E-Waste Management From Waste to Resource

The landscape of electronic waste, e-waste, management is changing dramatically. Besides a rapidly increasing world population, globalization is driving the demand for products, resulting in rising prices for many materials. Absolute scarcity looms for some special resources such as indium. Used electronic products and recyclable materials are increasingly crisscrossing the globe. This is creating both - opportunities and challenges for e-waste management. This focuses on the current and future trends, technologies and regulations for reusable and recyclable e-waste worldwide. Itcompares international e-waste management perspectives and regulations under a view that includes the environmental, social and economic aspects of the different linked systems. It overviews the current macro-economic trends from material demand to international policy to waste scavenging, examines particular materials and product streams in detail and explores the future for e-waste and its’ management considering technology progress, improving end-of-lifecycle designs, policy and sustainability perspectives. To achieve this, the volume has been divided in twelve chapters that cover three major themes: holistic view of the global e-waste situation current reserve supply chain and management of used electronics, including flows, solutions, policies and regulations future perspectives and solutions for a sustainable e-waste management. The emphasis of the book is mainly on the dramatic change of the entire e-waste sector from the cheapest way of getting rid of e-waste in an environmental sound way to how e-waste can help to reduce excavation of new substances and lead to a sustainable economy. It is an ideal resource for policy-makers, waste managers and researchers involved in the design and implementation of e-waste.

Introduction 1. Electronic Waste: Environment and Society 2. Current and New Electronic Waste Recycling Technologies 3. Recycling of Technology Metals– a Holistic System Approach 4. A Tale of Three Metals 5. Closing the Plastic Loop: Turning the Supply Chain into a Supply Cycle by Mining Plastics from End-of-Life Electronics and other Durable Goods 6. Evaluating the Performance of Recycling Systems: Examples from North American and European Electronics Recycling Systems 7. Current International Flows of Electronic Waste and Future Perspective and Solutions 8. Controlling Trade in Electronic Waste: An Analysis of International Agreements and National Trade Policies in Asia 9. Future Development of Product Streams and the Necessary Adaption of Waste Management 10. Reuse: A Bridge from Unsustainable E-Waste To Sustainable E-Resources 11. Electronic Industry Competes for Raw Materials 12. Future Perspectives on Electronic Scrap

Klaus Hieronymi is Chairman of the Environmental Board for Hewlett Packard’s environmental strategy for Europe, the Middle East and Africa (EMEA). In addition, he has been leading the department of Environmental Business Management at Hewlett Packard for EMEA since 1998. Ramzy Kahhat is a Research Professor at the Department of Engineering at Pontifical Catholic University of Peru. Eric Williams is an Associate Professor at the Golisano Institute of Sustainability at Rochester Institute of Technology, USA.