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The WEEE Value Chain in Low-Income Countries in West Africa: State of the Art and Future Perspectives
Abstract
Increasingly, WEEE is seen as a source of secondary resources that can be exploited in order to contribute to the circular economy (Cucchiella et al. 2015; Parajuly & Wenzel, 2017). To date, several studies have focused on the recovery of the different fractions (plastic, glass, metals, etc.) of these types of waste. The metal fraction attracts particular attention due to the fact that several precious metals are identified in it (Schaeffer et al., 2018). While in developed countries, the WEEE value chain is quite developed with a point of honor given to the extraction of precious metals (Salhofer, 2018), this is less the case in low-income countries in West Africa such as Burkina Faso. The fundamental problem in these countries is that despite the availability of large quantities of WEEE, there is a lack of knowledge about the economic potential of developing a complete value chain for this waste based on the principles of the circular economy. The objective of this study is to analyze the WEEE value chain in Burkina Faso in order to identify the key points to be improved for the development of the circular economy. Data was collected from three main categories of actors in the chain. These are (i) WEEE producers, (ii) WEEE collectors, recyclers & dismantling workshops, and (iii) regulatory structures. The methodological approach to data collection is described in the figure below. The WEEE value chain in Burkina Faso is made up of 4 main steps, namely, production, collection & transport, treatment, and recovery. There is no governmental actor specifically designated to regulate the WEEE sector. The operational actors involved in this chain are not very diverse and, moreover, some operate straddling several links in the chain. Expected products from this chain include metals such as gold, copper, palladium, platinum, silver, aluminum, etc.) which are extracted by solvo-metallurgy by CERVAM or by open burning by recyclers and jewellers. Extraction at CERVAM is still experimental, while that carried out by recyclers and jewelers is not only insignificant in relation to the deposit, but also disregards the environment and human health.
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Waste electrical and electronic equipment (WEEE) is the fastest growing type of waste globally and is an important challenge due to its heterogeneity, intrinsic toxicity and potential environmental impact. However, WEEE also represents an important secondary source of critical and valuable elements and must be viewed as a resource within the context of a circular economy. The use of ionic liquids (ILs) to recover metals from WEEE is reviewed with a special emphasis on the use of ILs in leaching and solvent extraction processes. The advantages of ILs as a reaction medium compared to existing conventional solvents lies in their tuneability and potential environmental benefits. Many studies have used ILs for the selective extraction and purification of metals from WEEE, particularly from waste fluorescent lamp phosphor and batteries containing rare-earth elements with promising results. However, significant barriers remain to the commercial use of ILs for treating WEEE and key barriers to progress are identified. In particular more focus is required to improve upstream collection and separation of WEEE, as this would greatly increase the potential to use selective, more efficient, ILs for metal recovery.
Circular economy (CE) is considered an alternative for today's linear business model, and a lifeline to sustainable production and consumption. However, the lack of understanding of the true potentials for CE in many business sectors remains a challenge. In this study, we investigate the potential for reuse and recycling e the two key pathways promoted by CE e for waste electrical and electronic equipment (WEEE) management. We empirically characterize household WEEE stream in order to explore a) the remaining functionality and reuse potential of end-of-life (EoL) products based on the current market conditions, and b) the recycling potential of EoL products based on their material compositions and existing WEEE treatment chain. For this, a total of 4704 kg WEEE within the collection fractions of 'small appliances' and 'monitors' was collected in 16 collection cages from eight civic amenity sites in Odense, Denmark. After determining the categorical distribution, all products were inspected individually and their functionality was tested. Further, selected products were dismantled in order to determine their material composition. Building on this investigation, the potential revenues from resale as well as from material recovery were estimated. With 22% and 7% of fully functional products in the fractions 'small appliances' and 'monitors' respectively, our results suggest resale value up to €247 per cage of the collected household WEEE. The existing WEEE management system, which focuses only on material recovery, does not exploit other EoL options. A better system designed to reclaim the remaining functionality and tailored material recovery from the EoL products thus has a large potential for increased revenue.
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