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The generation, impact, and management of e−waste: State−of−the−art.
Critical Reviews In Environmental Science and Technology
Abstract
Even as the world has been unsuccessfully trying to dispose off the rising quantities of its municipal solid waste (MSW) and hazardous waste (HW) in a clean manner, it has been confronted with an even more complex problem - of e-waste. Only a few countries in the developed world are able to scientifically recycle or dispose the e-waste they generate. In other developed countries only a fraction of the e-waste is properly recycled, the rest is either incinerated or sent to landfills - which are solutions that cause serious secondary problems. Worse still, a sizeable portion of the e-waste generated in the developed world is exported to developing countries where it is recycled or dumped without any concern for the gross pollution that is being caused. It can be said that if the situation vis-à-vis e-waste is posing a challenge in most developed counties, it is alarmingly bad in the developing world. In an attempt to contain the e-waste problem most of the developed world and several countries in the developing world have enacted legislation to curb illegal trafficking and unlicensed recycling of e-waste. These legislations invoke the extended producer responsibility concept based on life-cycle considerations in the hope that it will provide prevention as well as cure. Innumerable non-governmental organizations and citizen's groups have also been trying to help out. So far, all these measures together have achieved only a modicum of success - that, too, only in a few regions of the developed world - but if viewed on the global scale ever bigger streams of e-waste are threatening to join the rising tides of MSW and HW in engulfing the world. The present paper assesses the state-of-the-art, bringing out how and why the e-waste problem has been defying all attempts to contain it. The paper also brings out that - much the same way as has happened with MSW and HW - the size and the complexity of the e-waste problem is increasing at much faster rate than the efficacy of our strategies to contain it. This trend is not likely to reverse soon and the only viable means to solve the problem is to drastically reduce generation of waste.
... Toxic materials present in E-waste may endanger labor involved in the segregation, dismantling, and recycling processes [14], [29], [30]. Companies are not effectively adopting green practices like restriction of toxic substances in their business strategies, despite the prohibition in E-waste rules [31], [32], [33], [34]. In developing countries, the informal sector collects more Ewaste, especially domestic E-waste, than the formal sector because it offers higher payments to consumers [35], [36]. ...
... [2], [12], [14], [34], [53], [62], [63], [64] 2 Lack of tracking technology for E-waste (C2) ...
... [2], [14], [23], [30], [32], [34], [53] 7 ...
Producer Responsibility Organizations (PROs) are professional organizations that take responsibility for collecting and treating E-waste in an eco-friendly way on behalf of producers. However, they face several challenges in effective e-waste management (EWM). The current study aims to identify and model key challenges in EWM from PROs' perspective in the Indian context. We identified key challenges to EWM through a literature review and discussions with experts. The expert team validated and mapped key challenges into the EWM process, from collection to disposal. We employed the DEMATEL method to model key challenges. Nine key challenges were identified. Findings suggest that a knowledge-sharing platform is a crucial step in EWM as it allows PROs to share best practices. In addition, collaboration among stakeholders, usage of tracking systems, and eco-design could play a key role in sustainable and effective EWM. This study provides various mitigation strategies to overcome key challenges in the adoption of sustainable EWM. Furthermore, PROs can use the proposed conceptual framework to identify challenges that may be faced during different EWM process stages.
... Among these, Zn was found to be the most abundant (2175.5 ppm), whereas Cd and As were recorded as the lowest in concentration (3.4 ppm and 1.7 ppm), presented in Fig. 9a (Chakraborty et al. 2024). Discarded refrigerators and air conditioning units release chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs), enhancing ozone depletion (Premalatha et al. 2014). PLI values classify regions based on contamination levels; values below 1 indicate low pollution, 3-6 moderate, and above 6 very high. ...
... Electronic devices contribute 5.1 million tonnes of CO 2 annually through gold and 15.3 million tonnes through copper consumption. The E-waste sector generally contributes 23.4 million tonnes of CO 2 annually, approximately 1/1000 of global emissions (Premalatha et al. 2014). These findings clearly illustrated the devastating effect of E-waste on air and dust quality, hence the need for better recycling and disposal practices to reduce environmental and health risks. ...
... High Pb (500 ppm) and Cu (1000 ppm) concentrations significantly enhanced leaf mortality in Lythrum salicaria (Nicholls and Mal 2003). Bioaccumulation of toxic chemicals like PBDEs and PCDD/Fs in food items like red meat, milk, eggs, fish, and shellfish is a significant exposure pathway for humans (Premalatha et al. 2014). Vegetables grown around E-waste dumping sites have been found to have higher metal concentrations. ...
Rapid urbanization and industrialization have led to the increased generation of electronic waste (E-waste) throughout the world, and the proper management of this hazardous E-waste is of utmost challenge nowadays. Bangladesh, like any other developing country, needs to develop an appropriate E-waste management strategy and increase public awareness of handling E-waste. This research aims to provide a detailed overview of Bangladesh's current E-waste generation scenario and its impact on human health and the environment. Furthermore, the existing policies and strategies followed by the Government of Bangladesh are briefly discussed, and different potential strategies that can enhance the existing management practice are also suggested. The study shows that improper E-waste management in Bangladesh resulted in a soil lead concentration of 587 parts per million (ppm) in 2023, which is far higher than the allowable limit provided by the World Health Organization (WHO). Moreover, E-waste has resulted in air and dust containing a significant amount of Zn (2175 ppm) and Ni (1986 ppm). Water contamination is also a regular phenomenon due to the improper landfilling of the E-waste. Private-public partnership (PPP) and willingness to pay (WTP) are the two existing strategies the government uses for E-waste management. However, approaches like take-back and collection (TBC) and recognition-based (RB) systems may be incorporated to enhance the existing management scheme and ensure a sustainable future. This research will help the authorities develop a complete E-waste management route for Bangladesh that will greatly reduce the adverse effects of the waste by a significant margin.
... In Japan, the Home Appliance Recycling Law increased the country's recycling rates to approximately 55%, after being introduced in 2001 [9]. It classifies e-waste into 4 categories: (1) televisions, (2) refrigerators, (3) washing machines and (4) air conditioners [10]. ...
... The EPR concept was first introduced in Germany in 1991. It aims to prevent the generation of e-waste by extending the producer's responsibilities beyond a product's useful life, from the early design phase until the final disposal [10]. "An example is to design a product in a way that it is energy efficient during use, generates less waste and especially hazardous waste at end-oflife, and facilitates recovery, reuse, and recycling" [10, p. 1621]. ...
... "An example is to design a product in a way that it is energy efficient during use, generates less waste and especially hazardous waste at end-oflife, and facilitates recovery, reuse, and recycling" [10, p. 1621]. Many countries have based their e-waste legislation on the EPR concept [10], which has led many companies to make global commitments to design products without hazardous materials and keep waste out of the electronics value chain [2]. ...
According to the Global E-Waste Monitor 2020 [1], in the year 2019, nearly 53.6 million metric tons (Mt) of e-waste (excluding PV panels) was generated, but only 17.4 % was formally collected and recycled. In this article, the limiting factors, which have led to these low recycling rates, will be examined as well as the state-of-the-art robotic solutions applied in practice today. Lastly, a novel method for improving the e-waste management system, based on multirobot collaboration, was proposed.
... Other reviews analyze country-level case studies without explicitly referring to the CE concept (Gupt and Sahay, 2015) or the legislative implementation of EPR, either documenting their evolution in time within a specific country (Hickle, 2014;Manomaivibool and Hong, 2014) or comparing national normative differences (Cahill et al., 2011). Finally, other reviews focused on the management of specific waste flows, typically WEEE (Herat, 2021;Jang and Kim, 2010;Li et al., 2021;Premalatha et al., 2014), rather than explicitly on the EPR mechanism. ...
... This means improving the separation of waste flows at their origin, with better results from a recovery and recycling point of view (Kiddee et al., 2013), a reduction of externalities generated by improper waste disposal and the drain of dumping flows to developing countries (Nnorom and Osibanjo, 2008;Premalatha et al., 2014). ...
... Despite this international treaty, entering into force in 1992, and the enactment of national bans on WEEE trade by various countries, e.g., China in 2018 (Zhang, 2021), waste flows did not stop (Premalatha et al., 2014). These bans are overcome by declaring WEEE as second-hand goods (Nnorom and Osibanjo, 2008). ...
Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) is an environmental policy principle conceived for the incorporation of total product life-cycle (PLC) costs into production and consumption decisions. Consequently, EPR is expected to enhance the circularity of the value chains affected by this regulation. The lack of comprehensive evaluations of EPR achievements hampers the possibility to assess the actual alignment of the policy impacts with Circular Economy (CE) objectives. This is true also in the context of electronic waste (WEEE), which has been prioritized by EPR regulations and scientific investigations. This paper provides the first systematic literature review aiming to comprehensively examine the outcomes of EPR implementation in the WEEE scope, by adopting a PLC perspective. The review highlights the accomplishment of important downstream goals of EPR on WEEE, such as the increase of waste collection rates and the development of stable waste management systems. On the other hand, the review highlights limited upstream effectiveness of the policy, which is due to the insufficient allocation of individual responsibility to electronics producers to systematically drive them towards eco-design strategies. Discrepancies between CE goals and EPR achievements and implementation are classified into seven areas, covering the entire PLC and also representing domains of policy recommendations. Finally, the paper identifies a number of future research directions that would support the alignment of EPR policies and CE objectives in the electronics value chain.
... Environmental standards and standards exist for the prevention of work accidents and occupational diseases in the e-recycling sector. These standards and their application vary, however, from one country to another, with major North-South differences, especially in relation to the nature of processing operations, still confined to what is called the "informal sector" in many developing economies (Bald e et al., 2017;Premalatha et al., 2014). The informal e-recycling sector is thus barely regulated as a rule and its activities are usually carried out in small-scale workshops or domestic backyards. ...
... While preventive practices and administrative and engineering controls appear to vary considerably, it is the presence of national public health policies that would seem to provide at least a minimum of protection against exposure to contaminants and other hazardous materials. The absence or weakness of such policies in developing countries may have dire consequences for the most vulnerable and at-risk populations (Daum et al., 2017;Grant et al., 2013;Perera et al., 2012;Premalatha et al., 2014). Despite being tied into a complex and tightly knit international circuit, the e-recycling sector clearly reveals inequalities based primarily on the State's regulatory capacity and on the presence of legislative structures within it that can ensure better control of the development and practices of this sector (Premalatha et al., 2014). ...
... The absence or weakness of such policies in developing countries may have dire consequences for the most vulnerable and at-risk populations (Daum et al., 2017;Grant et al., 2013;Perera et al., 2012;Premalatha et al., 2014). Despite being tied into a complex and tightly knit international circuit, the e-recycling sector clearly reveals inequalities based primarily on the State's regulatory capacity and on the presence of legislative structures within it that can ensure better control of the development and practices of this sector (Premalatha et al., 2014). ...
Purpose
This article explores the protective measures and the occupational health and safety (OHS) prevention strategies in place in the formal electronic equipment recycling (e-recycling) industry, more specifically in the Greater Montreal area (Quebec, Canada) and their consequences: health inequalities and level of compliance with environmental standards.
Design/methodology/approach
Semi-structured interviews were conducted using two respondent-specific questionnaires, one for workers and one for supervisors. Data collection and analytic procedures drew from qualitative content analysis. It was tempted to identify differences in OHS practices in relation to the workers' employment status and to link the companies' OHS concerns to their level of compliance with environmental standards.
Findings
The article highlights specific OHS issues in the formal e-recycling industry. Enforcing compliance with environmental standards as a lever for promoting OHS appears to be a promising strategy. Another main finding was the workforce diversity and related OHS vulnerabilities in this industry and the challenges they pose to employers' ability to adequately and equally reach and protect all workers involved.
Originality/value
To date, too little attention appears to have been paid to working conditions and worker protection in this rapidly growing sector. Specific prevention programmes could be implemented and adapted to the industry's diverse workforce and its multiple OHS vulnerabilities. This issue calls for the international community to take responsibility, as many electronic waste (e-waste) generated worldwide is shipped to developing countries, where lack of regulation and control is much more striking in a sector that remains very largely informal.
... La quantité mondiale de résidus électriques et électroniques ne cesse d'augmenter (Baldé et al., 2015). Cette augmentation découle d'une consommation croissante d'équipements électriques et électroniques dont l'offre est perpétuellement bonifiée, de même qu'à des durées d'utilisation des appareils de plus en plus courtes (Kumar et al., 2017;Premalatha et al., 2014) (Schluep et al., 2009). Le recyclage des résidus d'équipements électriques et électroniques offre une solution intéressante pour réduire l'empreinte écologique en soustrayant de l'environnement de nombreuses substances potentiellement toxiques et pour permettre notamment la récupération de métaux précieux ou rares comme l'or, le platine et l'argent (Kumar et al., 2017;Namias, 2013 (Pampalon et al., 2008). ...
... Malgré les efforts de l'industrie pour substituer des composants toxiques par des produits qui le sont moins, certaines nouvelles technologies posent également des risques potentiels pour la santé des travailleurs. Ainsi, les écrans plats à affichage à cristaux liquides (ACL : Liquid Crystal Display), qui réduisent l'utilisation de plomb contenu dans les écrans à tubes cathodiques (Cathode Ray Tube ou CRT), emploient d'autres substances à potentiel toxique comme le mercure et l'arsenic (Massey et Eunson, 2010;Premalatha et al., 2014). ...
En raison de l’utilisation croissante de composants et d’appareils électriques et électroniques, de même que de leur durée de vie relativement courte, la quantité de matières résiduelles électroniques ne cesse d’augmenter. Conséquemment, le nombre d’entreprises spécialisées dans le recyclage électronique (e-recyclage) est en nette croissance au Québec, comme ailleurs dans le monde. Ces entreprises emploient des travailleurs qui ont pour tâche de démonter les appareils afin d’en trier les composants qui seront subséquemment valorisés ou éliminés de manière sécuritaire. Ces tâches peuvent cependant entraîner l’exposition des travailleurs à un mélange de substances potentiellement toxiques, comprenant entre autres des poussières, des métaux et des ignifuges. Certains métaux sont cancérogènes, comme l’arsenic, le cadmium ou le nickel. De plus, le cadmium, le plomb et le mercure, ainsi que plusieurs ignifuges bromés, organophosphorés et chlorés peuvent agir sur les hormones et sont considérés comme étant des « perturbateurs endocriniens ». L’objectif de cette recherche est d’évaluer l’exposition des travailleurs aux poussières, aux métaux et aux ignifuges dans des entreprises de e-recyclage primaire au Québec ainsi que d’apprécier le niveau de risque sanitaire pouvant en découler.
Dans le cadre d’une étude transversale, des prélèvements d’air en poste personnel ont été réalisés au cours de deux quarts de travail complets pour 85 travailleurs dans six entreprises de recyclage électronique ainsi que pour 15 travailleurs œuvrant dans le recyclage commercial (groupe témoin). Des prélèvements d’urine et de sang ont aussi été recueillis en fin de quart auprès de ces mêmes travailleurs, qui ont également répondu à un court questionnaire sur leurs habitudes de vie et sur leur statut sociodémographique. Les concentrations de quatorze métaux et de quarante ignifuges ont été mesurées dans les échantillons d’air, alors que les concentrations de neuf métaux et de vingt-sept ignifuges ont été mesurées dans les liquides biologiques. Dix hormones ont été mesurées dans le sang des travailleurs afin d’évaluer leur association avec les niveaux d’exposition aux perturbateurs endocriniens. Finalement, les pratiques relatives à la santé et à la sécurité du travail ont été documentées par des entrevues dirigées, menées auprès d’une trentaine de travailleurs et de gestionnaires.
Dans les entreprises de recyclage électronique, les concentrations de poussières en poste personnel représentaient, en moyenne, de 4 à 14 % de la valeur limite d’exposition de 10 mg/m³ en vigueur au Québec. L’exposition aux poussières serait principalement due à une remise en suspension de particules assez grosses qui avaient préalablement été déposées sur le sol ou sur les tables de travail durant les activités de démantèlement, de nettoyage, de lancers et dépôts brutaux de déchets d’équipements électriques et électroniques, ou encore lors de la manipulation de bacs ou de bennes. La concentration aérienne en poussières était associée à la taille des entreprises; les entreprises de plus grande taille, ayant un volume d’exploitation plus grand et une cadence de travail plus rapide, présentaient les concentrations les plus élevées.
Les métaux détectés le plus fréquemment dans l’air des installations de e-recyclage étaient le plomb (73 à 100 % des prélèvements), le cadmium (18 à 94 %) et le cuivre (50 à 94 %). L’exposition par voie aérienne se reflétait partiellement dans les fluides biologiques des travailleurs, où les valeurs de plomb sanguin ont atteint chez certains travailleurs jusqu’à la moitié de l’indice biologique d’exposition en vigueur, et où le cadmium a été détecté dans le sang de 86 à 100 % des travailleurs.
L’analyse des prélèvements d’air a également mis en évidence des concentrations d’ignifuges relativement élevées, avec une concentration en décabromodiphényléther (BDE209) plus élevée que toutes les valeurs publiées à ce jour (moyenne géométrique [MG] : 5100 ng/m³). Les tâches de compactage et de démantèlement étaient respectivement associées à des expositions en moyenne de 1,4 à 2,2 fois plus élevées que celle de supervision. Finalement, les concentrations sanguines de BDE209 (MG : 18 ng/g de lipides) chez les travailleurs du recyclage électronique étaient plus élevées que chez ceux du recyclage commercial (MG : 1,7 ng/g de lipides).
Le niveau de risque sanitaire associé à l’exposition à des métaux dans le e-recyclage a montré une exposition concomitante au manganèse, au plomb et au mercure, indiquant un potentiel d’atteinte neurotoxique ou néphrotoxique pour certains travailleurs. Quant aux effets endocriniens liés à l’exposition aux ignifuges et à certains métaux, une diminution statistiquement significative de la testostérone libre et totale pour un doublement de la concentration de tb-TPhP (métabolite d’ignifuge organophosphoré), et une augmentation statistiquement significative de l’estradiol pour un doublement de la concentration de o-iPr-DPhP (un autre métabolite d’ignifuge organophosphoré) ont été mis en évidence chez les travailleurs masculins.
La taille de l’entreprise était le facteur le plus influent sur les niveaux d’exposition des travailleurs, tant aux poussières et aux métaux qu’aux ignifuges. De plus, les tâches de démantèlement manuel et d’opération du compacteur exposaient les travailleurs à un plus grand éventail de substances que la tâche de superviseur.
Les travailleurs et leurs gestionnaires ont témoigné d’une certaine prise de conscience des problématiques de santé et de sécurité du travail relatives au e-recyclage. Cependant, les pratiques préventives variaient en fonction de la mission sociale et de la stratégie de recrutement des entreprises. De façon plus particulière, le port et la disponibilité des équipements de protection individuelle étaient souvent déficients, de même que l’accès à une formation appropriée à l’entrée dans l’emploi. Qui plus est, un lien d'emploi souvent précaire, des réseaux de soutien inadéquats et la privation matérielle placent la majorité de ces travailleurs dans une position de vulnérabilité face à la santé et à la sécurité du travail.
Ce rapport émet quelques recommandations quant aux conditions de travail, aux aspects réglementaires de surveillance, ainsi qu’au regard des besoins en recherche dans le milieu du e-recyclage. Ainsi, des efforts devraient être déployés pour diminuer l’exposition des travailleurs aux poussières en suspension, tant par la mise en place de procédures de nettoyage assidues et par l’adoption de pratiques de travail minimisant les projections, que par le déploiement et le port adéquat d’appareils de protection respiratoire. De plus, étant donné la présence de plomb dans l’air et dans le sang de plusieurs travailleurs, une surveillance biologique annuelle doit être mise en place si elle n’est pas déjà instaurée.
... Recently, the Basel Action Network (a nonprofit organization) proposed alternative guidelines to the Basel Convention under the claim that there are loopholes in the current regulations, which allow any export to be considered as nonwaste under the claim that it is "e-waste for repair" (BAN 2019). Therefore, despite national and international effort, e-waste trafficking (illegal movement) from developed to developing countries continued (Premalatha et al. 2014). ...
... Source: Based on Goel (2017) and Premalatha et al. (2014). ...
The growing volumes of electrical and electronic waste (e-waste), alongside their potential to be valuable resource or harmful pollutants, have made this waste stream an important subject of research, legislation, and policymaking. E-waste management comprises a series of activities, some of which are profitable and some of which are not. The current regulations in place exist in an attempt to ensure the unprofitable (but necessary) activities are undertaken in a sound manner (safe to humans and to the environment) and to state whom the stakeholder responsible for such activities are. The responsibility and financial liability may fall under the manufacturer (polluter-pay principle), the government, the consumer, or a combination of different stakeholders, and this varies widely from jurisdiction to jurisdiction. There are currently a set of international, national, and regional legislations/treaties that oversee the movement and management of e-waste. The most notorious international treaty is the Basel Convention, which is 30 years old, ineffective and contains known loopholes that allow disguised e-waste export as equipment for repair. In the national and regional scope, legislation concerning e-waste can vary widely, even within a single country – like in the case of China, Canada, and the USA. The lack of unity in legislation, or at least a set of regulations design to be collaborative with each other, is one of the current challenges worldwide. The use of conformity verification systems (e.g. WEEELABEX), a standardized universal extended producer responsibility policy or a significant update on the (outdated) international treaties, may be a solution, but it seems that the world is far from reaching these milestones. Finally, China's recent ban has affected the global WEEE market, which, in turn, has affected the regulatory framework of other Southeast Asian nations. More changes are expected in the near future due to the cascading effect of these changes and further import bans already announced by China.
... Previously, due to the lack of an e-waste national regulatory framework, local government councils had difficulties in managing e-waste, and they had no strategies to address e-waste issues [46,47]. To resolve the nation's escalating e-waste challenges, the Australian government established the National Waste Policy in 2019 to integrate existing policies and regulatory frameworks for e-waste management [9,45,48]. Thereafter, the Australian government introduced the National Product Stewardship Scheme in 2011 in collaboration with the State and Territory Governments and industries [9,26,45]. ...
... The Product Stewardship Act of 2011 was also designed to establish a framework by which the environmental, health, and safety impacts of electrical and electronic equipment and its recycling and disposal are adequately managed [44,45]. Currently, Australia's e-waste system is in its evolving stages and while, progress has been made since the introduction of the National Waste Policy and the Product Stewardship Act, Australia's e-waste is growing three times faster than other waste streams, and the capacity and sophistication of the nation's systems need to grow and adapt [44,48]. ...
Due to the rapid increase in the use of electrical and electronic equipment (EEE) worldwide, e-waste has become a critical environmental issue for many governments around the world. Several studies have pointed out that failure to adopt appropriate recycling practices for e-waste may cause environmental disasters and health concerns to humans due to the presence of hazardous materials. This warrants the need for a review of the existing processes of e-waste management. In view of the growing e-waste generation in the Asia Pacific region and the importance of e-waste management, this study critically reviews previous research on e-waste generation and management practices of major e-waste producing nations (Australia, China, India, Indonesia, and Malaysia) in the Asia Pacific region, provides an overview of progress made and identifies areas for improvement. To fulfil the aims of this research, previous studies from 2005 to 2020 are collected from various databases. Accordingly, this study focuses on e-waste generation and environmental management of these countries. This study found that e-waste management practices of the selected countries need to be enhanced and recommends several best practices for effectively managing e-waste.
... Valuable metals, including gold, silver, copper and palladium, can be extracted from e-waste, but so too, lead, mercury and cadmium pose considerable environmental and human health risks. Methods of traditional e waste management like landfilling and incineration do not only allow the material to be recovered as valuable resource, rather, it pollutes soil, air, and water [4]. However, these conventional practices are inefficient and that they result in harmful impacts, thus requiring immediate replacement by more sustainable and more effective solutions. ...
With global growth in electronic waste (e-waste) at staggering rates, traditional methods of recycling pose significant health and ecological risks due to the use of energy intensive process and hazardous chemicals used. The use of microorganisms to extract valuable metals from waste, called biomining, is a promising alternative to conventional e-waste management practices. This study critically examined the feasibility of biomining as a sustainable alternative to recycling of e-waste. By comparing biomining with traditional methods, this study explored its environmental benefits, reduced chemical usage, and lower energy consumption, and its limitations, slower recovery rates and complex microbial processes. The study showed that biomining is most efficient when it is used to recover valuable metals such as gold and copper, but is less likely to be as efficient in the recovery of low-grade materials. In addition, it discussed the conditions under which it is conceivable that biomining is a sound solution and points out the importance of microbial optimization and appropriate economic and environmental conditions. Finally, the substantial areas for future research are presented, such as developing more efficient biomining processes, performing long term environmental impact assessment and life cycle analysis to assess the sustainability aspects of biomining as an e-waste management route.
... Proposes conceptual models for e-waste strategies and e-waste strategy determinants from the available literature Actual implementation of the framework to all domains is yet to be seen. 5 [60] Identifies that major portion of e-waste is dumped in landfills that are a major cause of secondary concerns. It identifies the growing scale of the problem. ...
As a member of the Sustainable Development Goals 2030, India aims to achieve environmentally sustainable economic development. However, the biggest challenge is the handling and disposing of the electronic waste. This manuscript is a succinct investigation of the current e-Waste situation in India. While highlighting the ground reality, the manuscript aims to lay out the plausible solutions that can be adopted in India to ensure effective e-waste managing for a sustainable environment.
... This has many implications on life such as human and animal health, ecological, social, economical etc.Taking a critical look into the causes of e-waste (such as short equipment life time, consumer spending capacity, etc.), the key factor behind e-waste lies in the most critical resource on planet earthhuman thought processes (Gollakota et al., 2020). Human wants and spending capacity, coupled with insatiable wants have been severally highlighted as no small contributors to the growing e-waste problem (Premalatha et al., 2014). Human thinking being the most critical variable needs to be positively excited in order to solve the e-waste problem, it is then imperative to lay out a plan-of-attack (POA), highlighting clear approaches, expected challenges and mitigating strategies (Jayaraman, et al., 2019). ...
This paper presents a proposed innovative way to teaching basic Electrical Engineering by incorporating a zero-waste philosophy and approach. Traditional topics being taught in basic Electrical Engineering include introduction to Direct Current, Alternating Current, circuit theory laws: Ohm's law, Kirchhoff's laws (current and voltage), Superposition theorem etc. The proposal is that when zero-waste as a thinking is introduced ab-initio to Electrical Engineering syllabi, it will promote modular green designs and circular solutions that have the best of two worlds: of Science and Technology on the one hand, humans and the environment on the other hand. The proposal goes to show that in dealing with e-waste, Electrical Engineering is very central and that focusing on the students is pivotal in solving today's and ultimately eliminate what would have been tomorrow's e-waste challenges. It details this using a garden fork prong analogy. An implementation of the first prong was made by using e-waste in teaching basic electrical machines. The results indicated a better learning experience for the course participants. This paves the way for introducing analysis with a design oriented approach as a future study, in which human-centredness, environmentally friendly materials and methods can be introduced.
... De acuerdo con las estadísticas a nivel mundial, solamente el 17% de los residuos se somete a un proceso de recolección y reciclaje oficial, lo que resulta en una pérdida de recursos valiosos y en impactos ambientales adversos [7]. El ciclo de vida de los aparatos eléctricos y electrónicos (AEE) se presenta como una razón de ello, pues cuanto más corta sea la vida útil de un artículo, mayor será su proporción en una determinada cantidad de residuos electrónicos [8]. ...
... Instead, where EPR is not implemented, separate WB collection rates remain low, with limited masses to be treated (Levänen et al. 2018). Second, and similarly to the previous argumentation, the economic responsibility of producers encourages them to treat waste for recycling or disposal in the country where it is more efficient to do so (Premalatha et al. 2014;Bernard 2015;Joltreau 2021). Again, this would induce those countries with a disadvantage (higher relative costs) to increase exports of waste rather than treat it domestically. ...
In the debate on international waste trade, the focus on resource efficiency and recycling has gradually begun to accompany the focus on negative environmental externalities. In this context, we examine the impact of extended producer responsibility (EPR) on the export of waste batteries (WB). EPR is considered as a key policy for the “marketization of waste”. WB are a hazardous waste that also contain a high concentration of critical raw materials. As such, they are of strategic importance for the recovery of critical resources, while at the same time requiring proper environmental management. Therefore, it is crucial to understand where WB are treated and how this is affected by related policies. Our results, based on difference-in-difference models in a gravity framework, show a consistent increase in WB exports after EPR implementation compared to the trend for other wastes. This result is likely to be an indirect consequence of the ability of EPR to support growth in waste collection rates, more accurate tracking of transboundary waste flows, and specialization of national waste management systems. In particular, WB exports appear to be directed to countries with more advanced waste management systems, more stringent environmental regulations, and limited endowments of the mineral resources typically contained in batteries.
... 4,10 The usage of blockchain technology, which is centred around tracking the origin, location and history of a device, has also been stated as a novel method to bring about real-time tracking and monitoring of the e-waste management chain. [11][12][13][14] Garg et al. 15 have reported that with the rapid technological changes and upgradation in gazettes, consumers upgrade their electronic devices at an alarming rate. The increased availability and multiple brands in electronic gadgets have also led to increasingly smaller life cycles of product use with the consumer, leading to increased e-waste generation ( [16][17][18] However, studies by Laeequddin et al. 19 related to consumer intention towards safe disposal of their e-waste have reported that no direct regulations aid to influence consumer safe disposal intentions. ...
Electronic waste is becoming a burgeoning problem for countries worldwide. The increasing waste streams are entering the ecosystem and further deteriorating the health of citizens worldwide. An emerging economy like India, which offers a key market for electronic devices, shares a greater concern for appropriate e-waste management practices. The present study focuses on the growth of academic literature in this field and its future direction. It utilizes the PRISMA method of systematically analyzing the literature in the field. It reports increased publications and the major countries generating this academic data. It also highlights the prominent studies in the field and the conclusions derived. A systematic literature review utilized VOS viewer software and Atlas Ti for generating bibliometric images. The review finally suggests the broader theme areas covered in this domain and the research direction researchers in the field may explore.
... Additionally, the intricate global supply chains characteristic of economically complex systems involve extensive transportation networks, leading to higher energy consumption and carbon emissions (Moreno-Camacho et al. 2019). Furthermore, technological intensification in complex industries may result in the generation of electronic waste and other pollutants, contributing to environmental degradation (Premalatha et al. 2014). The interconnectedness of economic complexity, industrialization, and globalized trade thus underscores the link between increased economic complexity and a larger ecological footprint. ...
In Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA), where economic development is gaining momentum, the intricate connection between economic complexity and ecological footprint emerges as a pivotal challenge. The region's burgeoning economic activities raise concerns about escalating environmental degradation, making the delicate balance between economic progress and ecological sustainability in SSA increasingly crucial. In this light, the present study aims to examine the effect of economic complexity on environmental degradation in the SSA context, shedding light on the nuanced dynamics and contributing insights for sustainable development in the region. Using a sample of 22 SSA Countries spanning the period from 1998 to 2017, and employing both the Discroll and Kraay Fixed Effect and the System Generalized Method of Moments estimators, the empirical results reveal that economic complexity exacerbates ecological footprint intensity. Introduction of control variables demonstrated that GDP per capita, population density, trade, and FDI all exacerbate environmental degradation while access to electricity mitigates the ecological footprint intensity. The findings withstand scrutiny when an alternative measure of ecological footprint and economic complexity is applied. The study concludes by proposing policy implications such as sustainably enhancing energy infrastructure, focusing on eco-friendly urban planning policies, and prioritizing resource-efficient industrial development so as to help curbing the escalating ecological footprint and foster sustainable development in the region.
Graphical abstract
... South Africa's biggest contributors to the solid waste production are mining with 72.3%, pulverized fuel ash of 6.7%, waste fron agricultural activities of 6.1%, waste from urban activities of 4.5% and sewage sludge of 3.6% (Muzenda, 2014;Nkosi et al., 2013) with (90.1%) of the country's waste being landfilled, while the waste recycling level has remained at 9.9%, being very low compared to the international standards, with the western nations, such as Germany, Austria recycling up to 63% of theirs (Premalatha et al., 2014). In addition, the Goal 2 of the South Africas' National Waste Management Strategy allign with this study that being to ensure adequate delivery of waste services, as solid waste generation increases exponentially while the basic sanitation services have not increased as needed (Fig. 1). ...
With rapid population growth and urbanization, the global annual waste generation is expected to increase to 3.40 billion tonnes by the year 2050, while improper waste disposal poses a potential threat of growing concern. Using a South African nationally representative survey dataset, the General Household Survey, this study unraveled the determinants of solid waste generation and factors influencing payment for its disposal. The estimation approach employed was essentially based on descriptive (percentage, standard deviation, mean) statistics. Additionally, Tobit regression of the composite solid waste were generated from the Principal Component Analysis, while Probit Regression model assessed the factors influencing the household’s payment for solid waste. The empirical results revealed that household’s socio-economic characteristics contributes to solid waste generation and payment for its disposal. The results of the two models indicated that, although household’s asset portfolio (financial, physical, natural, and human assets) appear intangible, they contributed significantly to solid waste generation and payment for its disposal. Therefore, policy incentives targeted at investment in human capital, environmental awareness programmes and clearer solid waste management strategies should be encouraged in South Africa, given that environmental sustainability is key to the households’ health and economic prosperity.
... Tansel [74] found that expanding digital finance may give rise to heightened waste generation due to the production and disposal of electronic devices and infrastructure, which subsequently contribute to environmental degradation. Likewise, Premalatha, Tabassum-Abbasi [75] found that it is recycled or dumped without concern that gross pollution is caused. The problem is increasing much faster than the efficacy of our strategies to contain it. ...
His research investigates the interplay among investment in Information and Communication Technology [ICT], digital financial inclusion, environmental tax policies, and their impact on the progression of sustainable energy development within the Middle East and North Africa [MENA] region. Recognizing the distinctive hurdles impeding sustainable energy advancement, effective policy formulation and implementation in MENA necessitate a comprehensive understanding of these variables. Employing a Dynamic Common Correlated Effects [DCE] model alongside an instrumental variable-adjusted DCE approach, this study explores the relationship between ICT investment, digital financial inclusion, environmental tax, and sustainable energy development. The DCE model facilitates the analysis of dynamic effects and potential correlations, while the instrumental variable-adjusted DCE model addresses issues pertaining to endogeneity. The results indicate that both ICT investment and the promotion of digital financial inclusion significantly and positively impact sustainable energy development in the MENA region. Additionally, the study underscores the importance of environmental tax implementation in fostering sustainable energy advancement, highlighting the critical role of environmental policy interventions. Based on these findings, governmental prioritization of ICT investment and initiatives for digital financial service integration is recommended to bolster sustainable energy growth in MENA. Furthermore, the adoption of efficient environmental tax measures is essential to incentivize sustainable energy practices and mitigate environmental degradation. These policy recommendations aim to create a conducive environment for sustainable energy progression in the MENA region, contributing to both economic prosperity and environmental conservation.
... 4,10 The usage of blockchain technology, which is centred around tracking the origin, location and history of a device, has also been stated as a novel method to bring about real-time tracking and monitoring of the e-waste management chain. [11][12][13][14] Garg et al. 15 have reported that with the rapid technological changes and upgradation in gazettes, consumers upgrade their electronic devices at an alarming rate. The increased availability and multiple brands in electronic gadgets have also led to increasingly smaller life cycles of product use with the consumer, leading to increased e-waste generation ( [16][17][18] However, studies by Laeequddin et al. 19 related to consumer intention towards safe disposal of their e-waste have reported that no direct regulations aid to influence consumer safe disposal intentions. ...
Electronic waste is becoming a burgeoning problem for countries worldwide. The increasing waste streams are entering the ecosystem and further deteriorating the health of citizens worldwide. An emerging economy like India, which offers a key market for electronic devices, shares a greater concern for appropriate e-waste management practices. The present study focuses on the growth of academic literature in this field and its future direction. It utilizes the PRISMA method of systematically analyzing the literature in the field. It reports increased publications and the major countries generating this academic data. It also highlights the prominent studies in the field and the conclusions derived. A systematic literature review utilized VOS viewer software and Atlas Ti for generating bibliometric images. The review finally suggests the broader theme areas covered in this domain and the research direction researchers in the field may explore.
... In the beginning of the 21st Century most countries turned their focus to the solid waste management generated by the households and businesses which had posed a serious disposal challenge (Premalatha, Tabassum-Abbasi, & Abbasi, 2014). Solid waste management started becoming a concern in Kenya in the 1980s. ...
... After its collection, e-waste undergoes two major steps before being either re-used or ultimately discarded (Tsydenova and Bengtsson, 2011;United Nations Environment Programme, 2009): a primary phase that consists in selective dismantling in order to isolate hazardous or valuable components; and a targeted recycling phase that recovers valuable materials in order to secure their reuse. Most primary electronic recycling operations are performed manually by workers (Premalatha et al., 2014;United Nations Environment Programme, 2009) ...
Electronic waste recycling (e-recycling) involves manual operations that expose workers to toxic metals. We aim to describe occupational health and safety practices and workers' exposures to metals in the Canadian formal e-recycling industry, and to estimate the health risk associated with multiple exposures. This cross-sectional study documented practices through observations and questionnaires, and assessed metal exposures using personal air samples and biomarkers. Health risks were estimated relative to recognised occupational exposure guidelines, and using an additive approach for consideration of multiple exposures. Six e-recycling and one commercial recycling facilities were investigated, and the metal exposures of 99 workers (23 women) were measured. In most facilities, dust control was inadequate and personal protective equipment was improperly worn. In e-recycling, lead was detected in all air samples and in most blood samples, up to 48 µg/m3 and 136 µg/l, respectively. Other quantified metals included beryllium, mercury, arsenic, barium, cadmium, chrome, cobalt, copper, indium, manganese, nickel and yttrium. When handling cathode ray tube screens, workers were 4.9 times and 8.5 times more likely to be exposed to lead and yttrium, respectively, than workers who were not assigned to a specific type of electronics. Overall, exposures were largely associated with facility size and airborne dust concentration. The additive hazard indices for airborne exposures raised concerns for kidney disorders, for peripheral and central nervous systems, and for the male reproductive system. Minimizing airborne dust through collective control methods and adequately using personal protection should reduce metal exposures and associated health risks in this growing industry.
... Along with the rising of the growing world population, it increases the generation of municipal solid waste. People believed that along with the advancement of technologies, there would be an answer to this problem, although it waved its hand at another threat-e-waste (Premalatha et al., 2014;Khan et al., 2022). ...
The harvest season of crops after successful cultivation generally leads to increased food supply across the entire Nigerian State. During this period and a few months afterwards, a large volume of waste generation resulting from the processing of crops occurs.
The wastes lead to environmental pollution from the burning of wastes or fermentation of improperly disposed wastes. Improperly disposed agricultural wastes (Agro-waste) also lead to an increase in rodent and pest populations in some cases posing a significant threat to health, safety and the environment. To circumvent this environmental challenge, this report, therefore, attempts to present the trend of annual agricultural production and its corresponding annual wastes generated, review the current practice deployed at the moment and its implication on the health, safety, and environment of Nigerian residents and to further proffer better approach (like biofuel exploration, bioenergy generation, adsorbent synthesis, and others) to managing these Agro-wastes in an environmentally sustainable manner. These approaches have been found to be viable ways of adding value and generating wealth from waste.
... An example is mobile phones and IT and telecommunications apparatus. Cell phones are made up of more valuable metals than ordinary household equipment [38,39]. Some important metals in cell phones include copper and tin, as well as rare metals, such as lithium, cobalt, antimony, silver, gold, palladium, etc. ...
Efficient e-waste management is crucial to successfully achieve sustainable urban growth universally. The upsurge in e-waste has resulted in countries, including Canada, adopting a wide array of policies associated with sustainable management. In this study, we conducted a mixed-method analysis of Canadian e-waste management policies to showcase the opportunities and limitations of the current system. We examine and compare the effectiveness of electronic waste management strategies in Canada and Switzerland using a comparative policy evaluation and by quantitatively measuring their efficiencies through two efficiency methods, namely a transformer-based, bidirectional, unsupervised machine learning model for natural language processing (NLP) and data envelopment analysis (DEA). Switzerland is utilized as a comparison case due to its robust legal framework that has been in place for proper management e-waste in order to enhance Canada’s electronic waste management system. The policy considerations presented in this study are directed toward urban planners, policy makers, and corporate strategists. These involve a mix of political, economic, social, and environmental planning tools concerning how to communicate and foster competent e-waste management in these countries. This is the first study to incorporate DEA and NLP-based BERT analysis to identify the most efficient policy deployment concerning e-waste management.
... The e-waste situation has been described by us in detail elsewhere [15,16]. As has been brought out there, recycling of e-waste is affordable in terms of monetary costs only as long as the pollution caused by recycling is not controlled. ...
Ever since solid waste generation began to spiral up from early 1970s onwards enormous efforts have been vested from scientists, engineers, entrepreneurs as also governmental agencies, to control/treat/reuse/recycle/recover Municipal Solid Waste (MSW). But the quantities and complexities of the MSW have only been rising, that too rising steeply… almost exponentially. From the late 1980s two new solid waste streams—e-waste and plastic waste—have been added while the stream of battery waste has swelled. As all these are non-biodegradable as well as hazardous, they have made handling of MSW increasingly more complex. The situation is particularly grim in developing countries like India who are facing the prospect of being swamped by MSW. This study has aimed to go beyond the claims of governmental agencies, and the material available in scientific papers, books and reports, to assess the ground reality associated with the MSW challenge.
... Zimmermann and Gößling-Reisemann, 2013;Habib et al., 2016;Stephant, 2021). Moreover, these purpose-specific ASICs cannot be recycled as general-purpose computers once their lifetime as Bitcoin mining systems has ended, meaning that they will end up increasing the already huge quantities of e-waste (waste of electronic equipment) that litter the globe (Robinson, 2009;Premalatha et al., 2014;Akram et al., 2019). ...
The Internet is a formidable tool for education, communication and collaboration, however it is currently being monopolized by large corporations (GAFAM), which has consequences for many social issues such as respect of human rights and individual freedoms. This thesis focuses on ways to build decentralized applications: Internet applications that provide levels of functionality similar to those provided by the GAFAM, but that function in a decentralized manner, empowering the users to democratically decide of their functioning and their uses. We focus on epidemic algorithms, which are particularly suited to the context of very large open networks. We make contributions on causal broadcast in presence of Byzantine nodes, epidemic causal broadcast using an event store synchronized with an anti-entropy algorithm, random peer sampling in presence of Byzantine nodes and Sybil attacks, as well as a new epidemic total order broadcast which is tolerant to malicious nodes and provides high throughput message delivery.
... In today's global scenario, e-wastes account for more than 5% of the total MSW generated [33]. MSW and e-waste have similar kinds of waste treatments, waste disposal where the waste fractions are disposed of together at unmonitored and unlined landfills and water bodies that are near the surface and at open dumps [34,35]. Globally, about 30 million tonnes of e-waste is accounted for every year from 1636 million tonnes of MSW [36]. ...
Around 50 million tonnes of electronic waste has been generated globally per year, causing an environmental hazard and negative effects on human health, such as infertility and thyroid disorders in adults, endocrine and neurological damage in both animals and humans, and impaired mental and physical development in children. Out of that, only 15% is recycled each year and the remaining is disposed of in a landfill, illegally traded or burned, and treated in a sub-standard way. The processes of recycling are challenged by the presence of brominated flame retardants. The different recycling technologies such as the chemical and mechanical methods have been well studied, while the most promising approach is the biological method. The process of utilizing microbes to decontaminate and degrade a wide range of pollutants into harmless products is known as bioremediation and it is an eco-friendly, cost-effective, and sustainable method. The bioremediation process is significantly aided by biofilm communities attached to electronic waste because they promote substrate bioavailability, metabolite transfer, and cell viability, all of which accelerate bioleaching and biodegradation. Microbes existing in biofilm mode relatable to free-floating planktonic cells are advantageous of bioremediation due to their tolerant ability to environmental stress and pollutants through diverse catabolic pathways. This article discusses the harmful effects of electronic waste and its management using biological strategies especially biofilm-forming communities for resource recovery.
... However, a loophole in Vietnamese legislation allowing the import of second-hand electronics for re-export let the flow of WEEE between Cambodia, China, and Vietnam. An absence of common definitions of WEEE and UEEE is a factor also why the flow of WEEE between China and Vietnam still exists (Premalatha et al. 2014). In Vietnam informal sector play important role in WEEE collection and recycling to reduce WEEE generated domestically or imported from other countries through illegal channels (Chi et al. 2011;Hai et al., 2015). ...
The chapter examines the problem of e-waste movements among countries around the world, particularly from high-income economies with advanced waste management systems towards low and middle-income countries with serious public health and environmental repercussions. Despite the fact that the Basel Convention forbids certain hazardous waste streams to be exported into countries with poor waste management facilities, the environmental pollution associated with e-waste flow reaches alarming levels due to illegally or legally importing large amounts of waste continuing unbated. The chapter investigates the gaps in the e-waste management system which led to the transboundary movements of e-waste items supported by academic literature review. The chapter highlights the main challenges of e-waste exportation and importation issues in some major geographical areas such as Europe, Asia-Pacific, Africa, and North America and how unsound waste management practices feed a new “colonization” form in the twenty-first century. Best policies and practices are revealed to mitigate the illegal traffic of the e-waste flow or “ second hand” electronic goods towards poorer countries. The expansion of urban mining practices and the circular economy paradigm should reduce the global traffic of e-waste flows combined with the improvement of the Basel Convention content and the ratification process
... The integration of electronics in disposable and short-lived goods such as smart packaging 3 shifts the requirements on electronic components, notably on service life, which counts in days instead of years. Considering the exponentially growing number of IoT devices and the environmental threat that electronic waste represent [4][5][6] , there is an imperative need for new materials that strike a balance between electronic performance, cost, manufacturability and sustainability. ...
Emerging technologies such as smart packaging are shifting the requirements on electronic components, notably regarding service life, which counts in days instead of years. As a result, standard materials are often not adapted due to economic, environmental or manufacturing considerations. For instance, the use of metal conductive tracks in disposable electronics is a waste of valuable resources and their accumulation in landfills is an environmental concern. In this work, we report a conductive ink made of carbon particles dispersed in a solution of shellac. This natural and water-insoluble resin works as a binder, favourably replacing petroleum-derived polymers. The carbon particles provide electrical conductivity and act as a rheology modifier, creating a printable shear-thinning gel. The ink’s conductivity and sheet resistance are 1000 S m−1 and 15 Ω sq−1, respectively, and remain stable towards moisture. We show that the ink is compatible with several industry-relevant patterning methods such as screen-printing and robocasting, and demonstrate a minimum feature size of 200 μm. As a proof-of-concept, a resistor and a capacitor are printed and used as deformation and proximity sensors, respectively.
... Currently, the average life span of mobile phones has decreased from 24 to 18 months due to the arrival of new mobile phones with improved technological modifications and features (Premalatha et al. 2014;Szamałek and Galos 2016). If the discarded mobile phones are collected and handled properly then they could be a secondary source of a large number of useful metals. ...
... Currently, the average life span of mobile phones has decreased from 24 to 18 months due to the arrival of new mobile phones with improved technological modifications and features (Premalatha et al. 2014;Szamałek and Galos 2016). If the discarded mobile phones are collected and handled properly then they could be a secondary source of a large number of useful metals. ...
The use of mobile phones and discarding them before or after their end-of-life has become a recent trend. This practice increases environmental pollution and health hazards worldwide. Besides pollution, mobile phones and their batteries emit electromagnetic radiation during their lifetime and after their end-of-life. This study aims to measure ionizing radiation this is emitted by mobile phones and mobile phone batteries using a Geiger-Muller (GM) counter. To conduct this study, 15 active, 10 end-of-life mobile phones, and 10 waste lithium-ion batteries will be evaluated. Emissions from these devices will be compared with background radiation. The maximum counts per minute (CPM) for waste mobile phone batteries was 18 CPM and the minimum was 14 CPM for waste batteries and waste mobile phones. The average and standard deviation values for background radiation was 14.000 ± 0.404 CPM. The average and standard deviation values were 16 ± 1 CPM for active mobile phones, 16.00 ± 0.73 CPM for waste mobile phones, and 16.00 ± 1.19 CPM for waste batteries. Therefore, the continuous use of mobile phones and stockpiling should be avoided, and proper management processes should be developed to minimize environmental pollution and human health hazards.
Rapid advancement in technology, especially the production of electrical and electronic equipment has resulted in a new stream of waste known as electrical and electronic waste (E-waste) making it the fastest-growing waste stream in recent times.
E-waste is a major global problem linked to the use, and discard of, electronic and electric devices. While the volume of these obsolete devices continues to increase and accumulate, the means and approaches currently used to reuse, dispose of, recycle, and address this continues to vary widely in terms of availability, effectiveness, and value. The issues relating to e-waste management include those emanating from managerial, environmental, labor, and health perspectives. This article aims to present an overview of the key considerations related to the e-waste dilemma, and also proposes issues, challenges, and solutions to addressing the problem. A focus on the factors and variables affecting e-waste management, together with a global framework of e-waste management methods and strategies, are then followed by recommendations and viable areas for future research.
The waste of electrical and electronic equipment (WEEE) has been one of the largest and growing wastes generated in the world, turning into a great challenge for humanity. The objective of the article was to map the scientific production on WEEE in the last decade (2012–2022), adopting a bibliometric analysis as a research method based on the survey of documents obtained from the Web of Science database. A total of 278 research and review articles were selected for analysis, with the use of Vosviewer and RStudio software. As a result, there was a significant increase in the number of publications in the last decade, with 86% of articles published between 2015 and 2022. In addition, it was possible to obtain the ranking of the most important authors, and the journals most used for publication of articles; it was found that the Asian, European and American continents had the greatest contribution. In the analysis of document coupling, combined with that of keywords, the main areas connected to WEEE currently researched were found: electronic waste recycling; environmental impacts; sustainability; circular economy; efficient e-waste management and e-waste recycling technologies; in addition, the keywords “e-waste” and “polybrominated diphenyl ethers” were the most frequent words used by the authors to represent the theme. It can be concluded that the theme has stood out over the last few years, with several publications providing managerial and political implications for researchers and professionals.
The production of electronic devices in the Information and Communication Technology (ICT) sector has seen a massive increase in the past few decades due to changes in the lifestyle of individuals across the globe. The Covid-19 pandemic has been like a catalyst in this process, where the demand has reached its peak due to work-from-home activities. A huge amount of electronic waste generated is by the ICT sector which is not efficiently managed and ultimately risks human health and the environment. The challenges arise in the pathway of efficient and sustainable recycling of electronic waste due to improper defined rules and regulations, unskilled personnel handling electronic waste, high cost of recycling, poor coordination between manufacturers, customers, and government bodies, and the prevailing of informal sector. The present review investigates the current scenario of electronic waste around the globe, strategies developed to manage the electronic waste and methods to be adopted for achieving sustainable goals in managing waste from the ICT sector. An attempt is also made to cover the data related to the approaches made by manufacturers to overcome the issue of electronic waste management.
The use of electronic devices is increasing rapidly as it is an essential part of our life in today’s world. Shown in numbers, it has grown from zero to 7.2 billion in only three decades. There is a 5–10% annual rise in the quantity of used electronic equipment, which, if not correctly disposed of, can result in environmental dangers that harm human health, marine life, and soil fertility. For developing countries like Bangladesh, managing this massive stream of electrical and electronic garbage is challenging due to the lack of solid organizational and governmental e-waste management infrastructure. Lack of public knowledge, policies, and funding in waste management are only a few of the significant causes driving this situation. In this study, a majority of the adopted E-waste management systems and their limitations, along with the proposal of a new and sustainable E-waste management system, have been discussed. The implementation gap of government rules and policies has been highlighted here. The successful application of these recommended strategies could improve Bangladesh’s E-waste management capability.KeywordsE-waste BangladeshE-waste collectionEffective E-waste Management
Almost everywhere, organizations or individuals can adopt technologies that can be supportive to make decisions and get insight from data: artificial intelligence (AI) is an advanced new technology which is used to aid organizations in their business procedures, organizational factors, and human resources management. Employees are the nucleus of the organization. When employees leave an institution of their own volition, the company suffers greatly from various dimensions. Nowadays, we have seen a huge change in companies due to COVID-19; employees are getting fired or resigning voluntarily. It is a big issue to keep the productivity constant of a company or individual as human resources (HR) has to spend a lot of time, from the selection process to the training process. In these circumstances, minimizing the attrition rate is one of the primary concerns of the Human Resource department, which deals with staffing, development, and compensation. From this point of view, more research projects have been done through statistical analysis and applying various types of machine learning (ML) and data mining techniques such as Extreme Gradient Boosting, Random Forest, Naive Bayes, decision trees, etc. In this paper, a state-of-the-art boosting method, CatBoost, and a feature engineering process have been applied for detecting and analyzing employee attrition. Our detection system shows the utmost performance compared to the other existing systems and sorts out the significant reasons behind the attrition. It reveals the best recall rate of 0.89, with an accuracy of .8945.KeywordsEmployee AttritionMachine LearningCatBoost
Electrical and electronic equipment that has reached the end of its useful life produces e-waste for the society. It generates various problems for society sustainability. The time has come to take the remedial action for its preventive or recycle it for various usages. This chapter incorporates a correlation research of e-waste from distinct international locations and sufficiently illuminates the variables adding to the development of e-squander and its management structures. Accordingly, it gives reality to lower e-object usage at the customer facet and manipulates the estimate at the maker facet. Furthermore, it would be treasured by the leaders who are related to drafting India's future e-squander approach.
The production of electronic devices in the Information and Communication Technology (ICT) sector has seen a massive increase in the past few decades due to changes in the lifestyle of individuals across the globe. The Covid-19 pandemic has been like a catalyst in this process, where the demand has reached its peak due to work-from-home activities. A huge amount of electronic waste generated is by the ICT sector which is not efficiently managed and ultimately risks human health and the environment. The present review investigates the current scenario of electronic waste around the globe, strategies developed to manage the electronic waste and methods to be adopted for achieving sustainable goals in managing waste from the ICT sector. An attempt is also made to cover the data related to the approaches made by manufacturers to overcome the issue of electronic waste management.
The production of electronic devices in the Information and Communication Technology (ICT) sector has seen a massive increase in the past few decades due to changes in the lifestyle of individuals across the globe. The Covid-19 pandemic has been like a catalyst in this process, where the demand has reached its peak due to work-from-home activities. A huge amount of electronic waste generated is by the ICT sector which is not efficiently managed and ultimately risks human health and the environment. The challenges arise in the pathway of efficient and sustainable recycling of electronic waste due to improper defined rules and regulations, unskilled personnel handling electronic waste, high cost of recycling, poor coordination between manufacturers, customers, and government bodies, and the prevailing of informal sector. The present review investigates the current scenario of electronic waste around the globe, strategies developed to manage the electronic waste and methods to be adopted for achieving sustainable goals in managing waste from the ICT sector. An attempt is also made to cover the data related to the approaches made by manufacturers to overcome the issue of electronic waste management.
The expeditious developments in technology along with the demand for a high-standard living have resulted in massive production of electronic gadgets, which eventually lead to the generation of huge quantities of obsolescence. With the exponential expanding output of computer hardware, efficient disposal of the electronic waste (E-waste) generated by the Information and Communication Technology (ICT) sector has become a serious concern. The ICT sector generates a major amount of E-waste, but its management strategies are not well defined. The present study explored the current status, challenges, and initiatives faced by the ICT sector in handling E-waste. Thereby, a framework of use case diagram has been put forth to develop a web-based model for recycling companies for solving E-waste recycling issues. This review also described the management strategies adopted by various ICT and electronic companies that have faced the challenge to mitigate the problems associated with E-waste.
Across the globe, the livelihood of millions of people relies on the recovery and sale of valuable materials previously discarded as waste. In developed countries, this is mainly incorporated into the official recycling and resources recovery sector, while in developing countries the informal waste picking activities often make a major contribution. Waste picking provides important opportunities to people who have few or no marketable skills and education and no alternative sources of income to survive. However, waste pickers’ living conditions remain deplorable, and their working conditions continue to be dangerous due to hazardous waste. Given the social, economic, and environmental benefits waste pickers bring, and particularly their contribution to circular economy goals in developing nations, the role of waste pickers has mostly been undervalued on the development agenda. This paper examines the literature on waste pickers around the world, their working and living conditions, and explores the issue of formalisation. A total of 45 papers published from 1994 to 2022 were reviewed, covering case studies on waste pickers from 27 different countries. We analyse the content of these papers based on a list of key themes: poverty, health, stigma, environmental factors, informality, and formalisation. We find that the informal status of waste pickers, and the question of them being formalised into a Municipal Solid Waste Management sector is discussed extensively in the literature, and we delve deeper into this theme. Formalisation can potentially bring considerable improvement to the lives of waste pickers, including legal recognition, safe working conditions and fair bargaining mechanisms. In practice however, we find that formalisation policies take significantly different forms from one country to another and often fail to provide these benefits.
Waste of electrical and electronic equipment (WEEE, also known as E-Waste) has emerged as a serious issue for the whole world along with the evolution of modern industry. WEEE plastic contains heavy metals (arsenic, mercury, chromium, cadmium, lead, etc.) and halogen materials (bromine, chlorine, etc.), which are toxic and harmful to the environment, therefore the recycling of WEEE plastic is necessary and critical. Not only the various additives in the polymer but also the contaminations from polychlorinated biphenyl (PCB), batteries, etc, make the recycling process challenging. In this review, the functional application of plastic in electrical and electronic equipment (EEE) including electrical insulation, heat insulation, etc, is firstly introduced. The various components and additives of plastic in EEE are provided. Moreover, the state-of-the-art treatment and recycle methods of the WEEE plastic are summarized and discussed. This review can provide a comprehensive reference for investigation of plastic in e-waste.
Environmental experts have expressed concern that e-waste is growing faster than recycling or reusing initiatives. Universities from developing countries often import used electronic and electrical equipment to improve student’s access to technology. Lack of explicit action plans on handling e-waste and the absence of infrastructure in developing countries are significant challenges. The study examines students’ awareness and attitudinal disposition to e-waste management practices at a Zimbabwean university. The research summarizes complex issues related to improper e-waste management in a developing country context, leading to environmental and health degradation. The researcher collected data from 216 students through an online questionnaire, and data were analyzed using Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) version 26. The results show that the majority of the participants disposed of e-waste with municipal waste. The participants acknowledged that lack of awareness, lack of policies, unavailability of collection points, and recycling facilities were significant impairments to e-waste management. Being knowledgeable of the effects of e-waste on the environment and human health did not translate into appropriate e-waste management practices. The study challenges policymakers to develop e-waste policies and establish e-waste value chains that sustain the e-waste ecosystem. The University should establish local e-waste policies, identify designated e-waste collection points, and deploy primary recycling plants. The institution should launch e-waste clubs to create more awareness, knowledge, and positive attitudes toward e-waste management.
Polymer electrodes are vital components of lithium-ion batteries and have gained great interest in recent years. Currently, the majority of electrodes are petroleum-based that are toxic and non-biodegradable, which consists of serious environmental concerns. Therefore, exploration of natural polymer electrolytes, such as seaweed extracts, balances non-toxicity and ion conductivity as new research directions. In this review, we mainly focus on the progress of polymer electrolytes based on alginate, kappa carrageenan, and other natural polymers of seaweed extracts, including agar and iota carrageenan. We first give a brief overview of the fundamentals of polymer electrolytes. Then, we discuss the structures and performances of seaweed extracts derived polymer electrolytes. Finally, we compare the ion conductivity of natural polymer derived electrolytes and synthetic polymers, and insights on the future direction for improvement of this field.
Near to two decade after the Basel Convention (BC) under United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP), most of the nations are still working for Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment (WEEE) or E-waste disposal programme. The Convention on the Control of Transboundary Movements of Hazardous Wastes and their Disposal is the most comprehensive global environmental agreement on hazardous and other wastes; which aims to protect human health and the environment against the adverse effects resulting from the generation, management, transboundary movements and disposal of hazardous and other wastes (http://www.basel.int/). In the 1990s the focus was set on the control over toxic substances by means of smart design for recycling and manual disassembly of hazardous components in the recycling phase itself. Experiences of the last ten years show that electronic waste policies should serve multiple and broader societal goals. Developments in shredding and separation technologies have led to the realisation that dismantling as such does not bring the desired toxic control, as it depends much more on the destination of disassembled components, and there are relatively high costs involved. The recovery of valuable materials and energy preservation has also become much more important. There is an obvious change in thinking and approach to WEEE (Puja Sawhney et. al. 2008). This paper presents the preliminary findings of a research study to identify the various popular methods of managing e-waste in India and reasons for employing those methods.
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In Cameroon like many African countries, awareness on e-waste is very low despite increasing dependence on modern technologies that generate e-waste. This paper presents a case study of Maroua town Cameroon. A survey of 33 EEE repair workshops was conducted, the regional government service in charge of environment, local councils and HYSACAM, a private company, responsible for handling waste in Maroua were visited where through questionnaires a number of findings were undertaken. A total of 1628 different e-waste items were found with an average flux rate of 1-4 items per week. Only 6% of items brought to the workshops could be repaired as over 90% enters the e-waste stream. The majority of the waste is stored in the workshops, and parts recycled when necessary. 87.9% of those manipulating these e-waste items do so without any protection, as 12% of them are aware of the toxicity of these wastes. The local councils have no e-waste management plan as no legislation exists to that effect. There is complete lack of awareness on this type of waste to the public as well as the main actors that should be responsible for their management stemming from poor policy and regulatory systems.
The current recycling networks of the waste electronic products in China are analyzed from the view of the layout of the recycling center and the structure of recycling channel. The optimization model of an e-waste recycling network is established according to our national actual condition, and solved with simulated data. The results show that setting up detecting centers dispersedly can reduce the transportation amount of the waste electronic products and reduce transportation costs, and the relative concentration of recycling processing center can achieve economies of scale and lower the total cost.
This cross-sectional survey examined the structure of university students’ subjective knowledge of green computing–hypothesized to be a multidimensional construct with three important dimensions–and its association with pro-environmental behavior (PEB). Using a previously validated green computing questionnaire, data were collected from 842 undergraduate students attending ten different public universities in Malaysia. The sample was split into two random halves (n1 = 400 and n2 = 442) to allow for Factor Analysis procedures and Structural Equation Modeling (SEM) to be conducted. Principal Component Analysis extracted a three-factor structure of subjective knowledge consisting of knowledge about green computing (GC) vocabulary, computer nature or characteristics, and e-waste, while Confirmatory Factor Analysis procedures confirmed the structure’s measurement validity. SEM fit statistics indicated a strong influence of subjective GC knowledge on PEB with its three extracted dimensions cumulatively explaining 37% of students’ reported PEB. The results confirmed the study’s hypotheses regarding the multidimensionality of subjective knowledge, the adequacy of the measurement model of subjective knowledge, and its strong positive role in influencing PEB. The article concludes with guidelines for future research in areas involving green computing, subjective knowledge and PEB with an emphasis on the conceptualization and measurement of each construct.
Management of e-waste is a growing problem for developing countries; one that may undermine the sustainability of information and communication technology (ICT) use if not addressed. In this paper, we focus on a somewhat under-emphasized group that contributes significantly to developing country e-waste: local organizational consumers of ICT. Although this group creates the majority of e-waste, the factors shaping their e-waste decisions are not well understood. Our purpose in the paper is to provide such an understanding.
E-waste is a more than $7 billion industry. Trans-border shipments of e-waste occur in international circuits, typically originating in the United States and Europe, but now also from China, and connect to accumulation sites in particular networked cities in Africa and elsewhere. Debates about the material and environmental weight associated with uncontrolled dumping are now emerging in Africa. We diverge from those debates by concentrating on the economic footprint of e-waste in a Ghanaian context by studying the largest and most prominent e-waste market-Agbogbloshie. This Accra site has achieved notoriety in the global media and among nongovernmental organizations (NGOS), but has received little research and policy attention. In an attempt to remedy this deficiency, a preliminary mapping of e-waste flows of second-hand computers into Ghana is presented. We then map the spatial organization of the e-waste hub and assess meshworks of e-waste activities, elucidating worlds of informal work. This research involved site reconnaissance, 80 questionnaires, and 40 interviews with key stakeholders. Our key finding is that e-waste activities connect Agbogbloshie directly and indirectly to various international circuits, and, most important, thereby articulates a market within a wider urban space-economy. The emphasis is on the intersections of various e-waste conduits as well as shared space within urban informal-formal circuitry.
Waste Electronic and Electrical Equipment is unjustly regarded as mainly a waste management problem. Based on its content of base, special and precious metals, the large number of units, the resulting metal value and the growth rate of the annual sales (W)EEE represents an tremendous metal resource. This should be utilized through effective recycling, which has a much lower environmental footprint than primary production. The ac-tual amount of WEEE recycled today is embarrassingly low since insufficient EEE is collected and part of the collected EEE is exported to developing countries, where it is largely not entering official recycling systems. To achieve a global recycling society issues like technology, economics, life cycle structure, stakeholder awareness and legislation have to be addressed in a global, co-operative manner so that sustainable closed product cycles can be obtained.
The use of notebooks has been strongly and steadily increasing for years in Europe. A corresponding increase in the amount of end-of-life notebooks available for recycling is expected in the coming years. Notebooks are equipped with liquid crystal displays mainly using mercury-containing backlights. The European Directive on Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment (WEEE) requires the save removal of both mercury and liquid crystals. Therefore, the recycling of end-of-life notebooks requires special treatment for which the existing infrastructure for the recycling of regular electrical and electronic scrap is not suited. The composition of end-of-life notebook displays was studied in terms of number and mercury content of backlights and main parts such as printed circuit boards. For this, an actual sample of 150 end-of-life notebooks was dismantled manually. The results indicate that the removal of mercury-containing backlights by manual dismantling is not feasible. Moreover, literature data show that the toxicity of liquid crystals is very low. Therefore, the legislative requirement of their controlled removal appears to be not justified. In addition, the mercury content of notebooks was predicted for a few years ahead.
This study assessed the material and chemical compositions and methods of disposal of end-of-life non-rechargeable electric torches (EOLNETs). Thirty EOLNETs of ten different models were collected in Lagos, Nigeria. Total heavy metals in plastic and PWB components of the samples were determined using CPSC-CH-1002-08 and EPA 3050B methods. Questionnaires were distributed to 200 unselected respondents to assess the usage and disposal of EOLNETs. The result showed that plastic is the most abundant component of the waste with a mean composition of 70.9%. The levels of Cd, Cr and Ni were low. The range and mean ± SD concentrations of Pb in the plastics was 282 to 1,910 mg/kg (717 ± 522) and in PWB was 6,060 to 66,200 mg/kg (39,200 ± 20,800) respectively. 86.6% of the respondents use the products. 90.7% respondents disposed their spent torches in dumpsites. This study demonstrates that EOLNETs constitute hazardous e-wastes that require well informed management protocols and effective disposal strategies.
This article assesses the social consequences of efforts by multinational corporations to capture business value through recycling, reusing materials and reducing waste. Synthesising evidence from the global environmental justice and feminist and international political economy (IPE) literatures, it analyses the changing social property relations of global recycling chains. The authors argue that, although recycling more would seem to make good ecological sense, corporate programmes can rely on and further ingrain social patterns of harm and exploitation, particularly for the burgeoning labour force that depends on recyclables for subsistence living. Turning the waste stream into a profit stream also relies on prison labour in some places, such as in the United States where the federal government operates one of the country's largest electronics recycling programmes. The ongoing corporatisation of recycling, the authors argue further, is devaluing already marginalised populations within the global economy. Highlighting the need to account for the dynamism between social and environmental change within IPE scholarship, the article concludes by underlining the ways in which ‘green commerce’ programmes can shift capital's contradictions from nature onto labour.
The exponential growth of the electronic market, aggravated by the early obsolescence of electronic product, has generated an environmental problem of resource depletion and accumulation of electronic waste (e-waste). When improperly discarded, the e-waste presents risks for health and environment.
From this perspective, manufacturers, distributors, retailers and even consumers need to be more responsible about what they are producing, selling or consuming, in order to reduce waste and minimize the environmental impact of product life cycle.
In this direction, the Center for Information Technology Renato Archer (CTI), a research unit of the Brazilian Ministry of Science, Technology and Innovation creates and coordinates, since 2008, the Ambientronic Program to support the Brazilian electronic industry to adapt to environmental requirements.
In 2010, Brazil established the National Policy on Solid Waste (PNRS) [1], which establishes actions for the integrated management and the environmentally sound management of solid waste, including e-waste.
The aim of this paper is to discuss how the Ambientronic Program has been working to develop technical solutions to e-waste reverse logistics system, in the first part the paper presents a project involved with funding system cost and in the second part a project whose goals was develop requirements for e-waste recyclers certification.
Biomass is the first-ever fuel used by humankind and is also the fuel which was the mainstay of the global fuel economy till the middle of the 18th century. Then fossil fuels took over because fossil fuels were not only more abundant and denser in their energy content, but also generated less pollution when burnt, in comparison to biomass. In recent years there is a resurgence of interest in biomass energy because biomass is perceived as a carbon-neutral source of energy unlike net carbon-emitting fossil fuels of which copious use has led to global warming and ocean acidification.The paper takes stock of the various sources of biomass and the possible ways in which it can be utilized for generating energy. It then examines the environmental impacts, including impact vis a vis greenhouse gas emissions, of different biomass energy generation–utilization options.
This study aims to identify processes, current situations, and issues of recycling systems for four home appliances, namely, air conditioners, television receivers, refrigerators, and washing machines, among e-wastes in China and Japan for understanding and comparison of their characteristics. In accordance with results of a literature search, review of information disclosed online, and questionnaire survey conducted, conclusions of the study boil down to: (1)The results show that in Japan most of the home appliances mentioned above have been collected through home appliance recycling tickets, resulting in an issue of "requiring some effort" in treatment and recycling stages, and most plants have contracted out their e-waste recycling. (2)It is found out that advantages of the recycling system in Japan include easiness to monitor concrete data and thorough environmental friendliness ensured while its disadvantages include illegal dumping and export. It becomes apparent that advantages of the recycling system in China include a high reuse rate, low treatment cost, and fewer illegal dumping while its disadvantages include less safe reused products, environmental pollution caused by e-waste treatment, illegal import, and difficulty in obtaining data.
The typical E-waste dismantling field was investigated. Based on the comprehensive survey of the concentration of PCBs of multiple environmental media, the health risk of adults in dismantling field of Taizhou in Zhejiang was assessed by the health assessment models of US EPA and the exposure parameters optimized by questionnaires and actual measurement. It was preliminarily concluded that the concentration of PCBs homolog in dismantling field of multiple environmental media in atmosphere and soil were significantly higher than those in other media, which might be related to the direct burning and wet pickling process. The adults' total cancer risk of PCBs pollution from various of exposure pathways in dismantling field was 2.80×10 -3, whereas the total non-cancer risk was 1.64×10 -3, which both exceeded the maximum acceptable risk levels recommended by US EPA, ICRP, ect. The cancer and non-cancer risk of the oral exposure were the highest, and that of the breathing exposure ranked the second. Sensitivity analysis result illustrated that, no matter what the exposure pathways, the absolute sensitivity of the cancer and non-cancer risks of the body weight (BW), inhalation rate (IR), actual measured parameter of ingestion rate (IR) of food, skin surface area available for contact and the concentration of pollutants were significant. Therefore, during the health risk assessment process, the exposure parameters of people in study area should be measured with field survey in order to reduce the uncertainty of evaluation results.
E-waste dismantling plants were surveyed in Taizhou, Zhejiang Province. The pollution in different dismantling plants (a burning plant, a manual dissembling plant and a pickling plant) caused by copper, lead and cadmium and other four kinds of metals were investigated with field survey and laboratory analysis. The health human exposure risk through oral ingestions in different dismantling plants was evaluated with US EPA models. In addition, the exposure parameters were optimized by questionnaires and actual measurement. Results obtained showed that oral exposure levels in the three dismantling plant exceeded the acceptable levels recommended by international organization, with the highest carcinogenic risk of human exposure in the manual dissembling plant and the highest non-carcinogenic risk of human exposure in the burning plant. In terms of the exposure way, the carcinogenic risk caused by food intake was the highest, while the non-carcinogenic risk caused by drinking groundwater was the highest. In terms of the elements, the carcinogenic risk caused by arsenic was the highest, while the non-cancer risk by chromium was the highest. Sensitivity analysis result illustrated that the measured parameters of body weight (BW) showed a negative sensitivity to health risk, which accounted for about 14%~15%, and the concentration of pollutants (C), intake rate (IR w, IR F, IR s) exhibited a positive sensitivity, which accounted for 15%~16% and 15%, respectively.
E-wastes consist of discard of electronic appliances such as computers, mobiles and telephones. Major producers of e-wastes are USA, China, Europe and Australia and the total estimate of these products is about 25 million tonnes per year. These countries are forced to adopt the "reuse" procedure to save environment and money flow. However certain e-wastes are having their self-life, which cannot be reuse. Hence, it is essential to recycle or disposal of these with suitable precautions. Uncontrolled disposal and recycling activities generate and release high toxic metals such as Hg, Pb, Cd, Cr, Cr(IV), Co, Cu, Ni, and Zn. These also release high concentrations of different types of flame retardants such as PolyBrominated Diphenyl Ethers (PBDEs), Poly-Chlorinated Biphenyls (PCBs) and OrganoChlorine Pesticides (OCPs). In this current research paper, potential environmental health consequences of these toxic metals and organo compounds are described.The selection of this topic is to evaluate electronic waste (e-waste) pollution and the toxicsubstances present in the e-waste and their threats to human health. Due to technologyadvancement and development makes new innovative electronic products which areaffordable rather repair outdated equipment. It is evident that disposal of electronicproducts is due to production of new ones. This article mainly focuses on overview ofIndia's current e-waste scenario and their problems in recycling and disposal of e-waste.The tools for e-waste management like life cycle assessment (LCA), material flowanalysis (MFA) have been developed to manage ewastes especially in developedcountries. By developing eco-design devices and collecting e-waste and safe handlingthe disposal brings clean environment. There is no exact tool to solve this issue.
E-waste or waste electrical and electronic equipment (WEEE) illustrate discarded appliances that utilize electricity for their functioning. Today, the Indian market is engrossed with massive volumes of electrical and electronic goods and gadgets, having tremendously high domestic demand. Consequently, the amount of E-waste being generated in the country is flourishing at an alarming rate, although the management practices and policy initiatives of the same are still in an elementary stage. The current methods of storage, processing, recycling and disposal of E-waste in India have immense potential to harm human health and the environment. Furthermore, the policy level initiatives related to E-waste in India are reasonably recent and inadequate to address the issue. The paper tries to evaluate the current status of E-waste management practices in India. The domination of informal sector in the E-waste recycling business with all its socio-economic, health and environmental implications are dealt with in detail and the dawdling progress of formal recycling units in the country is assessed upon. The paper tries to identify the range of diverse stakeholders in the E-waste management system in India. These stakeholders are significant right from the production of Electrical and Electronic Equipment (EEE) to the final disposal of E-waste. The paper concludes that identifying the range of stakeholders in the E-waste management system and constructing a sustainable E-waste management system involving these stakeholders are the needs of the hour.
Fengjiang Recycling Metal Corporation of Luqiao district in Taizhou City is located in the southeast of Zhejiang Province, which is the biggest electronic waste disassembly base in China. It was established in the 1970s and an area of about 10 km2. Due to the rough disassembly technology and manual labor of the individual workshop, heavy metal and chemical pollution could not be treated effectively. Residue and waste water produced by e-waste disassembling were discharged into the nearby farmland and water through air, dirty irrigation, and slagheaps, which resulted in heavy pollution. Heavy metal pollutants, especially Cu, Zn, Cd and Pb produced by e-waste disassembling were seriously beyond the limit of the soil's capacity to tolerate, which were harmful to the environment. At present, the research into heavy metal pollution and soil animal diversity mainly focuses on the effects of soil biological and ecological toxicology caused by urban industry and drainage of metal mine pollutant. However, there is no report about the study of the relationship between heavy metal pollution from e-waste disassembling and soil animal diversity. This study chooses the biggest electronic waste disassembly base in China to discuss the influence of the heavy metal content, regional distribution and toxicological effects on the community structure and diversity of soil animals. Through a large amount of sampling from the target district, this study determined the contents of Cu, Zn, Pb and Cd. Through figuring out the integrated index of the heavy metal pollution, the trend chart of heavy metal integrated pollution was made by the method of interpolation in Geographical Information System (GIS). Combining this trend chart with field surveys, 8 sample plots were set. The methods included layer handpicking in the field for soil macro-fauna and layering with a geotome; separation through Baermann and Tullgren methods, and examination through microscope indoor for meso-micro soil fauna. The results showed that: (1) 844 specimens from 8 sample plots were collected, which respectively belonged to 4 phyla, 9 classes, and 20 orders. Among them, Collembola, Acarina and Nematode/, were dominant groups, and the others were common groups and rare groups. (2) There was a great significant difference among the number of the soil animals in 8 different sample plots (P <0. 01), and also a comparable difference among the amount of groups of soil animal in the 8 plots (P <0. 01). In the severely polluted area, the amount of soil animal and the amount of groups of soil animal were rare, while there was a high density and diversity of soil animal in the slightly polluted area. This indicated that the heavy metal pollution had an effect on the diversity of soil animal. The worse the pollution is, the fewer the groups and individuals of soil animals amount is. (3) Moreover, the effect of heavy metal pollution on the diversity of soil animal was measured by the Shannon-Wiener index and DG (Density-groups) index. The lower the integrated index of pollution is, the higher the Shannon-Wiener index and the DG index is. (4) This showed a significant negative correlation between the amount of soil animals and integrated index of pollution (related coefficient - 0. 86). It also showed a certain correlation between the amount of soil animals and the organic content values related coefficient 0 42) In the slightly polluted area, the amount of soil animal rose with the increase of organic content It showed that heavy metal toxicity had a main effect on the soil animal in the severely polluted area, and that organic content might be the key factor in the slightly polluted area. (5) The distribution of Collembola in the 8 sample plots showed that Isotomidae had the highest tolerance to the heavy metal pollution. Hypogastruridae, with a large number and high density, was sensitive to the heavy metal pollution. The latter can be the indicator organism for the heavy metal pollution in this district.
A new and elaborate software package MAXCRED (MAXimum CREDible accident analysis) has been used for generating accident scenarios and estimating damage potential for a typical industry. Four different scenarios have been generated for explosions, fires, as well as toxic releases. The damage they would cause has been estimated. The studies indicate that a confined vapour cloud explosion followed by fire would be the worst disaster scenario and would also have the highest probability of leading to 'cascading' or 'domino' effects.
In recent years, the importance of biogas energy has risen manifold and has become universal. This is due to the realization that biogas capture and utilization has great potential in controlling global warming. By capturing biogas wherever it is formed, we not only tap a source of clean energy, but we also prevent the escape of methane to the atmosphere. Given that methane has 25 times greater global warming potential than CO2, methane capture through biogas energy in this manner can contribute substantially towards global warming control.
The bioaccumulation potentials of polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) in bottom fishes from an e-waste recycling site in South China were investigated, and the biota-sediment accumulation factors (BSAFs) and biomagnification factors (BMFs) were determined based on the concentrations of PCBs in surfacial sediment samples and in three bottom fishes (i.e., mud carp, crucian carp, and northern snakehead). Concentrations of total PCBs in the sediments ranged from 24.5 to 38.6 μg/g dry wet (or 279.2-338.5 μg/g OC), showing severe contamination of PCBs in the aquatic environment. The calculated BSAFs ranged from 0.05 to 2.52, 0.01 to 1.20, and 0.01 to 5.03 for mud carp, crucian carp, and northern snakehead, respectively. The BMFs ranged from 0.14 to 2.23 and 0.14 to 4.93 for the northern snakehead/mud carp and northern snakehead/crucian carp coupling. For most PCB congeners, the observed BMFs were less than unit, indicating the biomagnification of these congeners in the food-chain. Both BSAFs and log BMF correlated significantly with log KOW and the chlorine numbers of PCBs, which suggested that the physiochemical properties of PCBs played an important role in their bioaccumulation.
Purpose
– The purpose of this paper is to analyze the recent global situation on waste of electric and electronic equipment (WEEE) management and recommend policy directions for designing environmental strategies.
Design/methodology/approach
– Qualitative research approach is adopted to review studies on WEEE management in developed and developing countries. The focus is to critically consider the available options for its safe management.
Findings
– Approximately 40-50 million tons of WEEE is generated worldwide annually and most of it is dumped in the developing countries. WEEE is not a challenge to be faced by a single country as it has trans-boundary effects and ultimately the contamination reaches back to the developed countries with a lapse of time.
Research limitations/implications
– Data availability on WEEE generation and disposal is in initial stages.
Practical implications
– Developing countries in Asia and Africa do not have resources to handle WEEE. The unregulated and unsafe WEEE management practices in these countries let hazardous materials to disseminate into the marine life and global ecosystem.
Originality/value
– The paper recommends policy directions to deal with the emerging issue that may have globally far reaching consequences.
The management of electronic waste (e-waste) presents new sustainability challenges, prominent among these is informal electronic recycling in the developing world fed by both international and domestic sources. There is a need to mitigate environmental impacts of informal recycling while maintaining social and economic benefits of refurbishment and reuse. The development of appropriate social responses is hindered by critical data gaps, which include lack of data on trade flows of used and scrap electronics, flows invisible to trade statistics of many countries. We address this data gap by proposing and implementing an approach to quantify the exportation of used and scrap equipment from a particular country or region to the rest of the world. The approach is based on material flow analysis and combines collection of primary survey data from residential and business/public sectors with secondary data from available recycling, landfill and computer adoption studies. Exports are estimated through materials balance: exports = generated − reuse − recycling − landfill. The proposed methodology is implemented in a case study of desktop (excluding monitors) and laptop computers in the United States (US) in 2010. Results indicate that 40 million used and scrap computers entered the end-of-life management sector, from which 30% were reused domestically, 6–29% were exported, 17–21% were landfilled in domestic sites and 20–47% were collected for domestic recycling in 2010. The range in results reflects uncertainty arising from inferring end-of-life fate from individual and institutional users. Given sufficient resources to conduct a survey, the proposed materials flow analysis method can be widely applied to other devices and nations.
Primary constituents of e-waste from end-of-life (EOL) computers consist of glass, metals and plastics. Thus the quality of recycling of e-waste is dependent upon individual indicators like cathode ray tube (CRT) recycling, plastics recycling and recovery of metals which in turn is dependent upon various other attributes. The problem of assigning a single overall measure of quality to each system in a set of similar EOL computers recycling systems has not been duly addressed in literature. An aggregate measure of total quality of recycling system for EOL computers would be helpful to top management in accessing overall development where different versions of recycled products are produced. Thus, the central idea in this research is to combine different types of recycling process parameters into an aggregate value representing the overall quality of recycling of each of the systems. In this research, we have used Multi-Attribute Global Inference of Quality (MAGIQ) technique for accomplishing this objective. Results of research conducted in a case company show that application of this technique can provide decision makers with a clear picture on the quality of various recycling systems under evaluation.
This article reviews prior academic research on end of life (EOL) product recovery, a component of extended producer responsibility (EPR), focusing on the management literature. Both non-market and market pressures are driving companies to take greater responsibility for their EOL products, including taking them back from customers. Several ideas are proposed for further research that would be useful to public policy makers and the private sector.
The ever-increasing and rapidly growing volume of waste electrical and electronic equipment has become a serious threat to the environment in many countries. The inevitability of e-waste management and the development of a holistic system to deal with it has become an indispensable socio-economic and environmental issue for the sustainable development of Malaysia. However, no comprehensive research has yet been carried out, and only a few works in a discreet manner have been begun. In view of the above, and as a small endeavor towards achieving the country’s Vision 2020, this study explores the present status and future perspectives of the management of waste electrical and electronic equipment in Malaysia. This article presents an overview of e-waste management practices around the world, including the generation of e-waste, the implementation of management strategies, and collection and recovery activities in Malaysia. It also presents the corresponding responses adopted so far with respect to legislation and other infrastructural development. Finally, through the use of structured and semi-structured interviews, it reveals the barriers and challenges, as well as future perspectives and sustainability issues related to the e-waste management system in this fast developing country.
In 1997, Fujitsu established the Fujitsu Recycle System (FRS) in Japan as the first nationwide recycling system in the industry and since then has taken the initiative in take-back and recycling of end-of-use IT (Information Technology) products. By utiliz-ing the know-how gained through these activities, Fujitsu has diligently started to take-back and recycle the end-of-use IT products it has marketed overseas so the entire Group can exercise extended producer responsibility with a global perspective. In Europe, Fujitsu began considering the establishment of a recycle system to comply with the European Union (EU) recycle directive on Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment (WEEE), which became effective in February 2003. Each EU member coun-try has been transposing the WEEE directive into their national laws. Fujitsu and Fujitsu Group companies in Europe have started to work on the establishment of a European recycle system through mutual collaboration. Because of the strong demands to recycle end-of-use IT products in North America and Asia, Fujitsu is also studying the establishment of recycle systems in these areas. In the future, regional recycle systems should not only function independently but also be closely coordi-nated and developed into a Global Recycle Network (GRN) to share recycling know-how and information and circulate resources and products using recycle logistics based on international rules. This paper describes the establishment of the recycle systems and the concept for establishing a GRN.
Electronic waste E-waste, including all obsolete electronic products, has become the fastest growing component in the solid waste stream. Personal computers PCs—the most significant component in E-waste stream—were studied for their potential leaching toxicity of contaminants. All the components in a PC that are composed of, or contain printed wire boards PWBs including the motherboard, various expansion cards, disk drives, and power supply unit were tested by the toxicity characteristic leaching procedure TCLP. The total contents of eight heavy metals including arsenic, barium, cadmium, chromium, lead, mercury, selenium, and silver in the PWBs and their TCLP leaching from the PWBs were examined. Among these eight heavy metals lead was found to be the predominant element that causes the toxicity characteristic of the PC components. The lead concentrations in the TCLP extracts of the vast majority of the PWBs ranged from 150 to 500 mg/ L, which are 30–100 times the regulatory level of 5 mg/ L for classifying a waste as hazardous. The motherboard in a PC contributed 50–80% of the total lead that could leach out from all the PWBs in the PC under the TCLP test conditions. The contents of barium and silver were found to be high in some components, but they were not leachable under the TCLP test conditions. The contents of other five elements in all the PC components were hardly detectable. They would not have the potential to cause toxicity characteristic leaching concern.
Increasing population, affluence and urbanisation are precursors to e-waste generation. It is therefore, imperative that progress be made towards a better understanding of the relationships between society, economy and the environment for a sustained environment. Sustained environment can be achieved only if the industries as well as consumers tend to be cautious in their approach. Reverse logistics implemented by the organisations for end-of-life product returns would create a formal pathway for electronic disposals and waste management thus preventing environmental pollution, cutting costs, increasing efficiency, productivity and performance of the company. To develop effective reverse logistics, it is important to identify the antecedents of consumer behaviour that would check their intention towards return end-of-life e-waste for proper disposal. The objective of the paper is to assess the impact of demographic variables namely age, gender, income and place of residence on post consumption disposal choices of urban Indian consumers for their mobile wastes.
The production and circulation of electronic waste, or e-waste, has garnered significant popular and academic attention over the last decade and a half. While much of this work has come from the fields of waste management, engineering, chemistry, and public policy, geographers have made significant contributions to understanding this uniquely modern problem in a number of areas: mapping e-waste flows at multiple scales; exploring informal e-waste economies through ethnographic fieldwork; and critically engaging with development schemes and policies designed to mitigate the many hazards associated with electronics recycling. The main body of the paper charts how these empirical contributions have advanced broader debates about global economic linkages and governance. In the concluding section of the paper, I outline a few directions for future research that can continue to push the e-waste literature beyond a managerial focus towards a broader problematization of the social and ecological foundations of digital technologies and economies. I suggest that geographers, particularly those who identify with the questions, methods, and modes of explanation found in political ecology, are well-suited to such a task.
Waste of electronic and electrical equipment (e-waste) generated in Indonesia is expected to increase due to high growth of the Indonesian economy and fast development in technology. As Indonesia has not yet had specified criteria on e-waste, in this study, e-waste is defined as any obsolete or unwanted electronic and electrical equipment that is introduced into the recycling and disposal process. The objective of this study is to estimate the e-waste generated in Indonesian households using the method of material flow analysis. The amount of generated e-waste could be used for constructing an e-waste recycling management system in Indonesia. E-waste materials that need to be treated could be known. In this study, some types of equipment, such as television, washing machine, refrigerator, personal computer, and mobile phone, were chosen to be tracers. Using the modified material flow analysis model proposed by Steubing et al. (Waste Manage 30:473–482, 38), the potential e-waste that was generated from households was estimated. The total estimated accumulation of generated e-waste from households in 2015 and 2025 is about 285,000 and 622,000 tonnes, respectively. If a proper recycling system was in place, a new source for valuable materials recovery would be created, as well as protecting the environment and health.
Purpose
– The purpose of this paper is to provide an overview of e-waste management practices in Kenya and selected countries. It develops an ideal regulatory framework for e-waste management in Kenya.
Design/methodology/approach
– The methodology adopted for this paper includes collecting data using interviews, direct observation and literature review. Both qualitative and quantitative methods are used.
Findings
– Waste is an emerging stream of solid waste in Kenya. It has become a major concern due to the high volumes generated, its hazardous fractions and the lack of policies applicable to its disposal. Gaps are identified in the areas of awareness levels, e-waste management technology, financing, collection, disposal, monitoring, and stakeholder collaboration.
Research limitations/implications
– The study area is limited to Nairobi and its environs. With regard to product, the paper focuses on ICT equipment.
Practical implications
– The proposed framework has direct practical policy implications to manufacturers who ought to reduce e-waste from production, consumers who should adopt safe disposal practices, recyclers/informal actors who ought to use environmentally friendly methods and government agencies that enforce e-waste policies.
Social implications
– Adoption of the proposed framework has positive socio-economic impacts on job creation, reduced crime and sound environmental management.
Originality/value
– This paper adds to the body of knowledge on the e-waste problem from the perspective of developed as well as developing countries. It points out best practices for socio-economic development and fronts arguments for sustainable environmental management.
This article addresses a market-based management concept for waste electrical and electronic equipment (WEEE) known as the “best-of-two-worlds” approach. The concept is based on the idea that recyclers in developing countries and emerging economies can cooperate with technologically advanced refineries in industrialized countries to facilitate efficient recovery of valuable metals, such as gold and palladium, from e-waste. The article provides an overview of technical and environmental concerns underlying the concept and sheds light on the political framework, the waste-related trade issues, and the resource economics that need to be considered for further decision making. Building on this synthesis, I conduct a qualitative assessment of sustainability impacts of the proposed concept by analyzing two scenarios and their associated risks.
The analysis suggests that, under certain preconditions, the best-of-two-worlds concept could yield significant improvements in terms of management of hazardous substances, resource efficiency, greenhouse gas emissions, income generation, and investments into social and environmental standards. Generally, two potential implementation scenarios were identified: Whereas under Scenario 1 only WEEE generated within developing countries and emerging economies is managed through the best-of-two-worlds approach, Scenario 2 additionally incorporates WEEE imported from industrialized countries. Although both scenarios can yield a variety of benefits, Scenario 2 might cause a net flow of hazardous substances from industrialized countries into developing countries and emerging economies, thus leading to less beneficial sustainability impacts.
The world's waste electrical and electronic equipment (WEEE) consumption has increased incredibly in recent decades, which have drawn much attention from the public. However, the major economic driving force for recycling of WEEE is the value of the metallic fractions (MFs). The non-metallic fractions (NMFs), which take up a large proportion of E-wastes, were treated by incineration or landfill in the past. NMFs from WEEE contain heavy metals, brominated flame retardant (BFRs) and other toxic and hazardous substances. Combustion as well as landfill may cause serious environmental problems. Therefore, research on resource reutilization and safe disposal of the NMFs from WEEE has a great significance from the viewpoint of environmental protection. Among the enormous variety of NMFs from WEEE, some of them are quite easy to recycle while others are difficult, such as plastics, glass and NMFs from waste printed circuit boards (WPCBs). In this paper, we mainly focus on the intractable NMFs from WEEE. Methods and technologies of recycling the two types of NMFs from WEEE, plastics, glass are reviewed in this paper. For WEEE plastics, the pyrolysis technology has the lowest energy consumption and the pyrolysis oil could be obtained, but the containing of BFRs makes the pyrolysis recycling process problematic. Supercritical fluids (SCF) and gasification technology have a potentially smaller environmental impact than pyrolysis process, but the energy consumption is higher. With regard to WEEE glass, lead removing is requisite before the reutilization of the cathode ray tube (CRT) funnel glass, and the recycling of liquid crystal display (LCD) glass is economically viable for the containing of precious metals (indium and tin). However, the environmental assessment of the recycling process is essential and important before the industrialized production stage. For example, noise and dust should be evaluated during the glass cutting process. This study could contribute significantly to understanding the recycling methods of NMFs from WEEE and serve as guidance for the future technology research and development.
The amount of waste electrical and electronic equipment (WEEE) has been rapidly growing in recent years. Estimation close to reality of the future amounts of WEEE as a function of time is critical to effective their management. Wastes from mobile phones and computers are one of the several subgroups of WEEE. The objective of this study was to estimate past and future trends in the generation of obsolete computers and mobile phones in Iran. For this purpose a combination of two models were used. At the beginning, time-series multiple lifespan model was used to estimate outflows end-of-life obsolete equipment. Then, using the simplified logistic function model by Excel software, the values of obsolete computers and mobile phones in the future were estimated. The study found that the amount of E-waste generation in the country was 20 million wasted computers until 2016 and 39 million wasted mobile phones until 2014. Results of the time series model analysis showed a total amount of 2.8 million waste computers would be reused by 2016 and 4.2 million mobile phones would be reused by 2014. The results of the logistic equation indicate that by the year 2040 there will be 50 million units of obsolete computers. According to the same model 90 million mobile phones will be obsolete by 2035. Increase in the number of computers and mobile phones was fitted into the logistic model and the results showed that the saturation level of generation of obsolete computers and mobile phones are 24 and 21 years respectively following the base year 2016 and 2014.
Electric and electronic equipment (EEE) is
swiftly growing in volume, level of sophistication, and
diversity. Also, it evolves briskly, moved by innovation
and technical change, and draws on numerous and at times
rare resources. Waste EEE (WEEE) has evolved into an
important societal problem. Recycling and treating WEEE
implies occupational as well as environmental hazards that
are still incompletely documented. Still, second hand EEE
has been exported and treated in Africa, China, and India in
a precarious informal context. In developed countries, EEE
recycling has been sustained by a wide range of initiatives
and motives, such as sustainability, creating jobs, and the
value of precious or rare metals. Current EU Directives
require a steep reduction of WEEE plastics (WEEP) going
to landfill. Mechanical, thermal, and feedstock recycling of
WEEP are analysed and some options confronted. Plastics
recycling should be weighed against the eventual risks
related to their hazardous ingredients, mainly legacy brominated
fire retardants and heavy metals. Another paper is
related to a somewhat similar problem, yet involving a
different mix of plastics:
This paper describes the life cycle engineering of an integrated desktop computer system from the perspective of a small to medium enterprise (SME). Using a novel approach which considers the motivations of actors at various stages during the life cycle of the PC it attempts to engineer the lifecycle through design features which have been chosen to influence these critical decision points leading to more desirable pathways from an environmental perspective. Using these motivations it extracts design principles and ultimately design and service features to (1) promote long lifetime with the original user (2) facilitate refurbishment and reuse (3) be easy to disassemble and (4) contain minimal valueless fractions at end of life. This has been achieved largely through two specific design features and supported by post-sale services to the consumer. The first of these features is a high quality finish using a solid hardwood chassis to create an emotionally durable product that is easy to refurbish and eliminates negative value plastic fractions at end of life. The second feature is a strong focus on ease of disassembly to facilitate upgrade, refurbishment and deep disassembly at end of life. The service offering is also crucial and upgrade services and buy back are available.
Electronic and electrical devices have become key parts of modern society and their rapid and global proliferation improves quality of life in both developed and developing countries. However, the current patterns of design, manufacturing, use, and disposal of these devices are far from sustainable, and to date there are only limited educational efforts on preparing next generation engineers to change these patterns. This paper reports an effort at Purdue University to develop project-based course modules on sustainable electronics. Interdisciplinary student teams were formed to work on sustainability issues related to flat panel displays under the supervision of faculty from material engineering, mechanical engineering, and anthropology. Selected project topics include disassembly of LCD and plasma TVs, e-waste recycling and material availability, life cycle analysis of biopolymers for electronics, and people and cultural issues. Students involved in the course module developed deem this as a very interesting learning experience and are working to develop a YouTube video for outreach to general public. Future efforts include adding an international component to the module.
Recycling rates for precious, specialty, and toxic metals from e-wastes are very low. Most e-wastes are sent to landfills and waste dumps. Much is sent abroad where precious metal content is retrieved, often using unsafe procedures, and the remainder discarded. Small amounts are sent to smelters for recovery of the metal content. In all of these cases, serious health and environmental problems result. Because of the precious metal content, the economic value of e-waste is large and is increasing as product sales grow. Many specialty and toxic metals, e. g., Co, Cu, In, Pb, and Cd are not recovered with resulting potential health and environmental damage when the e-waste is discarded. IBC's Molecular Recognition Technology (MRT) process provides an economic, environmentally safe, and minimal carbon footprint means for selective separation of all of these metals from e-waste streams at the mg/L to μg/L concentration levels. MRT has significant economic and environmental advantages over competing metal recovery processes.
Energy efficiency is one of the critical parameters to determine e-waste recovery feasibility in order to improve resource efficiency and sustainable consumption and production. Thus, a proper assessment of product efficiency is necessary to achieve optimal end-of-life (EoL) product recovery strategy. This paper proposes a generic method to assess the product efficiency based on energy efficiency analysis and reliability analysis. The assessment leads to identifying residual value of EoL product before any recovery decision is made. A near perfect efficient product or component could be reused, on the other hand, recovery option for inefficient part would be decided based on its efficiency, residual value and reliability. With the accurate EoL product status assessment, e-waste recovery could be enhanced by retaining the materials and energy embedded in EoL product. The proposed e-waste recovery methodology is prime important to industry. It aids product designer, manufacturer and policy maker work toward a better environmental decision making for resource efficiency and a sustainable economic growth.