain, sharing applicable responsibilities proposed by the EPR Matrix. The thesis explores the legitimacy of this premise, by evaluating the relative success of mandatory and voluntary EPR schemes on e-waste in South Africa. Although empirical investigation reflected in the thesis reveals that voluntary industry approaches on e-waste are effective and complementary to the regulatory model, this thesis also identifies a three-tier voluntary model for effective e-waste management in South Africa, and the scope of its application. Current e-waste legislation in Nigeria reflects the adoption of the EPR approach, but in essence, the provisions are ineffective, with the absence of requisite institutions to implement its provisions. This thesis suggest that Nigerian e-waste legislation be reconsidered, with a formalization of informal e-waste markets to reflect a more resolute approach towards illegal e-waste imports and management. The certainty of a successful, and effective EPR approach in Nigeria requires a synergy of both voluntary and mandatory approaches to e-waste in that jurisdiction, and an extension of the EPR concept to include other stakeholders in industry - producers, importers, retailers, consumers and government. This thesis thus recommends the adoption of both voluntary and mandatory approaches to e-waste management in Nigeria, including an institutionalized approach, which requires the establishment of collection centres for e-waste recycling, the establishment of an EEE registry/database and proper regulation of the informal sector.

Electrical and electronic equipment waste (e-waste) is growing fast. Due to its potential economic value as well as its possible negative impacts on the environment, tracing e-waste flow is a major concern for stakeholders of e-waste management. Especially, whether or not adequate amounts of electrical and electronic equipment waste (WEEE) flow into the designed recycling systems is a fundamental issue for sustainable operations. In this paper, we analyze how technical, market, and legislative factors influence the total amount of e-waste that is collected, recycled, exported and (legally and illegally) disposed off. We formulate the e-waste network flow model as a variational inequality problem. The results of the numerical examples highlight the importance of considering the interaction between the supply and the demand side for precious materials in policy-decisions. Low collection rates of e-waste lead to low profits for stakeholders and make it difficult to establish sustainable recycling operations. Increasing WEEE collection rates increases recyclers' profits; however, it only increases smelters' profits up to a certain limit, after which smelters cannot benefit further due to limited demand for precious materials. Furthermore, the results emphasize the importance of establishing international control regimes for WEEE flows and reveal possible negative consequences of the recent trend of dematerialization. More precisely, product dematerialization tends to decrease recyles' and smelters' profits as well as to increase the outflow of e-waste from the designated recycling system. (authors' abstract)

With the extreme growth of electronic waste worldwide and in Brazil, there is a huge need for enhancement of recycling processes for this sort of waste. Considering the extremely relevant topic, the main objective of this research is to study about regulations and corporate strategies towards electronic waste recycling in Brazil and to compare it with the European context. The specific objectives are: To analyse the general European scenario concerning sustainability and electronic waste, in order to compare it with the Brazilian scenario; to study the main regulations for the treatment of electronic waste in Europe and in Brazil; to identify the main actors involved in the recycling process of electronics in Brazil; to analyse how some of the main electronics\' manufacturers inform on their websites about actions towards recycling of electronics in Brazil and in Europe; and to study about how some of the main electronics\' manufacturers in Brazil are dealing with the recycling of electronics from both a strategic and operational point of view. With a qualitative nature, the research has different approaches in terms of methodology. Both the part of the European scenario and the part of institutional and legal aspects in Brazil are based on secondary data. The part of the case studies brings an analysis on the websites in Brazil and in the United Kingdom of some electronics\' manufacturers, results from the contact with their customer services in Brazil and a final part of interviews with two of these companies, one of these companies\' recycling partner and a recycling association of electronics. Among the main programmes from the European Commission identified towards a sustainable growth, there is The Europe 2020 Strategy and the 7th EAP. While the European Union has the WEEE and RoHS Directive in terms of legislation, Brazil relies on the National Solid Waste Policy (PNRS). Most of the companies analysed do not have a direct link for information about discard on their homepages in Brazil, while some do not have any information on the matter. By contacting the customer service support, some companies have provided divergent information from the websites. It has been possible to observe that many companies do not have proper actions towards the recycling of electronics in Brazil, in addition to not dealing with the residue in a strategic manner. The companies in the United Kingdom have, in general, better actions than the ones in Brazil, with most of the same companies having different actions according to the country. Among the main uncertainties identified in the recycling of electronics, there are: Different recycling technologies; unknown environmental impacts; different product design and composition; unknown reverse logistics costs; variable cost of recycling; rapidly changing nature of electronics; unpredictability about return of items concerning quantity, quality and timing; unknown destination of WEEE; different value of scrap materials; lack of common legislation; complexity of regulations; lack of environmental consciousness and lack of residues\' classification and regulations on the PNRS.
Com o extremo crescimento de resíduos eletrônicos ao redor do mundo e no Brasil, há uma enorme necessidade de aprimoramento dos processos de reciclagem para tal tipo de resíduo. Considerando o tema de extrema relevância, o objetivo geral da presente pesquisa é o de estudar a respeito das regulamentações e estratégias corporativas em relação à reciclagem de resíduos eletrônicos no Brasil e compará-las com o contexto europeu. Os objetivos específicos são: Analisar em termos gerais o cenário europeu a respeito de sustentabilidade e de resíduo eletrônico, a fim de compará-lo com o cenário brasileiro; estudar as principais regulamentações no que tange ao tratamento de resíduos eletrônicos na Europa e no Brasil; identificar os principais atores envolvidos no processo de reciclagem de eletrônicos no Brasil; analisar como alguns dos principais fabricantes de eletrônicos informam em seus websites sobre ações para reciclagem de eletrônicos no Brasil e na Europa; e estudar como alguns dos principais fabricantes de eletrônicos no Brasil lidam com a questão da reciclagem de eletrônicos tanto sob o ponto de vista estratégico como operacional. Com uma natureza qualitativa, a pesquisa tem diferentes abordagens em termos de metodologia. Tanto a parte do cenário europeu como a parte de aspectos institucionais e legais no Brasil são baseadas em dados secundários. A parte dos estudos de caso traz uma análise sobre os websites no Brasil e no Reino Unido de algumas fabricantes de eletrônicos, resultados do contato com o serviço de atendimento ao consumidor de tais empresas no Brasil e uma parte final com entrevistas com duas das empresas, um parceiro de reciclagem de uma das empresas e uma associação de reciclagem de eletrônicos. Entre os principais programas da Comissão Europeia identificados para um crescimento sustentável, há a Estratégia Europa 2020 e o 7° EAP. Enquanto a União Europeia tem as Diretivas WEEE e RoHS em termos de legislação, o Brasil conta com a Política Nacional de Resíduos Sólidos (PNRS). A maioria das empresas analisadas não tem um link direto para obter informações sobre o descarte em suas homepages no Brasil, enquanto que outras não têm qualquer informação sobre o assunto. Ao contatar o serviço de apoio ao cliente, algumas empresas forneceram informações divergentes dos websites. Constatou-se que muitas empresas não estão com ações adequadas à reciclagem de eletrônicos no Brasil, além de não estarem lidando com o resíduo de maneira estratégica. As empresas do Reino Unido têm, em geral, ações melhores que as do Brasil, com a maioria das empresas tendo diferentes ações de acordo com o país. Entre as principais incertezas identificadas na reciclagem de eletrônicos, destacam-se: Diferentes tecnologias de reciclagem; impactos ambientais desconhecidos; design e composição de produto variados; custo desconhecido de logística reversa; custo variável de reciclagem; natureza rapidamente mutável dos equipamentos eletrônicos; imprevisibilidade de retorno dos itens em relação à quantidade, à qualidade e ao tempo; destino desconhecido dos resíduos; valores distintos de materiais de sucata; falta de legislação comum; complexidade de regulamentações; falta de consciência ambiental; e falta de classificação e regulamentação dos resíduos na PNRS.

The global ICT revolution is adding a new stream of waste, known as electronic waste or ‘e-waste’: electrical and electronic equipment that has ceased to be of value to its owners. The recyclability of e-waste together with the presence of pollutants poses a waste management challenge. Developed countries have systems in place to address this challenge, but developing countries have only recently recognised the need to develop appropriate systems for e-waste management. ICT consumers are key stakeholders in e-waste: it is they who decide whether and when an item is e-waste, and they form the link between producers and recyclers. Yet not much attention has been paid to their role. The limited research to date has focused on household consumers in developed countries, leaving a knowledge gap around bulk, organisational consumers in developing countries, despite their often being the largest single contributor to e-waste. Acknowledging the growing challenge of e-waste management in developing countries and lack of research on bulk consumer response to this challenge, the present research aimed to understand e-waste material flows, management strategies and determinants relating to bulk consumers of IT in India. It focused on bulk consumers in India’s IT service sector because that sector depends on electronic equipment for its operation and has been recognised to generate nearly 30% of the total e-waste in the country. The data for this research was collected between 2010 and 2011, at a time when preparations were underway for implementation of separate e-waste regulations in the country. Therefore, the findings of the research here draw attention to the practice for e-waste management in India before implementation of the new regulations. In order to achieve the overall aims, a qualitative research approach based on multiple case studies was adopted. In all, 20 IT service organisations belonging to three different groups based on size namely, very large (VL), large (L) and small and medium (SM) were studied via multiple semi-structured interviews, direct observations and document analysis. Further source triangulation was achieved through interviews with representatives from other stakeholder groups: IT equipment producers, formal recyclers, regulators, industry association representatives, and representatives of various national and international organisations working on e-waste management. A complex chain of material flow was identified, involving a significant number of stakeholders. Two further models – of e-waste strategy and e-waste strategy determinants – were developed through literature review and pilot fieldwork, and then verified via the main fieldwork. Three distinct types of e-waste management strategy were observed among the stakeholders. While the VLIT organisations and IT producers exhibited a proactive approach to e-waste management, the LIT organisations and formal recyclers exhibited a reactive approach to its management. The SMIT organisations ignored the challenge of e-waste and were indifferent to the management of generated e-waste. Various external (regulation, clients, peer pressure, brand and corporate reputation) and internal (corporate culture and leadership, financial benefits and corporate social responsibility) factors were found to play a role in determining the different types of e-waste management practiced by the stakeholders. Except for direct financial benefits all the identified factors had a strong determining role in the proactive approach to e-waste management. The reactive approach was chiefly driven by regulation and financial benefits associated with e-waste management. The indifferent approach was driven only by the financial benefits associated with disposal of e-waste. A key determinant that was shaping the factors among the IT bulk consumers was institutional pressures mainly driven by the requirement of some clients for green practices; that requirement itself deriving from the nature of the value chains within which consumer organisations were located. Alongside the determinants, a set of enabling factors was identified (awareness, environmental management systems, and access and availability of formal recyclers) which helped explain the implementation of e-waste management practices. When the levels of these enablers were high the implementation of organisational e-waste management was proactive and when they were low, the approach to e-waste management was reactive. These enablers were absent in the organisations that were indifferent to e-waste management. From these findings, various challenges in the current system for e-waste management could be identified including: value expectation at the time of disposal of e-waste; patchy awareness about e-waste; lack of collection mechanisms; and regulatory shortcomings. Recommendations have been made about opportunities to incentivise and facilitate collection, enhance awareness, and offer regulatory support.

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.

Orientadores: Carmenlucia Santos Giordano Penteado, Sandro Tonso
Dissertação (mestrado) - Universidade Estadual de Campinas, Faculdade de Tecnologia
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Resumo: A fração de resíduos de equipamentos elétricos e eletrônicos (REEE) presente nos resíduos sólidos urbanos vem crescendo em todo o mundo, trazendo novos desafios às administrações municipais para a gestão dos resíduos. Os REEE possuem uma combinação de substâncias e elementos que lhes conferem ao mesmo tempo alto valor agregado e periculosidade, requerendo um tratamento pós-consumo diferenciados. A Lei Nº 12.305, de 2 de agosto de 2010, que institui a Política Nacional de Resíduos Sólidos, regulamentada pelo Decreto nº 7.404, de 23 de dezembro de 2011, obriga fabricantes, importadores, distribuidores e comerciantes de produtos eletroeletrônicos a estruturar e implementar sistemas de logística reversa. O objetivo desta dissertação foi realizar um diagnóstico da situação atual dos REEE no município de Piracicaba-SP. Para tanto foi utilizada como metodologia a pesquisa qualitativa exploratória através de entrevistas com atores relevantes dentro do contexto de geração e manejo de REEE, dessa forma foram levantadas as principais rotas de fluxo pós- consumo destes resíduos. A geração de REEE em Piracicaba para o período de 2010 a 2030 foi estimada através do Método de Consumo e Uso, resultando em uma geração de 48 mil toneladas para o período, com média per capita de 4,59 kg/hab.ano. Piracicaba possui uma estrutura de coleta de REEE disponibilizada pela Prefeitura Municipal e pelo setor privado. Há locais para a população dispor pilhas e baterias, lâmpadas fluorescentes, aparelhos celulares e produtos eletroeletrônicos duráveis. Porém, as ações disponibilizadas são fragmentadas, e a infraestrutura ainda é bastante limitada, com pontos de coleta concentrados na região central do Município, não sendo totalmente acessível a toda população. O levantamento realizado nos serviços de informação ao consumidor e sites institucionais de fabricantes sobre o descarte de produto pós-consumo constatou que estes não orientam de forma eficiente o consumidor quanto aos procedimentos para descarte dos produtos da empresa e há discrepâncias de informações entre os dois sistemas de informação. Através desta pesquisa é possível vislumbrar um cenário que precisa unir diferentes sistemas de gerenciamento de forma integrada, que pode ser compartilhado entre setor público e privado, dentro dos requisitos legais, para atender as necessidades de cada local e ser inclusivo em extensão e distribuição no espaço
Abstract: The fraction of waste electrical and electronic equipment (WEEE) present in municipal solid waste is increasing all over the world, bringing new challenges to municipalities for managing municipal wastes. WEEE's have a combination of substances and elements that confer both high-value and dangerousness, requiring a different treatment post-consumer. The Brazilian Law no 12,305 of August 2nd 2010, regulated by Decree no 7,404 of December 23 2011, establishes the National Policy on Solid Waste and requires that manufacturers, importers, distributors and marketers of electronic products design and implement reverse logistics systems. The objective of this dissertation was to perform a diagnosis of the current situation of WEEE in the municipality of Piracicaba-SP. For this purpose, it was used as methodology a qualitative research, through interviews with relevant actors within the context of generation and management of WEEE, thus have been raised the main routes of flow of post-consumer waste. The generation of WEEE in Piracicaba for the period 2010 to 2030 was estimated by the method of consumption and use, resulting in a generation of 48 000 ton for the period, with average per capita of 4.59 kg per inhabitant per year. Piracicaba has a structure for WEEE collection provided by the Municipality and the private sector, with places where people can dispose of batteries, fluorescent bulbs, cell phones and durable electronic products. However, the actions available are fragmented, and the infrastructure is still rather limited, with collection points concentrated in the central region of the city, not being fully accessible to the entire population. The survey carried out in the information services to the consumer and institutional websites of manufacturers on the disposal of post-consumer products found that they do not efficiently guide the consumer on the procedures for disposal of their products, and there are discrepancies in the information provided by the two information systems. From this research it is possible to describe a scenario that must join different management systems in an integrated system, which can be shared between public and private sectors, within the legal requirements to meet the needs of each location and be inclusive in scope and space distribution
Mestrado
Tecnologia e Inovação
Mestre em Tecnologia

A gestão dos resíduos de equipamentos eletroeletrônicos é uma preocupação mundial hoje e desperta um movimento de regulamentação em vários países. Os fluxos transfronteiriços de componentes desses resíduos, tóxicos e ao mesmo tempo valiosos, estão movimentando uma grande cadeia internacional com a participação de agentes formais e informais. Do início ao fim, a cadeia de reciclagem de resíduos eletroeletrônicos tem o potencial de ser altamente impactante e com riscos que não compensam os benefícios. Porém, ela também pode ser segura e rentável, dependendo de como é gerida. Nesse sentido, a partir de investigações de campo, esse estudo analisou como os atores que atuam na cadeia de reciclagem desse tipo de resíduo no município do Rio de Janeiro estão relacionados entre si e como se articulam com a rede nacional e internacional, apontando os principais desafios, entraves e oportunidades para a implementação da Logísca Reversa de resíduos eletroeletrônicos no Brasil. Essa discussão foi feita sob a ótica da Política Nacional de Resíduos Sólidos e de seu Comitê Orientador, que publicou esse ano o edital para a apresentação da proposta de Acordo Setorial para a Logística Reversa de resíduos eletroeletrônicos. Portanto, após apresentarmos os desafios para uma economia circular que começa a absorver conceitos de eco-design, avaliação do ciclo de vida e responsabilidade ampliada do produtor, introduzimos os resíduos de equipamentos eletroeletrônicos nesse contexto e identificamos a dificuldade de implementação de um sistema de gestão eficiente para esses resíduos. Depois de percorrer diversos exemplos de modelos de gestão espalhados pelo mundo, foi realizada uma comparação com os conceitos e definições aplicados na Política Nacional de Resíduos Sólidos brasileira. Finalmente, abordamos os principais desafios, baseados na experiência encontrada no município do Rio de Janeiro que nos permitiu uma interpretação abrangente sobre os caminhos da gestão dos resíduos eletroeletrônicos no Brasil.
Technological waste, or Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment - WEEE - (REEE in Portuguese), when disposed improperly represents a huge risk for the environment, and consequently, for human beings. United Nations studies point out a critical scenario regarding the handling of these wastes in developing countries such as China and African countries. This occurs because European countries, the United States of America and even Brazil export tons of WEEE to these countries claiming a lower cost to recycle and supposedly and allegedly jobs being created in these waste receiving countries. Not long ago in Brazil, the electronic recycling waste chain did not exist in a structured form. Nowadays, some initiatives are found, but rather punctual, disperse and normally it becomes an onerous to those who wants to get rid of a post consumption product.

In this thesis, a process and a corresponding bench-scale plant for a thermo-chemical treatment of different fractions from WEEE were developed and optimized, with the aim to accumulate and/or extract metals from different feedstocks to enable downstream recycling as well as to dehalogenate pyrolysis products. From tests with shredder residues, best results regarding metal accumulation and dehalogenation were achieved at a pyrolysis temperature of 650 °C and a residence time of 30 min. Most metals were part of the pyrolysis solid products, but, for instance, Cd, In, and Mo were strongly mobilized to pyrolysis vapor. In addition, levels of polyhalogenated dibenzo-p-dioxins and -furans (PXDD/F) in the solid products were minimized, going even below threshold values of corresponding legal requirements. PXDD/F decomposition in liquid products was achieved using blends of polypropylene and a metal compound resulting in a complete decomposition of polyhalogenated dioxins. For a following dehalogenation, a novel filter-material was developed, which was able to absorb more than 90 wt.-% of Br2 and HBr in preliminary tests. In order to investigate efficiencies of selective mobilizations of metals, different pyrolysis approaches with Liquid Crystal Displays (LCD) as feedstock were conducted and allocations of metals analyzed. Tests clearly revealed that co-pyrolysis with polyvinylchloride could be used to completely mobilize As while pyrolysis of PVC with LCD in vapor-phase mode enabled a selective extraction of In. In contrast, from pyrolysis of Ta capacitors at 550 °C in combination with sieving at 500 µm, a targeted enrichment of nearly 90 wt.-% Ta in pyrolysis solid products <500 µm was achieved. In an ecological and an economical assessment, the performance of a prospective, continuous pyrolysis process for shredder residues was compared to a treatment following the status quo. The process could result in strong ecological exonerative effects and a high economic performance.

Electronic waste is the fastest growing waste stream worldwide. Illegal methods of transport, indifference in legislative response, and public ignorance of what to do in response, all influence e-waste proliferation. This dirty industry of e-waste is hazardous to human health and well-being as well as the environment. Since this dirty industry has ballooned over the last few decades, two major questions arise: What are the primary and secondary factors that influence the proliferation of e-waste dumping in developing countries; and what structures are emerging to combat the e-waste problem in developing countries in Africa? The following pages will investigate the e-waste problem in Africa; Egypt, Nigeria, and South Africa. I will show the role that small and medium industries play in managing the e-waste problem. Through a mass media search of key SMEs and organizations, I find that local enterprises are taking on an extended responsibility to find economic incentives in the e-waste industry and transform it from a vastly hazardous waste stream to a cooperative trade and flourishing industry. The results of these case studies illuminate how lax government regulation and involvement forces smaller businesses and organizations to emerge as the leaders in e-waste management.

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