Recycling-Oriented Product Characterization for Electric and Electronic Equipment as a Tool to Enable Recycling of Critical Metals

Waste electrical and electronic equipment (WEEE) has been high on the environmental policy agenda of many countries due to its rapidly increasing volume and concerns over its toxicity and the critical metals it holds. To date, 59 countries have passed laws for WEEE management (ex-cluding State level legislation in the USA and Canada). Most of these laws are based on the principle of extended producer responsibility (EPR) but their treatment of allocation of respon-sibility and system operation differ considerably. This study reviews the implementation models of EPR which are classified into two broad groups: producer compliance schemes and governmental funds. The advantages and disadvan-tages of each model are analyzed and a synthesis proposed for Thailand in the form of a step-wise hybrid model, considering local conditions. A new draft law, the Act on the Management of Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment and Other End-of-Life Products, differs from earlier drafts solely based on the governmental-fund model. Under the proposed system, producers of designated products would have an opportunity to develop their compliance plans individually or collectively. This would allow them to channel their experiences of working with EPR in other countries to the implementation of Thai WEEE management schemes. The compliance plans have to outline how they intend to support the free take-back obligations stipulated in the draft law. Collection targets can be added to improve system performance in the later years. Unlike a typical producer-led system, the government retains the power to levy product fees into the National Environmental Fund. This ensures the leverage in the case that the producer’s plans fail to function in a developing country context. Revenues would then be earmarked to support investments and campaigns to achieve the objectives of this law.

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Estimation of the Potential Recoverable Amount of Critical Metals from Waste Electric and Electronic Equipment in Lithuania

Environmental Research Engineering and Management ◽

10.5755/j01.erem.72.2.16112 ◽

2016 ◽

Vol 72 (2) ◽

Author(s):

Inga Gurauskienė ◽

Antanas Staškevičius ◽

Karolina Ambrazaitienė

Keyword(s):

Electronic Equipment ◽

Critical Metals

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Conceptual design for data flow for a database management system for the sustainable recovery of critical metals from waste electrical and electronic equipment

Global NEST Journal ◽

10.30955/gnj.002581 ◽

2018 ◽

Vol 20 (4) ◽

pp. 700-705 ◽

Cited By ~ 1

Keyword(s):

Decision Making ◽

European Union ◽

Management System ◽

Database Management ◽

Database Management System ◽

Electronic Equipment ◽

Conceptual Scheme ◽

The European Union ◽

Critical Metals ◽

Sustainable Recovery

<p>Sustainable recovery of critical metals (CM) from Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment (WEEE) in the European Union (EU) requires information for detailed analysis, monitoring and decision-making. Related knowledge is currently insufficient or disseminated through the network of stakeholders. This paper assesses the requirements of an adequate Database Management System (DBMS) with participation of different actors involved in the recovery of critical metals and analyses the difficulties and the possibilities found for its implementation. The authors define a conceptual scheme of a DBMS to assess the information requirements and to establish the interactions between different actors of the WEEE supply chain, with the aim of supplying standardized information for management and research. Barriers are studied through a survey to identify obstacles for its elaboration. Limitations for its development are addressed and practical solutions for its elaboration are presented.</p>

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The presence of rare earth elements and critical metals in waste electric and electronic equipment: challenges for recovery

Global NEST Journal ◽

10.30955/gnj.002582 ◽

2019 ◽

Vol 20 (4) ◽

pp. 773-777

Keyword(s):

Rare Earth ◽

Rare Earth Elements ◽

Scientific Community ◽

Rare Earth Metals ◽

Economic Importance ◽

Electronic Equipment ◽

Insufficient Data ◽

Supply Risk ◽

Critical Metals ◽

Non Profit

<p>The fastest growing waste stream of waste electric and electronic equipment (WEEE) is not only a threat to our environment, but is also creating a supply risk of certain rare earth metals (REMs) and critical metals (CMs). Despite the fact that Directive 2012/19/EU encourages the prevention of WEEE by promoting re-use, recycling and other forms of recovery of such wastes, the recycling of these metals in WEEE is less than 1%. The insufficient data about the composition of REMs and CMs in electric and electronic equipment (EEE), the high recycling costs and the different motivations/interests of the stakeholders, including national authorities, non-profit companies and producers, are some of the main inhibitor factors. However, there is a growing interest in the scientific community in sorting out the issues which leads to such a low recovery and in defining the challenges and possible benefits generated from the recycling of REMs and CMs. On this basis, this work highlights the characteristics of REMs and CMs in terms of their economic importance and their presence in EEE. Then, an overview of the supply risk of REMs and CMs and the challenges related to the recovery are provided, supported by countries examples.</p>

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