E Waste

12 Key excerpts on "E Waste"

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  eBook - ePub

  The Praeger Handbook of Environmental Health

  [4 volumes]

  • Robert H. Friis(Author)
  • 2012(Publication Date)
  • Praeger

    (Publisher)

  14 Disposal of E-Waste

  Brett H. Robinson

  Introduction

  E-waste describes discarded items in which the main components contain electronic circuitry. This includes computers, televisions, radios, music/video playback systems, facsimile machines, and cell phones. However, electronic circuitry is now pervading appliances not normally considered electronic, such as washing machines and refrigerators,1 blurring the line between e-waste and other waste forms.2 The term WEEE (waste electrical and electron equipment) incorporates e-waste and other electrical items that may also contain electronics, thus overcoming problems with the definition of e-waste. However, in terms of volumes and composition, WEEE is not equivalent to e-waste, and hence it has different logistical and technical requirements for its disposal. The economic and environmental impacts of e-waste disposal are distinct from those of WEEE disposal.

  The disposal of e-waste is a global environmental issue. Recently the scientific community has produced alarming reports on aspects of e-waste disposal, particularly in poor countries. Images of children working as e-waste recyclers in shacks with no protective equipment have pervaded the media. Contaminants within the e-waste poison the workers and pollute surrounding soils and waterways.

  This review aims to elucidate the critical environmental and economic factors associated with the disposal of e-waste. Particular attention is given to the practice of “informal recycling,” the scourge of poor countries, wherein recovery of valuable materials results in widespread environmental degradation and human suffering.

  The Global Production of E-Waste

  The current global production of e-waste is estimated at 20–25 million tons per year.3 The growth of the global economy will result in increased e-waste generation because computers, which comprise the bulk of e-waste, are essential to all but the most primitive of economies. While rich countries are currently the source of most of the world’s e-waste, production of e-waste in poor countries is increasing exponentially and expected to overtake that of rich countries later this decade.4 China has overtaken Japan to become the second largest e-waste producer after the United States.5 Similarly, India is forecast to become a major e-waste producer in the coming decade, with computers accounting for 30 percent of this waste stream.6 In 2016–2018, e-waste production in poor countries will exceed that of rich countries.7 Accelerating innovation cycles will also result in increased e-waste production, due to the more rapid replacement of electronic devices.8

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  Assessment and Management of Radioactive and Electronic Wastes

  • Hosam El-Din Saleh(Author)
  • 2020(Publication Date)
  • IntechOpen

    (Publisher)

  Introduction Electronic waste, sometimes referred to as e-waste or waste electrical and elec-tronic equipment (WEEE), is a highly varied stream of hazardous waste. This waste stream is comprised of any electronic items that a consumer or business intends to dispose of, or is no longer useful for its original purpose. E-waste has generated a considerable amount of public and political interest due to a confluence of factors, including: the exponential rise in the generation of e-waste, the potential value of recycling thE Waste in order to recover precious metals and other elements, and the environmental and human health risks associated with improperly storing, dispos-ing of, and recycling e-waste. Some of the major responses to the rising generation of e-waste (and growing demand for secondary raw materials that it contains) have included the development of producer “take-back” legislation, technological innovations in recycling processes, and the formation of partnerships to facilitate the transfer of e-waste between the informal and formal recycling sectors [1]. E-waste is an incredibly complex waste stream, as it encompasses a wide range of items and the exact composition of many electronic components are considered to be trade secrets, meaning they are the confidential information of the manufac-turer. Generally speaking, “modern electronics can contain up to 60 different ele-ments; many are valuable, some are hazardous and some are both. The most complex mix of substances is usually present in the printed wiring boards (PWBs)” [2]. Assessment and Management of Radioactive and Electronic Wastes 48 To use a specific example, the material content of a mobile phone includes “over 40 elements in the periodic table including base metals like copper (Cu) and tin (Sn), special metals such as cobalt (Co), indium (In) and antimony (Sb), and precious metals including silver (Ag), gold (Au), and palladium (Pd)” [2].

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  Electronic Waste Management and Treatment Technology

  • Majeti Narasimha Vara Prasad, Meththika Vithanage(Authors)
  • 2019(Publication Date)
  • Butterworth-Heinemann

    (Publisher)

  Electronic (E-) waste commonly refers to whitegoods, information and communication technology (ICT) hardware, business and household electrical and electronic items, that have completed its useful life and are discarded. Some known definitions of E-waste are as follows:

  • •  
    It can be classified as any electrical powered appliance that has reached its end of life (EoL) (Sinha-Khetriwal, 2002 ).
  • •  
    A broader and growing range of the electronic devices ranging from large household items to personal computers that have been discarded after their EoL (Puckett et al., 2002 ).
  • •  
    The multifarious combination of ferrous, nonferrous, ceramic, and plastic materials (The Association of Plastics Manufacturers in Europe, APME, 1995 ).

  Nevertheless the terms E-waste and WEEE (waste electronic and electrical equipment) have been frequently used synonymously because of the increasing use of electronics in electrical equipment; Indeed, E-waste can be seen as a subset of WEEE: discarded electronic goods (e.g., personal computers, hand/telephones) belong to the E-waste category, while WEEE additionally refers to the EoL electrical appliances (e.g., air conditioners, washing machines, refrigerators). In the most formal way, the European Commission has defined WEEE as wide-ranging EoL commodities, that can be used to generate, measure and transfer electric/electromagnetic current, or can be functionalized by supplying the electrical current during their service life (EU RoHS Directive 2002/95/EC, 2003 ).

  As there does not seem to be a standard definition for E-waste, WEEE and E-waste have been accounted for the same in the Indian legislation for E-waste management (E-Waste Rules, 2011 ). In this chapter, we use the term “E-waste” to refer to all the discarded/broken/surplus/obsolete electrical and electronic devices, as stated by Pathak et al. (2017) . More specifically, E-waste can be divided into six categories (Balde et al., 2015 ), as shown in Table 1

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  Environmental History of Modern India

  Land, Population, Technology and Development

  • Velayutham Saravanan(Author)
  • 2022(Publication Date)
  • Bloomsbury India

    (Publisher)

  This chapter is divided into nine sections. The second section gives the meaning, definition and its components of e-waste. The third section analyses the growth and development of electrical and electronic goods in India. The fourth section focuses on the longevity of e-waste goods. The fifth section studies the trends of e-waste in India. The sixth section focuses on the ecological and environmental consequences. The seventh section recounts the e-waste controlling measures. The eight section discusses about the features of e-waste rules and the last section ends with concluding observations.

  E-WASTE MEANING, DEFINITION AND ITS COMPONENTS

  The term ‘electronics’ encompasses a wide range of home and business electronic goods, including televisions, monitors, computers, computer peripherals, audio and stereo equipment, VCRs, DVD players, video cameras, telephones, fax and copy machines, cellular phones, wireless devices, etc. Household appliances, such as washers, dryers, refrigerators and toasters, can also be considered as electronics. Electronic waste, ‘e-waste’ or ‘Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment’ (WEEE) is thE Waste material consisting of any broken or unwanted electrical or electronic appliances. At the global level, the term e-waste or WEEE means electronic waste. There is no specific definition applicable at the global level. However, different countries have defined the term e-waste/WEEE. Precisely, e-waste is consumer electronic equipment that are no longer wanted by the users. It is to be pointed out that the European Union Directive and Basel Convention have developed a comprehensive definition for the e-waste at the beginning. However, the European Union Directive definition is widely accepted by the most of the western countries.2

  As per EU Directive, e-waste is defined as: ‘Electrical or electronic equipment which is waste including all components, subassemblies and consumables, which are part of the product at the time of discarding’. The ‘electrical and electronic equipment’ or ‘EEE’ is broadly classified into ten categories: (a) large household appliances; (b) small household appliances; (c) IT and telecommunications equipment; (d) consumer equipment; (e) lighting equipment; (f) electrical and electronic tools (with the exception of large-scale stationary industrial tools); (g) toys, leisure and sports equipment; (h) medical devices (with the exception of all implanted and infected products); (i) Monitoring and control instruments and (j) automatic dispensers.3

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  E-Waste in Transition

  From Pollution to Resource

  • Florin-Constantin Mihai(Author)
  • 2016(Publication Date)
  • IntechOpen

    (Publisher)

  In India, e-waste management assumes greater significance not only due to the generation of its own e-waste but also because of the dumping of e-waste from developed countries. Solid waste manage‐ ment, which is already a mammoth task in India, has become more complicated by the invasion of e-waste. There is an urgent need for exploring different options of e-waste recycling in developing countries. The present review article provides an overview of India's current e-waste scenario, environ‐ mental and health hazards, current disposal, collection, and recycling. It also provides a comprehensive view of the technologies available in the developed countries as well as the developing countries for the recycling of e-waste. The review research methodology as adopted by the researcher and proceeds encompasses reliability factor designed to deliver a balanced view from both macro and micro perspective of process feasibility and economics as well, based on authentic information about growth and forecasts. 2. E-waste and its composition 2.1. Definition of e-waste Electronic waste or e-waste, according to the WEEE directive of the European Commission, is defined as waste material consisting of any broken or unwanted electronic appliance. Elec‐ tronic waste includes computers, entertainment electronics, mobile phones, and other elec‐ tronic items that have been discarded by their original users. Despite its common classification as a waste, disposed electronics is a category of considerable secondary resource due to its significant suitability for direct reuse (for example, many fully functional computers and components are discarded during upgrades), refurbishing, and material recycling of its constituent raw materials [22].

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  Contemporary Studies of Risks in Emerging Technology

  • Simon Grima, Kiran Sood, Ercan Özen, Ercan Ozen(Authors)
  • 2023(Publication Date)
  • Emerald Publishing Limited

    (Publisher)

  Imports from affluent nations are seen as a low-cost, low-profit indication of modernity. The abundance of low-cost labour and poor environmental regulations in developing nations that allow for such disposal and dumping are the major reasons for this type of cross-border e-waste migration from expanded to developing countries (Lahiry, 2019). 1.1. Electronic Waste It is hard to define ‘e-waste’, as it might include anything from the oddest to the most fundamental object we use in our regular lives, given the fast advancements in technology that happen with every breath we take. Since then, other meanings have been offered. According to the E-Waste (Management) Rules, 2016, e-waste is ‘any electrical and electronic equipment, whole or in part, dumped as rubbish by the consumer or bulk consumer, as well as rejects from production, refurbishment, and repair activities’ (E-Waste Management and Handling Rules, 2010, 2012). The definition is similar to that recommended by EU Directives, which defines ‘waste electrical and electronic equipment’ (WEEE) as ‘an electrical or electronic equipment that is a waste, comprising all components, sub-assemblies, and consumables that are part of the product at the time of discarding’ (Directive 2011/7/EU of the European Parliament and the Council, 2020). The Basel Action Network (BAN), on the other hand, aimed to define ‘e-waste’ in a broader meaning, using the words ‘wide and developing’ and being more inclusive. It goes over the many categories of e-trash, which include anything from big appliances to consumables. As a result, the approach emphasises and includes future technological advances

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  E-Waste Management

  From Waste to Resource

  • Klaus Hieronymi, Ramzy Kahhat, Eric Williams, Klaus Hieronymi, Ramzy Kahhat, Eric Williams(Authors)
  • 2012(Publication Date)
  • Routledge

    (Publisher)

  1ELECTRONIC WASTE

  Environment and Society

  Ramzy Kahhat DEPARTMENT OF ENGINEERING, PONTIFICIA UNIVERSIDAD CATÓLICA DEL PERÚ

  1.1 Introduction

  Electronics equipment significantly influences the way societies relate, and it is impossible to ignore the vast positive impacts of electronics use by society. Nevertheless, important concerns also exist related to the flow of electronics deemed obsolete by consumers (e.g. households, corporations, public agencies, schools) all over the world. These concerns intensify as the manufacturing and adoption rate, triggered by technological development of these devices, increases around the world. For example, the number of mobile phones per capita in the United States and China increased 139% and 725% from 2000 to 2009, respectively (1).

  Compared to expenditures on product development, marketing, and sales, a smaller amount of resources has been devoted to the end-of-use management of electronic equipment, such as reuse, recycling, and landfilling. In the last two decades, some countries and regions have focused on the management of this complex waste stream. The oldest and probably most successful electronic waste (e-waste) or waste electrical and electronic equipment (WEEE) system is the one found in Switzerland, with recycling rates of approximately 9.8 kg of e-waste per person per year (2). SWICO (Swiss Association for Information, Communication and Organization Technology) and SENS (Swiss Foundation for Waste Management), the two e-waste systems in the country, collect and recycle a vast portfolio of electronics, including information technology (IT) and office equipment products (SWICO) and home appliances (SENS) (2, 3). Moreover, with the implementation of the WEEE Directive and under the principle of extended producer responsibility (EPR), the members of the European Union (EU) have been adopting regulations to properly manage e-waste (4). The overall goals of the WEEE regulations include improvement of equipment design, collection at the end of use, environmentally sound treatment and material recovery at the end of life (EoL), and consumer awareness. The original recycling rate target for the WEEE Directive is 4 kg per person per year, which includes a vast range of products: large and small household appliances, IT and telecommunication products, and consumer equipment (4). Although enforcement started in 2003, the implementation timeframe for the WEEE regulation varied from country to country on the basis of factors such as negotiations with stakeholders and transfer from previous country-specific WEEE regulations to the EU WEEE (5). In Asia, Japan and South Korea have vast experience managing e-waste, including televisions (TVs), refrigerators, washing machines, air conditioners, and computers (6, 7). In North America, several American states and Canadian provinces have e-waste programs, including California, Maine, Alberta, British Columbia, Manitoba, Ontario, and Saskatchewan, and many other North American locations are in the process of adopting e-waste collection and recycling systems (6, 8). Following the lead of the above-mentioned e-waste management systems and in some cases learning from past experiences, other countries around the world have or plan to adopt strategies to handle e-waste. For example, Thailand is currently developing an e-waste management system that will potentially increase e-waste recycling in the formal domestic sector (9).

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  Intelligent Green Technologies for Sustainable Smart Cities

  • Suman Lata Tripathi, Souvik Ganguli, Abhishek Kumar, Tengiz Magradze(Authors)
  • 2022(Publication Date)
  • Wiley-Scrivener

    (Publisher)

  Keywords: e-waste, global status of e-waste management, industrial practices of e-waste management, benchmarking of e-waste management, recycling issues 5.1 Introduction The use of electronic devices has increased with the growing technology over time and became a requirement for mankind. In addition to the electronic *Corresponding author: [email protected] 74 Intelligent Green Technologies for Sustainable Smart Cities facilities, science is also involved in some problems and the problem here is that these commodities are short in existence and are rapidly diminishing due to rapid change [1]. When these commodities reach near the end of usefulness or lifetime then they are considered as e-waste [2]. Electronic waste is popularly referred to as e-waste in abbreviated form and is the name of both electrical and electronic products toward the termination of their lifetime [3]. It is assumed to be one of the most rapid-growing munic- ipal solid waste [4]. There are concerns about the continuously increasing amounts of e-waste, along with the complex nature of these products and the problems related to their proper processing [5]. Even though e-waste has been producing a large number of problems, it’s indeed a large source of useful metals like copper, gold and silver which can be recovered from production [6]. The recovery of these metals may to some degree reduce the overall global demand for new metals supply. The recycling of e-waste also reduces amounts of waste disposal in landfills [7]. It is a well-known fact incineration and landfilling of e-waste are very dangerous for the envi- ronment [8]. A linear progression between manufacturing, personalized usage, stored and waste disposal is a typical e-waste product’s life cycle [9].

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  Industrial Waste Management

  • Rose Marie O. Mendoza(Author)
  • 2019(Publication Date)
  • Delve Publishing

    (Publisher)

  This results to diverse health complication and therefore there is a need for a regulatory framework to address these challenges (Kahhat & Williams, 2012) (Figure 7.1). Figure 7.1: Illustrating a collection of industrial E-waste . (Source: http://www. takepart.com/article/2016/10/04/e-waste-recycling-not-really-recycled). Different countries have adopted the use of electronic activities which results to e-waste streams of wastes. Environmental pollution, therefore, can be minimized by waste recycling (Pal, 2015). E-waste management is not only constructed in developing countries, but it is a global problem that requires a global solution. About 50 metric tons of e-waste is generated in Management of Industrial Electronic-Waste 153 the world. Though the exact waste of e-waste is not known, an estimated 3000 tons are generated yearly (Cheremisinoff & Cheremisinoff, 1995). ThesE Wastes consist of old mobile phones, PCs, and obsolete television sets because of the advent of the digital television transmission. Lack of strong policies about importation of second-hand electronic gadgets, for example, computers have compounded the problem. Industrial development has seen an expansion of the ICT with the diversification of electronic activities leading to e-waste problem management. Some countries dump their e-waste in disguise that they are helping to boost ICT technologies in less developed countries (Kinnaman & Takeuchi, 2014). The low prices attached to second-hand computers have contributed to a large and potential market for electronic equipment in most countries, especially in developing regions. In response to this hazardous waste imports, the Basel Convention on the control of Trans-boundary movement was convened in 1992 to address the situation. Many countries have joined the convention. The convention agitates for innovation solution for environmentally friendly industrial e-waste disposal, (Luther, 2010).

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  Management of Electronic Waste

  Resource Recovery, Technology and Regulation

  • Anshu Priya(Author)
  • 2023(Publication Date)
  • Wiley

    (Publisher)

  39 3 Generation, Composition, Collection, and Treatment of E-Waste Monjur Mourshed 1,2 , Sharifa Khatun 2 , Kaviul Islam 3,4 , Nahid Imtiaz Masuk 2 , and Mahadi Hasan Masud 1,2 1 Mechanical & Automotive Discipline, School of Engineering, RMIT University, Bundoora Campus, Melbourne, VIC, Australia 2 Department of Mechanical Engineering, Rajshahi University of Engineering and Technology, Rajshahi, Bangladesh 3 Department of Mechanical Engineering, Iowa State University, Ames, IA, USA 4 School of Science and Engineering, Canadian University of Bangladesh, Dhaka, Bangladesh Abstract With the advent of modern technologies, electrical and electronic amenities gained much popularity, which in turn caused a surge in e-waste generation. Moreover, the application of precious materials in electrical and electronic equipment enhances efficiency and service life, which also urges recovery at the end of service life (EoL). Thus, it is high time to closely monitor and regulate e-waste disposal, collection, and treatment strategies and control transborder shipment from developed to underdevel- oped countries. This chapter focuses on the factors affecting e-waste generation and collection processes after disposal or at EoL. Also, the composition of e-waste and its respective effects on the environment during the extraction period as raw materials and disposal as waste are now considered serious environmental issues. E-waste treat- ment procedures are discussed to highlight their contribution to a circular economy rather than only being treated as general or hazardous waste. Keywords E-waste; E-waste generation; E-waste management; Treatment Abbreviations WEEE Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment EoL End of Service Life EEE Electrical and Electronic Equipment Management of Electronic Waste: Resource Recovery, Technology and Regulation, First Edition. Edited by Anshu Priya. © 2024 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. Published 2024 by John Wiley & Sons, Inc.

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  Challenging the Chip

  Labor Rights and Environmental Justice in the Global Electronics Industry

  • David Pellow, David Sonnenfeld, Ted Smith, David Pellow, David Sonnenfeld, Ted Smith(Authors)
  • 2008(Publication Date)
  • Temple University Press

    (Publisher)

  The caste status of laborers was difficult to establish, but working in thE Waste sector is considered very low in the social order, even though earnings could be greater than that of jobs in local shops or roadside restaurants. Those from the upper castes feel it is beneath their dignity to engage in waste-related work. In the absence of any formal census, it is difficult to determine the exact number of people engaged in e-waste recycling. The Materials Sources of Computer Scrap. More than 70 percent of the personal computers in India are in the business and service sectors. It is estimated that of the eight million PCs in India, roughly two to three million are either obsolete or dysfunctional and end up as scrap. Computers are constantly upgraded because of new software and hardware capabilities. Even in India, computers below the Intel Pentium IV exit the market for spare parts and recycling. In the home sector, the obsolescence rate is slower but growing. Home users often pass on their old computers to friends and relatives. However, there is a tendency for computer sellers to “exchange” old computers and offer a discount on newer ones. Old computers often end up in smaller markets and, ultimately, the scrap heap (Toxics Link 2003). Another major source of computer scrap is imports. Large quantities of junk computer monitors, printers, keyboards, central processing units (CPUs), mobile phones, and polyvinyl chloride (PVC) wires enter the country illegally. Inquiries revealed that the actual process of importing obsolete PCs was well established. Details of pricing and payment are often worked out in advance and negotiated through banking channels via international letters of credit. Shipments take approximately one month to reach an Indian port of entry, where it is the importer’s responsibility to clear them through customs. Dubai and Singapore often serve as transit points for waste from the United States, Europe, and West and East Asia.

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  Introduction to Waste Management

  A Textbook

  • Syed E. Hasan(Author)
  • 2022(Publication Date)
  • Wiley

    (Publisher)

  (2020) and Blade et al. (2017). 8.4 EE-Wasne daIntnt 315 etc.). Owing to the dual nature of recovery of valuable materials, along with adverse environ- mental impacts, if not managed properly, e-waste quantity estimation has been a subject of intense research in several countries, notably China, the United States, and India (Perez-Belis et al. 2015). Mathematical equations have been developed for calculating quantity of each item in WEEE. A simple estimate of the quantity of an item entering e-waste stream can be made by using Eq. (8.1). Q w n l . / (8.1) where, Q = Quantity of the item entering the e-waste stream, kg/y w = Weight of the item, kg n = Number of items in service l = Average life of the item, y To ensure a reliable method for record keeping, reporting, and uniform statistical analyses of e-waste generated in countries with different system of e-waste management, the Global E-waste Statistics Partnership, formed by the UNU, International Telecommunication Union (ITU), and International Solid Waste Association (ISWA), has recommended use of the UNU keys (codes) to select the most relevant items, based on the following considerations: ● The product comprises a significant share of the total electronics market in terms of weight. Such products include washing machines, refrigerators, and air conditioners, or ● The product contains environmentally toxic components. Such products include refrigerators and air conditioners, PCBs, and plastics containing BFRs. ● The product has the potential for recovery of significant amount of valuable resources, such as IT equipment, mobile phones, and flat panel televisions or monitors, and ● The product is sold in both developing and developed countries.

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