A competing risks approach for time estimation of household WEEE disposal

Journal Article · Sun Aug 15 00:00:00 EDT 2010 · Waste Management

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1016/j.wasman.2010.02.032· OSTI ID:21418135

Gutierrez, E ^[1]; Adenso-Diaz, B ^[2]; Lozano, S ^[1]; Gonzalez-Torre, P ^[2]

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1. Escuela Tecnica Superior de Ingenieros, Universidad de Sevilla, 41092 Sevilla (Spain)
2. Escuela Politecnica Superior de Ingenieria, Universidad de Oviedo, 33204 Gijon (Spain)

The recent growth in the number of electrical and electronic devices is viewed as one the priority waste streams in European Union waste management policy. This paper presents the findings of a survey to study domestic habits with respect to Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment (WEEE) in Spain. A specific problem when performing this estimation arises from the fact that consumers quite often store old appliances at home when they are no longer used. Focusing on four different types of appliance, survival analysis (SA) is used to study both the usage span and the reasons for no longer using each device. The time that the discarded products were kept at home before being disposed of was studied using competing risks (CR) analysis. The results of the analysis provide information on the distribution of the studied variables for the different outcomes as well as the influence exerted by the socio-demographic variables considered. Relations between these characteristics and the storage time of the appliances before disposal emerge based on survey data. For instance, the CR model finds that the storage time of the some appliances (i.e. refrigerator) is related to these social-demographics factors. However, other appliances (i.e. microwave oven) are less influenced by these factors. The attitude and motivation of the respondents to the survey as regards the End-of-Life of appliances were also analysed. A majority of respondents do not store discarded appliances at home. The first reason for storing appliances at home is the possibility of it being useful in the future and the second that the respondents did not know what to do with them.

• OSTI ID: 21418135
• Journal Information: Waste Management, Journal Name: Waste Management Journal Issue: 8-9 Vol. 30; ISSN WAMAE2; ISSN 0956-053X
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

54 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES
APPLIANCES
ATTITUDES
DEVELOPING COUNTRIES
ELECTRIC APPLIANCES
ELECTRICAL EQUIPMENT
ELECTRONIC EQUIPMENT
ENVIRONMENTAL POLICY
EQUIPMENT
EUROPE
EUROPEAN UNION
GOVERNMENT POLICIES
HOUSEHOLDS
INTERNATIONAL ORGANIZATIONS
MANAGEMENT
RISK ASSESSMENT
SOLID WASTES
SPAIN
STORAGE
WASTE MANAGEMENT
WASTES
WESTERN EUROPE