Regional or global WEEE recycling. Where to go?
- State Key Joint Laboratory of Environment Simulation and Pollution Control (SKLESPC), School of the Environment, Tsinghua University, Beijing 100084 (China)
Highlights: ► Source and Destination countries involved in the movement of WEEE have been studied. ► Legislation, facilities and EPR are presented in Source and Destination countries. ► Mostly Destination countries do not have EPR established and have informal facilities. ► Source countries: good technology, EPR established and mostly WEEE regulation enacted. ► Regional WEEE recycling should be under global standards for Sources and Destinations. - Abstract: If we consider Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment (WEEE) management, we can see the development of different positions in developed and developing countries. This development started with the movement of WEEE from developed countries to the developing countries. However, when the consequences for health and the environment were observed, some developing countries introduced a ban on the import of this kind of waste under the umbrella of the Basel Convention, while some developed countries have been considering a regional or global WEEE recycling approach. This paper explores the current movements between Source and Destination countries, or the importers and exporters, and examines whether it is legal and why illegal traffic is still rife; how global initiatives could support a global WEEE management scheme; the recycling characteristics of the source an destination countries and also to ascertain whether the principle of Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) has been established between the different stakeholders involved in WEEE management. Ultimately, the Full Extended Producer Responsibility is presented as a possible solution because the compensation of the environmental capacity for WEEE recycling or treatment could be made by the contribution of extra responsibility; and also generating an uniform standard for processing WEEE in an environmentally sound manner could support the regional or international solution of WEEE and also improve the performance of the informal sector.
- OSTI ID:
- 22304586
- Journal Information:
- Waste Management, Vol. 33, Issue 4; Other Information: Copyright (c) 2012 Elsevier Science B.V., Amsterdam, The Netherlands, All rights reserved.; Country of input: International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA); ISSN 0956-053X
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
Similar Records
How are WEEE doing? A global review of the management of electrical and electronic wastes
A review of the environmental fate and effects of hazardous substances released from electrical and electronic equipments during recycling: Examples from China and India