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Toxics
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Electronic-Waste: Management and Challenges
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Electronic-Waste: Management and Challenges

A special issue of Toxics (ISSN 2305-6304). This special issue belongs to the section "Exposome Analysis and Risk Assessment".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (20 September 2021) | Viewed by 22240

Special Issue Editors

Dr. Francesco Lolli

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Guest Editor
Department of Engineering Sciences and Methods, University of Modena and Reggio Emilia, 41121 Modena, Italy
Interests: multi criteria decision making; inventory management; spare parts; additive manufacturing
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals
Dr. Elia Balugani

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Guest Editor
Department of Sciences and Methods for Engineering, University of Modena and Reggio Emilia, Via Amendola 2, Padiglione Morselli, 42122 Reggio Emilia, Italy.

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Electrical and electronic goods production is crucial to support the fourth industrial revolution. Nonetheless, each product becomes, at the end of its life cycle, waste electrical and electronic equipment (WEEE) whose hazardous contents show severe environmental and health issues. As a result, their disposal phase has been extensively promoted by laws and regulations.

Environmental, economic, and social analysis are the three pillars of sustainability and guide us in evaluating the impacts of products and processes in an integrated fashion. From this perspective, WEEE management deserves our attention.

The aim of this Special Issue is to investigate the new challenges that the end-of-life of electrical and electronic goods pose, as well as the opportunities of a circular economy paradigm in that context.

The possible fields of interest of this Special Issue are, but not restricted to:

  • Machine learning techniques;
  • Life-cycle assessment (LCA);
  • Multiple-criteria decision analysis (MCDA);
  • Optimization methods;
  • Product design guidelines;

applied to WEEE management or any lifecycle phases affecting the end-of-life of electrical and electronic goods.

Original articles, reviews, and communications are welcome.

Dr. Francesco Lolli
Dr. Elia Balugani
Guest Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Toxics is an international peer-reviewed open access monthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2600 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

  • WEEE
  • Industry 4.0
  • machine learning
  • LCA
  • MCDA
  • design for disassembly

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Published Papers (4 papers)

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Research

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24 pages, 6493 KiB  
Article
Analysis of Households’ E-Waste Awareness, Disposal Behavior, and Estimation of Potential Waste Mobile Phones towards an Effective E-Waste Management System in Dubai
by Yousra Attia, Prashant Kumar Soori and Fadi Ghaith
Toxics 2021, 9(10), 236; https://doi.org/10.3390/toxics9100236 - 25 Sep 2021
Cited by 31 | Viewed by 6981
Abstract
During the recent decades, the world has seen ongoing economic and technological development which resulted in the generation of huge volumes of electrical and electronic waste (e-waste). In the Middle East, the United Arab Emirates (UAE) ranks among countries with large e-waste generation [...] Read more.
During the recent decades, the world has seen ongoing economic and technological development which resulted in the generation of huge volumes of electrical and electronic waste (e-waste). In the Middle East, the United Arab Emirates (UAE) ranks among countries with large e-waste generation due to its consumers’ high spending on electronic devices thereby resulting in a high obsolescence rate in the country. Accordingly, this study aims to analyze the e-waste management and recycling practices in the UAE. It takes Dubai as a case study and conducts a structured questionnaire to analyze households’ awareness, consumption of electronic devices in general and mobile phones in particular, and the disposal behavior of e-waste. Waste mobile phones is taken as a key representative in this study, in which potential waste mobile phones is estimated using the Approximation 1 method in the period 2021–2030. Results from the survey illustrated gaps among households’ awareness and disposal behavior of e-waste, where e-waste recycling rates were noticed to be low. Based on these gaps, strategies were proposed for an effective e-waste management system in the context of Dubai, and were supported by the proposal of an e-waste legislation framework in the UAE. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Electronic-Waste: Management and Challenges)
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19 pages, 2667 KiB  
Article
Ecotoxicity of Plastics from Informal Waste Electric and Electronic Treatment and Recycling
by Maria Angela Butturi, Simona Marinelli, Rita Gamberini and Bianca Rimini
Toxics 2020, 8(4), 99; https://doi.org/10.3390/toxics8040099 - 8 Nov 2020
Cited by 22 | Viewed by 4209
Abstract
Plastic materials account for about 20% of waste electrical and electronic equipment (WEEE). The recycling of this plastic fraction is a complex issue, heavily conditioned by the content of harmful additives, such as brominated flame retardants. Thus, the management and reprocessing of WEEE [...] Read more.
Plastic materials account for about 20% of waste electrical and electronic equipment (WEEE). The recycling of this plastic fraction is a complex issue, heavily conditioned by the content of harmful additives, such as brominated flame retardants. Thus, the management and reprocessing of WEEE plastics pose environmental and human health concerns, mainly in developing countries, where informal recycling and disposal are practiced. The objective of this study was twofold. Firstly, it aimed to investigate some of the available options described in the literature for the re-use of WEEE plastic scraps in construction materials, a promising recycling route in the developing countries. Moreover, it presents an evaluation of the impact of these available end-of-life scenarios on the environment by means of the life cycle assessment (LCA) approach. In order to consider worker health and human and ecological risks, the LCA analysis focuses on ecotoxicity more than on climate change. The LCA evaluation confirmed that the plastic re-use in the construction sector has a lower toxicity impact on the environment and human health than common landfilling and incineration practices. It also shows that the unregulated handling and dismantling activities, as well as the re-use practices, contribute significantly to the impact of WEEE plastic treatments. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Electronic-Waste: Management and Challenges)
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Review

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20 pages, 1750 KiB  
Review
Multi-Criteria Decision Making Approaches Applied to Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment (WEEE): A Comprehensive Literature Review
by Samuele Marinello and Rita Gamberini
Toxics 2021, 9(1), 13; https://doi.org/10.3390/toxics9010013 - 18 Jan 2021
Cited by 29 | Viewed by 4513
Abstract
The global demand for electrical and electronic equipment has undergone continuous growth in recent years due to the effect of industrialization and technological development. This indicates substantial quantities of e-waste that need to be managed properly to reduce their environmental impact and to [...] Read more.
The global demand for electrical and electronic equipment has undergone continuous growth in recent years due to the effect of industrialization and technological development. This indicates substantial quantities of e-waste that need to be managed properly to reduce their environmental impact and to avoid inappropriate forms of disposal. The purpose of this paper is to review the most popular multi-criteria decision-making approaches applied to the management of waste electrical and electronic equipment, analyzing how they are used to contribute to the improvement of management strategies along the entire supply chain. For this purpose, a methodological protocol for the collection, selection, and analysis of the scientific literature was applied, identifying 44 papers on which to conduct this study. The results showed that numerous authors have developed multi-criteria approaches, with particular attention to recycling phase. The analytic hierarchy process is the most widespread multi-criteria approach, often coupled with VIKOR, DELPHI, and TOPSIS methods. The numerous decision making criteria adopted cover different reference dimensions: environmental, economic, social, technical, and legal. Considering environmental aspects also in decision making processes means enhancing the relevance of this dimension, as well as encouraging practices that reduce the impact of toxic substances on the environment and living organisms. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Electronic-Waste: Management and Challenges)
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Other

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12 pages, 847 KiB  
Case Report
Recycling Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment (WEEE) and the Management of Its Toxic Substances in Taiwan—A Case Study
by Wen-Tien Tsai
Toxics 2020, 8(3), 48; https://doi.org/10.3390/toxics8030048 - 7 Jul 2020
Cited by 14 | Viewed by 5053
Abstract
In the past two decades, the waste electrical and electronic equipment (WEEE) management has become an important environmental issue internationally because it contained hazardous substances like heavy metals and brominated flame retardants. Moreover, some valuable substances were used in the electrical and electronic [...] Read more.
In the past two decades, the waste electrical and electronic equipment (WEEE) management has become an important environmental issue internationally because it contained hazardous substances like heavy metals and brominated flame retardants. Moreover, some valuable substances were used in the electrical and electronic products, thus representing a circular industry for recycling of WEEE. Therefore, the Taiwan government formulated a legal WEEE recycling system since 1998 in response to the international trends of sustainable waste management and extended producer responsibility (EPR). This article adopted the national statistics in Taiwan regarding the online reporting amounts of collected WEEE since it has been officially designated as one of the mandatory recyclable wastes. Furthermore, the regulatory measures were addressed to update the status and subsidiary fee rates of WEEE recycling in Taiwan. In addition, this article also put emphasis on the regulations governing the toxic chemical substances contained in the WEEE. It showed that the average annual recycling amounts of home electronic appliances, information technology products and lighting in Taiwan during the 2017–2018 were around 117,000, 18,000 and 4500 metric tons, respectively. It was also indicated that the current WEEE recycling market in Taiwan has become saturated, reflecting the regulatory promulgation and promotional measures successfully. In response to the Stockholm Convention on persistent organic pollutants (POPs) and the Minamata Convention on Mercury, the Taiwan government declared some brominated flame retardants and heavy metals (i.e., mercury and cadmium) as a “toxic chemical substance” under the Toxic and Concerned Chemical Substance Control Act (TCCSCA), which shall be prohibited to use in the preparation of electrical and electronic equipment (EEE) since 1 January 2016. Through the central governing authority, local governments, and private recyclers in Taiwan, the successful WEEE recycling system not only reduce the pressure on sanitary disposal systems, but also prevent the chemical hazards from solid waste incineration systems. More significantly, the WEEE recycling in Taiwan echoed the United Nations (UN) Agenda 2030 for sustainable development goals. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Electronic-Waste: Management and Challenges)
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