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Electronics Waste Management Challenges and Opportunities
Citation:
Sahle-Demessie, E., J. Glaser, AND T. Richardson. Electronics Waste Management Challenges and Opportunities. American Chemical Society 2018 National Meeting, Boston, MA, August 19 - 23, 2018.
Impact/Purpose:
Electronic waste or e-waste is one of the emerging problems in developed and developing countries worldwide. Most of the obsolete equipment find their way into developing countries who are hungry for information technology access. At the end of life, electronic waste eventually finds their way into landfills which may pose health and environmental hazards to humans, and the environment if not properly managed. This presentation reviews the issues relating to current e-waste scenario, namely magnitude of the problem, environmental and health hazards, current disposal, recycling operations and mechanisms to improve the condition for better environment.
Description:
The rapid increase in consumer electronics purchases has created a growing stream of used electronics in need of appropriate management. The average American owns 24 units per household, and the annual E-waste is estimated 1.8 M metric tons in 2015. Half of the states have enacted legislation based extended producer responsibility (EPR) program to support the management of the end-of-life electronics of varying scope and design. Recycling programs mandate the collection of many recyclables, which have little market value or capability to be processed, and restricting or banning the landfilling of e-waste. Many of manufacturers and retailers also offer take-back programs. However, U.S.EPA has estimated that approximately 25% of domestic e-waste is currently being recycled or reused. The e-metals waste streams are being recycled to a reasonable degree due to the value of precious metals. E-plastic waste streams currently are not recycled or reused to a significant extent. As a result, most e-plastics are disposed of by landfilling or thermal treatment, or sent overseas for recycling or reuse. The two of the major barriers to e-plastics’ reuse or recycling are the mixed plastic content and the presence in the e-plastics brominated flame retardants (BFR) and organo-phosphorus flame retardants (OPFR), have associated health concerns. E-plastics represent a larger fraction of the e-waste stream than e-metals, and there are significantly fewer options for their recycling or reuse. Thus, EU and U.S. recyclers have relied on demand from the Chinese market to sustain their operations. The recent China’s import ban presents both a challenge to electronics waste management programs and an opportunity for innovative approaches.