Green Economics and Management

Case Study: Electronic waste

E-Waste - A Growing Industry & Environmental Threat

Definition of E-Waste

The term of e-waste is subject to various definitions. In general it includes electrical and electronic appliances which have reached their end of life. The following table lists some selected definitions for e-waste.

EU WEEE Directive (2002) "'waste electrical and electronic equipment' or 'WEEE' means electrical or electronic equipment which is waste within the meaning of Article 1(a) of Directive 75/442/ EEC, including all components, subassemblies and consumables which are part of the product at the time of discarding."1
StEP E-waste is a term used to cover almost all types of electrical and electronic equipment that has or could enter the waste stream."2
Punjab Pollution Control Board (PPCP) (2009) "Electronic Waste - or e-waste - is the term used to describe old, end-of-life electronic appliances […] which have been disposed of by their original users."3
Indian Institute of Materials Management "Electronic waste, popularly known as 'e-waste' can be defined as electronic equipments / products connects with power plug, batteries which have become obsolete due to advancement in technology, changes in fashion, style and status nearing the end of their useful life."4

At the moment, there is no world-wide consistent classification for e-waste. The EU directive classifies e-waste in 10 categories, namely large household appliances such as refrigerators, washing machines, cooking appliances besides small household appliances such as vacuum cleaners, toasters, coffee machines, IT and telecommunications equipment such as mainframes, minicomputers, personal computers (CPU, mouse, screen and keyboard included), telephones, consumer equipment such as radio sets, television sets and products or equipment for the purpose of recording or reproducing sound or images, including signals or other technologies for the distribution of sound and image than by telecommunications. E-waste also covers lighting equipment such as straight fluorescent lamps, electrical and electronic tools (with the exception of large-scale stationary industrial tools) such as drills, saws, equipment for turning, milling, sanding, grinding, etc., toys, leisure and sports equipment such as consoles, video games, computers for biking, diving, running, rowing, etc., medical devices (with the exception of all implanted and infected products) such as radiotherapy equipment, nuclear and analyzers, besides monitoring and control instruments such as smoke detector, heating regulators and thermostats, automatic dispensers such as for hot drinks, bottles or cans or money. 5

Problems & Threats with E-Waste

The problem with e-waste is that is is increasing exponentially. In Europe, the increasing rate is at 3%‐5% a year, almost three times faster than the total waste stream.6. The amount of electronic waste has been skyrocketing since the last years and still there is some waste left unaccounted for. An important factor contributing to the waste problem is the decreasing lifespan of e-devices. For example, the average lifespan of computers in developed countries has dropped from six years in 1997 to just two years in 2005.7. Rapid product innovations and replacement, especially in ICT and office equipment, combined with the migration from analogue to digital technologies and to flat-screen TVs and monitors, for example, are fuelling the increase. Economies of scale have given way to lower prices for many electrical goods, which has increased global demand for many products that eventually end up as e-waste.

According to an article from the StEP-Initiative, e-waste contains hazardous and toxic but also valuable and scarce materials. Up to 60 elements from the periodic table can be found in complex electronics.

One of these toxic substances is Cadmium, which is used in rechargeable computer batteries and contacts and switches in older CRT monitors. Cadmium can bio-accumulate in the environment and is extremely toxic to humans, in particular kidneys and bones. It is also one of the six toxic substances that has been banned in the European Restriction on Hazardous Substances (RoHS) directive.

Further to CRT monitors, plastics, including Polyvinyl chloride (PVC) cabling is used for printed circuit boards, connectors, plastic covers and cables. When burnt or land-filled, these PVCs release dioxins that effect human reproductive and immune systems. Mercury, which is used in lighting devices within the flat screen displays, can cause damage to the nervous system, kidney and brain, and can be passed on through breast milk.

Electrical goods contain a range of other toxic substances such as lead, beryllium, brominated flame retardants and polychlorinated biphenyls (PCB's) to name a few. Lead plays an important role in the overall metal production processes. Hence, attempts to design-out lead from EEE (EU directive: "‘electrical and electronic equipment’ or ‘EEE’ means equipment which is dependent on electric currents or electromagnetic fields in order to work properly and equipment for the generation, [...] ") does not necessarily mean that it is no longer used. Even the lead-free solder elements are co-produced with lead.

The above illustrates the necessary holistic view to be taken in analyzing the e-waste situation and working out possible solutions. On the other hand, the huge impact of EEE on valuable metals resources must not be neglected.

A mobile phone e.g. can contain over 40 elements including base metals (copper, tin,..), special metals (cobalt, indium, antimony, ..), and precious metals (silver, gold, palladium, ..). The majority metal is copper (9 g), while the precious metal content is in the order of milligrams only: 250 mg silver, 24 mg gold and 9 mg palladium. Furthermore the Li-Ion battery contains about 3.5 grams of cobalt. This appears to be very little, but with the leverage of 1.2 billion mobile phones sold globally in 2007 this leads to a significant metal demand8.

Similar calculations can be made for computers or other complex electronics. The increasing functionality of the EEE products is largely achieved using the special properties of precious and special metals. For example 80% of the world indium demand is used for LCD glass, over 80% of ruthenium is for hard disks and 50% of the antimony is used for flame retardants. Taking into account the highly dynamic growth rates of EEE it becomes clear that they are a major driver for the development of demand and prices of certain metals. Because of this complex composition of valuable and hazardous substances, specialized, often "high tech" methods are required to process e-waste in ways that maximize resource recovery and minimize potential harm to humans or the environment.

Unfortunately the use of the these specialized methods is rare, with much of the world's e-waste traveling great distances, mostly to developing countries, where crude techniques are often used to extract precious materials or recycle parts for further use. These "backyard" techniques pose dangers to poorly protected workers and their local natural environment. Moreover, they are very inefficient in terms of resource recovery. Recycling in these instances usually focuses on a few valuable elements like gold and copper (with often poor recycling yields), while most other metals are discarded and inevitably lost. So resource efficiency is another important dimension in the e-waste discussion besides ecological, human security, economical and social aspects. 8

Export of E-Waste: A growing Business

Many old electronic goods gather dust in storage waiting to be reused, recycled or thrown away. The US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) estimates that as much as three quarters of the computers sold in the US are stockpiled in garages and closets. When thrown away, they end up in landfills or incinerators or, more recently, are exported to Africa or Asia. E-waste is routinely exported by developed countries to developing ones, often in violation of the international law. Inspections of 18 European seaports in 2005 found as much as 47 percent of waste destined for export, including e-waste, was illegal. In the UK alone, at least 23,000 metric tonnes of undeclared or 'grey' market electronic waste was illegally shipped in 2003 to the Far East, India, Africa and China. In the US, it is estimated that 50-80 percent of the waste collected for recycling is being legally exported in this way. Mainland China tried to prevent this trade by banning the import of e-waste in 2000.

However, we have discovered that the laws are not working; e-waste is still arriving in Guiya of Guangdong Province, the main centre of e-waste scrapping in China. Moreover there is a growing e-waste trade problem in India. 25,000 workers are employed at scrap yards in Delhi alone, where 10-20000 tonnes of e-waste is handled each year, 25 percent of this being computers. Other e-waste scrap yards have been found in Meerut, Ferozabad, Chennai, Bangalore and Mumbai. The image below shows the main sources of e-waste plus the main areas where it is shipped.

Source: The Bane of Hi-tech Waste9

Sustainable Product Design and Product Life Cycle Assessment

The EU Directive on Waste Electrical and Electrical Equipment attempts to tackle the growing quantity WEEE by making producers responsible for the costs of the collection and recycling of their products at the end of usable life. This is considered to give producers a financial incentive to reduce waste at source through eco-design. After understanding the serious negative impacts of e-waste, now it comes to businesses and governments to find sustainable solutions to limit, recycle or even prevent e-waste.

Now for decades it has been shown that instead of simply banning these hazardous products from landfills and incinerators, take-back laws are an option to encourage manufacturers to refurbish, remanufacture, and recycle products. For example, product designers can select assembly mechanisms that can be easily disassembled, that use fewer and less hazardous materials, and are more readily recyclable.10.

Once business realize that through sustainable design they might reduce production cost, promote an image of environmentally responsibility and besides meet the demands of the customers and preempt further regulations, a major voluntary step would be done towards better e-waste management.

Electronic Waste: Policies in the European Union

In the publication "EU Waste policy - The story behind the strategy" it is stated that even though it is not profitable to organize recycling in a market economy, the societal benefits require to do so (European Commission)11. Therefore, legislation related to environmental protection from waste is needed. In EU the e-waste problem is addressed with a legislation consisting of two directives: Waste Electronic and Electrical Equipment (WEEE) and the Restrictions of Hazardous Substances (RoHS) directive. This legislation has been in place since 200312

WEEE directive (2002/96/EC)

There are two main objectives for the Waste Electronic and Electrical Equipment directive: First of them is to prevent the creation of WEEE, whereas the second is to increase the recycling rates of it. The directive also identifies the enhancement of all operators’ environmental performance as its target, especially that of the parties involved in the treatment of WEEE. The directive is based on an earlier Commission communication, which states: "where the generation of waste cannot be avoided, it should be reused or recovered for its material or energy"13.

The WEEE directive promotes different kinds of free collection schemes to increase the incentives of the consumers to return their E-waste. For one thing, is defines that the member states should create appropriate WEEE recycling facilities, and set up free public collection points for households. Since the directive dictates that the collection ought to be free for the households, it also commands the producers to “finance collection from collection facilities, and the treatment, recovery and disposal of WEEE”13.

Each manufacturer is assigned the financial responsibility to take care of the waste management of their own products. They can conduct this either individually or by taking part in a collective scheme. To ensure the best outcome from the recycling/recovery process in terms of environmental well-being and human health, the directive states that the facilities ought to employ the "[b]est available treatment, recovery and recycling techniques"13.

The directive brings up also the product design and manufacturing process by defining the desired effect of the policy on them: By creating a "producer responsibility", the producers should get incentives to design EEE that takes the whole life cycle into account: "[the] repair, possible upgrading, reuse, disassembly and recycling"13. Related to this, priority is given to reuse, followed by the recovery and recycling, the materials from which are recommended to be reused in new products. Furthermore, the producers should facilitate the recycling process. Firstly, they must name the components and materials; and secondly, they should not design products that are not suitable for recycling, unless there are "overriding advantages" from it, especially related to environmental protection or product safety13.

In addition to the topics discuss above, there are still a few more things particular to the WEEE directive. The directive takes also the health effects of the WEEE on the employees of the distributors into account: It dictates that the member states should establish the conditions under which the distributors don't have to accept the WEEE. What comes to the issue of equity among producers and distributors, the same collection requirements are imposed on distance and electronic selling13.

Assessment of WEEE directive

However, the success of the directive has remained limited as only one third of the European E-waste is collected and treated12. There have been big differences among the member states in the collection rates. The final report of WEEE by UNU et al. found that the effectiveness of the policy varied according to the availability of collection points, geographical location, culture, waste collection ways, the present financing mechanisms and the level of activity of the stakeholders. The study also came to the conclusion that increasing the collection rates of WEEE as well as treating it more effectively was beneficial in the case of all the treatment categories14.

The study suggested two options in order to further increase the collection rates: Either making the collection more convenient to the producers, thus decreasing the collection costs and making increased treatment possible, or assigning the responsibility of collection to Member States themselves. According to the researchers, the shift of operation to the hands of the Member States would restore the incentive both to collect more and to treat better.

Furthermore, the study identifies four problems areas in which there would be possibilities for improvement. Firstly, there is lack of enforcement in the recycling chain, especially with respect to illegal waste shipments. Secondly, the basic legal framework ought to be separate from the operational standards. Thirdly, there are still differences in interpretation, which causes a delay in implementation, which on it behalf leads to negative environmental impacts. Lastly, the awareness of the possibilities among consumers and even the producers themselves is not sufficient. This became very apparent when the study found out that a big part of SMEs don't even know about their current obligations. To conclude, the WEEE has been found useful and has been able to increase the recycling rates of electrical and electronic equipment, even though it still has several problems in it. Nevertheless, it has been a concrete step in the EU towards an economy with less waste, and holds big promise for the future.

The amount of WEEE collected from private households in 2006. Source: Eurostat15.

RoHS directive

The main objectives of RoHS, on the other hand is to decrease the amount of hazardous substances used in electrical and electronic equipment.

The directive dictates that from July 2006 onwards certain hazardous substances in new products put on the market have to be substituted with safer materials. The substances in question include heavy metals such as lead, mercury, cadmium, and hexavalent chromium and flame retardants such as polybrominated biphenyls (PBB) or polybrominated diphenyl ethers (PBDE).

The directive leaves the decisions about sanctions up to the countries themselves, stating just that the penalties should be “effective, proportionate and dissuasive”.

The connection to WEEE is apparent, since the absence of hazardous materials in the products is expected to lead into increased ability to conduct recycling of the products, and to do this in a more profitable manner. The directive acknowledges that WEEE itself is not sufficient regulation, since even when recycled the hazardous substances would pose a problem on human health. Furthermore, the directive states that probability is that a big part of the WEEE will end up "in the current disposal routes"16.

Hazardous waste generation in 2006. Source: Eurostat17.

In general, the RoHS directive has been proven to be successful and the EU is leading in it. On the other hand, concerning the adaptation of list of hazardous substances regulated by RoHS, the given lack of sufficient information on substitutes, which does not allow a clear view on whether they are environmentally safer or, in cases where environmentally safer alternatives do exist, whether replacement costs are proportionate to environmental benefits18. Since 2006, the compliance is the responsibility of the company that puts the product on the market, as defined in the Directive. However, exemplary most of today's consumer electronics are now RoHS compliant. At the same time, RoHS helps reduce damage to people and the environment in third-world countries.

Electronic waste - India & China policies

The electronic industry is the world’s largest and fastest growing manufacturing industry. And some emerging giants as China and India are coming strong on the international scene and they’re changing the global game. The electronic field is omnipresent in these developing countries, indeed, during the last decade; it has provided a forceful leverage to the socio-economic and technological growth of emerging countries. Besides, the increase of the global market for electronic products pursues to accelerate.

According to the UNEP in 2005, “Every year, 20 to 50 million tones of electrical and electronic equipment waste are generated world-wide, which could bring serious risks to human health and the environment. While four million PCs are discarded per year in China alone.” And the consequence of its consumer oriented growth with rapid product obsolescence and technological advances are a new environmental challenge: the growing menace of “Electronics Waste” or “e-waste”. This quickly growing “e-waste” presents many difficulties because a wide range of hazardous chemicals are used in components of electrical and electronic devices and these create problems to handle, recycle and disposal of obsolete products. Indeed, the “e-waste” recycling sector in many parts of Asia is unregulated and understudied with regard to its impact on the environment and on the health of recycling workers. In this part, we will see the current status of e-wastes in China and India, regulations on e-wastes, main problems and challenges and finally, policy directions and suggestions of these countries19.

India

The E-waste situation

In India, Information Technology (IT) and telecom are two of the fastest growing industries and contribute to a majority of e-waste. But India grants a big importance for the environmental protection while wanting to develop and its constitution joins this idea.

First of all, it is necessary to distinguish e-waste actors; indeed, around 50% of the products imported to India are from secondary markets and are re-assembled using old components. The manufacturers are major contributors of e-waste but also the business sectors such as the corporate sector, private or public sectors which accounts for a total of 78% of all the PC’s installed in India.

Furthermore, scrap dealers carry out the primary work of re-assembling obsolete computers, reuse the working components, then, assemble new computers and sell them in the secondary market. Finally, we can find recyclers in some areas unorganized recycling of e-waste, indeed; they use hammers, bar hands and screwdrivers for recycling. As regards risks, e-waste contains many hazardous substances and chemicals, many of which are toxic and dangerous for the environment and the health20.

There are many effects on the environment such as pollution of ground water, air pollution and acidification of soil. Also, the human population is directly touched by this phenomenon; they may have chronic damage to the brain, lung cancer, respiratory problems21.

E-waste policy

In India, the presence of e-waste is mainly concentrated in the metropolitan and developed cities. The e-waste results of domestic source (dismantling/retrofitting of obsolete e-products, manufacturing process) and imports which include scrap dismantling/reprocessing and donations. And the government decided to pursue its e-waste policy by giving responsibilities to manufacturers as regards the disposal for theirs products whether mobile phones or computers. Also, it is very important to make become aware of the gravity of the situation to the population and act upon it by spreading knowledge in e-waste management. Besides, National Environment Policy (NEP) lays stress on adoption of clean technology, encourages reuse and recycling, strengthening of the informal sector, establishes system for collection and recycling of materials, and finally an environmental safe disposal22.

Indian government insists on the famous “3R”: Reduce, Reuse and Recycle which allows to classify waste management strategies according to their desirability. To achieve these objectives, it is a long process which includes a financial support for capital expenditures on waste minimization equipment such as tax deductions, tax credits, subsidies… Besides, a wide range of activities could be supported in an information dissemination program like education and training activities, the creation of a waste exchange for instance. It is necessary to take into account that the success of the “3R” depends on the right mix of policies and programs introduced at the local level23.

China

The E-waste situation

China has already produced about 2.3 million tons in 2010 domestically, and in spite of having banned e-waste imports, China remains a major e-waste dumping ground for developed nations. Main sources of e-wastes are waste electronic products from households, but also from governments, institutions and enterprises; about defective electronic products from manufacturers and all the imports24.

At the moment, the treatment in China is poor, indeed, classification and dismantlement is made by hand, and serious impacts to environment and damage to the public health by inappropriate way for recycles and disposals of e-wastes in China. Clearly, there is a lack of regulations and weak enforcement in China. Indeed, it is difficult to categorize e-wastes in three classifications of solid wastes as industrial, municipal and hazardous wastes. Besides, it is not too easy to define who pollute the most between producers, consumers, recycle and disposal firms or individuals. For government, in spite of its will, it’s hard to ensure treatment and disposal fund and such as many laws, EPR has been proposed in the law as a principle but no operational system.

E-waste policy

Some existing policies for e-wastes have been set up by several ministries, such as the management regulation on pollution control of electronic information products, the technical policy for pollution prevention and control of waste household appliances and electric products. However, there are some problems and especially in the collection of e-wastes as regards the coordination of responsibility of different stakeholders which is not very clear and formal wastes recycle companies decrease quickly. Indeed, e-wastes are mainly collected by informal sectors because of the insufficient sources of e-wastes for formal sectors… So, to improve the China’s e-waste policy, the government strengthens e-waste management by reinforcing of the process of dismantling, shredding, treatment, recycle and final disposals25. Furthermore, searches are going to be undertaken on some key advanced technology of e-wastes, funding support for e-wastes sectors with good environmental performances will be favoured.

References

  1. EU Directive. "WEEE Directive." WEEE Directive. EU , 2008. Web. 3 Feb. 2011. <http://www.weeeregistration.com/weee-directive.html>^
  2. StEP Secretariat. "What Is E-Waste?" StEP-Solving the E-Waste problem. UNU, n.d. Web. 3 Feb. 2011. <http://www.step-initiative.org/initiative/what-is-e-waste.php>^
  3. Punjab Pollution Control Board. "What Is E-waste." E-Waste. Government of Punjab, 2009. Web. 3 Feb. 2011. <http://www.ppcb.gov.in/e-waste.php>^
  4. Indian Institute of Materials Management. "Definition of e-waste". E-Waste Management. Indian Institute of Materials Management, 1 Oct. 2010. Web. 8 Feb. 2011. <http://www.iimm.org/knowledge_bank/9_e-weste-management.htm>^
  5. WEEE Directive. "10 Categories of electrical and electronic equipment covered by WEEE Directive." WEEE Registration. EU Directive, 8 June 2008. Web. 3 Feb. 2011. <http://tiny.booki.cc/?weee-registration-categories>^
  6. OECD. "How Public Administration can contribute to a sustainable ICT." 40833678.pdf. OECD, May 2008. Web. 2 Feb. 2011. <http://www.oecd.org/dataoecd/42/24/40833678.pdf>^
  7. Greenpeace International. "The E-waste Problem." The E-waste Problem. Greenpeace, 23 May 2005. Web. 2 Feb. 2011. <http://tiny.booki.cc/?greenpeace-e-waste-problem>^
  8. StEP Secretariat. "What Is E-Waste?" StEP-Solving the E-Waste problem. UNU, n.d. Web. 3 Feb. 2011. <http://www.step-initiative.org/initiative/what-is-e-waste.php>^
  9. The Dailz PCIJ, Karol Ilagan. "The Bane of Hi-tech Waste." Blog Archive. The Dailz PCIJ, 10 Oct. 2008. Web. 2 Feb. 2011. <http://www.pcij.org/blog/?p=3026>^
  10. Toffel, Michael W. "Strategic Management of Product Recovery. "Toffel_2004_CMR.pdf. CALIFORNIA MANAGEMENT REVIEW VOL. 46, NO.2, 2004. Web. 7 Feb. 2011. <http://www.people.hbs.edu/mtoffel/publications/Toffel_2004_CMR.pdf>^
  11. European Commission. "EU Waste Policy – The Story behind the Strategy." European Commission: Environment. European Commission, 2005. Web. 4 Feb. 2011. <http://ec.europa.eu/environment/waste/pdf/story_book.pdf>^
  12. European Commission. "Recast of the WEEE and RoHS Directives Proposed." European Commission Environment. EU, 3 June 2010. Web. 4 Feb. 2011. <http://ec.europa.eu/environment/waste/weee/index_en.htm>a, b
  13. EU. "Directive on Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment ." EUR-Lex: Access to European Union. European Union, 13 Feb. 2003. Web. 7 Feb. 2011. <http://tiny.booki.cc/?eur-lex-weee-directivea,b,c,d,e,f
  14. UNU, et al. "2008 Review of Directive 2002/96 on Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment (WEEE): Final Report." European Commission Environment. N.p., 5 Aug. 2007. Web. 8 Feb. 2011. <http://tiny.booki.cc/?europa-weee-review-2008>^
  15. Eurostat, 'WEEE collection Rate, kg per capita', European Commision. <http://tiny.booki.cc/?eurostat-waste-streams-weee>^
  16. EU. "Directive on the Restriction of the Use of Certain Hazardous Substances in Electrical and Electronic Equipment." EUR-Lex: Access to European Union Law. European Union, 25 Sept. 2010. Web. 4 Feb. 2011. <http://tiny.booki.cc/?eur-lex-weee-hazardous-waste>^
  17. Eurostat, Hazardous Waste: Total Generated, kg per capita, European Commission accessed: 8.2.2011. <http://tiny.booki.cc/?eurostat-weee-hazardous-waste>^
  18. Frauenhofer Institut IZM. "Adaptation to scientific and technical progress under Directive 2002/95/EC". 28 July 2006. Web. 08 Feb. 2011. <http://ec.europa.eu/environment/waste/pdf/rohs_report.pdf>^
  19. KURIAN JOSEPH, "ELECTRONIC WASTE MANAGEMENT IN INDIA–ISSUES AND STRATEGIES", 2007. Web. 08 Feb. 2011. <http://tiny.booki.cc/?kurian-e-waste-india>^
  20. Manisha Adlakha, "E-waste Situation in India", June 23, 2010. <http://theviewspaper.net/e-waste-situation-in-india/>^
  21. Prerita Vijay Chauthaiwale, E-Wastes in India: A Rising Concern. 08 Oct. 2009. Web. 08 Feb. 2011. <http://theviewspaper.net/e-wastes-in-india-a-rising-concern/>^
  22. Ankita Rohatgi, "Environmental Issue – e-waste management". 18 July 2010. Web. 05 Feb. 2011. <http://tiny.booki.cc/?rohatgi-e-waste-management>^
  23. C. Visvanathan,‘Reduce, Reuse, Recycle: The 3Rs in South Asia’, 30 August 2006. Web. 05 Feb. 2011. <http://www.iges.or.jp/en/ltp/pdf/activity08/02_visvanathan.pdf>^
  24. Zhou Guomei, "Promoting 3R strategy:e-wastes management in China". 2006. Web. 06 Feb. 2011. <http://www.env.go.jp/recycle/3r/en/asia/02_03-4/08.pdf>^
  25. "Hazardous E-Waste Surging in Developing Countries". 23 Feb. 2010. Web. 07 Feb. 2011. <http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2010/02/100222081911.htm>^

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