You are here:
Developing an understanding of electronic waste flow for the United States
Citation:
Sahle-Demessie, E., J. Glaser, AND T. Richardson. Developing an understanding of electronic waste flow for the United States. Ameican Chemical Society National Meeting, Boston, MA, August 19 - 23, 2018.
Impact/Purpose:
The purpose of this presentaiton is to provide an understanding of the research path taken by a team of researchers tasked with the question of developing a knowledge base for the flow or used electronic materials throughout the states of the US.The importance of this research bis directly tied to the recognized linkage between used electronic components and human health.This research seeks to design and fabricate a tool which enables the user to assess the flow of electronic waste between states,
Description:
The number and variety of electronic technologies have been growing rapidly, and the average use-life of these products is getting shorter. Twenty-five states in the U.S., encompassing 65% of the population, have an electronic waste (e-waste) take-back program. However, comprehensive data for estimating the flow of E-waste is unavailable. EPA’s Office of Research and Development is developing a flow model for domestic tracking of the quantity and flow of used electronics. The flow model is designed to produce national-, regional-, and state-level data on the annual amount of electronic products entering end of life (EOL) management based on unit sales data in combination with estimates of years of useful life and average product weights. The flow model employs a combination of top-down data sources and bottom-up assumptions to track the generation of e-waste by state and to estimate the material flows from generation to collection. This model uses a market supply method to calculate the amount of e-waste generated and that considers reuse, recycling, export, and disposal (landfilling). Assumptions regarding product life spans (including reuse), recycling, storage, and disposal are used to reflect consumer behavior in the disposition of used electronic devices. The model, which applies Weibull distributions to characterize product lifetimes, predicted that the national-level estimate for the total amount of e-waste has risen from 6.8x10^5 mt to more than 2.5 million mt over the past 20 years. As compared to the estimate from the 2013 EPA study, the current model estimates are 350,000 mt less, which could be attributed to updates made to product weights and lifetimes.