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ADEPT: Alternatives for Disposition of Electronics Planning Tool
Citation:
Sahle-Demessie, E., T. Richardson, AND J. Glaser. ADEPT: Alternatives for Disposition of Electronics Planning Tool. EPA Tools and Resources Training Webinar, Cincinnati,OH, September 10, 2020.
Impact/Purpose:
Estimates temporal and spacial flow of used electronics that reached end-of-life management for US. Sustainable Electronics will enable us to protect and enhance human health and well-being and the environment over generations while minimizing the adverse life-cycle impacts of devices, infrastructure and services.” The tool provides the number of different devices and materials that comes to end-of-life. The information is critical for product recycles, material management officers and policy makers.
Description:
Information and communication technology has transformed the way we live, work, and interact with each other. However, as the average useful life of electronic products continues to decline, the volume of obsolete products stored or discarded increases. The resulting waste, commonly known as “E-waste,” is the fastest-growing component of the municipal waste stream in the U.S and has become an emerging problem worldwide with an estimated amount of 40 million tons being generated every year. E-waste includes a vast array of electronic items we use and often disposed of, such as televisions, computers and monitors, hard-copy devices, and hand-held and mobile devices. The composition of E-waste is very diverse and differs in products across different categories. Electronic products contain both valuable and hazardous materials. Consequently, improper disposal of E-waste could impact human and environmental health because of the accumulation of chemicals released into the soil and water. E-waste recycling aids the sustainability of these materials by recovering the valuable resources for recycle and reuse and protects the environment. The recovery/reuse of endangered or critical metals grows in importance as part of the sustainable management of electronic products moving us towards a closed-loop economy. The US EPA Office of Research and Development has developed the Alternative Disposition of Electronics Planning Tool (ADEPT) that provides stakeholders with an improved understanding of the generation of used electronics from consumer markets information to the waste stream composition. ADEPT is freely available to the public an can be used to make predictions of future waste generation demands and to evaluate variable management scenarios of used electronics at state and national levels. This webinar provides an overview of ADEPT’s functionality and utility to perform tasks, including comparing different disposition scenarios, such as low versus high recycling rates of used electronics from consumers and planning of future operations and facilities. ADEPT can be a useful tool for states with and without recycling programs as a benchmark tool for policy and sustainability-based discussions. Example applications of ADEPT are presented to portray the analytical power of the tool and how it can be utilized to provide realistic evaluations of changes to take-back programs. Operating the tool to evaluate “what-if” scenarios enables the consideration of programmatic changes without the cost of the actual operation.