Waste from electrical and electronic equipment WEEE

The European Union s directive on Waste from Electrical and Electronic Equipment (WEEE) requires companies selling electronic products in Europe to set up end-of-life collection and recycling systems for these products by August 2005. 

Significant effort has recently been put in for the elimination of polymer wastes from electric and electronic equipment (WEEE) by pyrolysis. WEEE includes mainly epoxy resins and styrene polymers. They often contain brominated aromatics, which are highly contaminant. However, their elimination by simple thermal treatments is no longer possible as one of the most important drawbacks in dealing with thermal treatment of WEEE is the likely production of supertoxic halogenated dibenzodiox-ins and dibenzofurans. A pyrolysis method at low temperature range was developed, which limited the formation of such toxic by-products and reduced pyrolysis costs, even at relatively long residence times in the reactor. 

LEGISLATION ON THE RESTRICTIONS ON CERTAIN HAZARDOUS SUBSTANCES (ROHS) AND THE WASTE FROM ELECTRICAL AND ELECTRONIC EQUIPMENT (WEEE) DIRECTIVES IS THE BIGGEST CHANGE THE SMT INDUSTRY HAS FACED IN MORE THAN A DECADE. AS THE COMPLIANCE DATES DRAW NEAR, MANY COMPANIES ARE EXAMINING THEIR CHECKLISTS TO BE SURE THEY HAVEN T MISSED ANYTHING. SMT MAGAZINE SPOKE WITH SOME INDUSTRY EXPERTS TO SEE WHAT IS HAPPENING WITH LEAD-FREE. 

This chapter explores the environmental implications of lead-free vs. lead-based solder. It presents an environmental approach known as industrial ecology and analyzes the present lead-based vs. lead-free systems using this approach. The sources, availability, and extraction of required alternative metals are explored. The quantity of lead utilized for electronics is put into perspective relative to other lead applications. Disposal concerns regarding landfill and incineration are addressed. Finally, the value of recycling electronics at end-of-life is illustrated by the anticipated copper recovery required under the European Directive on Waste from Electrical and Electronic Equipment (WEEE). 

European Environmental Bureau (EEB) s Comments on the Commission s Proposal for a Directive on Waste from Electrical and Electronic Equipment (WEEE), and the Restriction of the Use of Certain Hazardous Substances in Electronic and Electrical Equipment (EEE), Sep. 2000. 

To illustrate the concept of external (or damage) cost, we can first look at the emissions from Waste of Electric and Electronic Equipment (WEEE) to the air. The different points leading to the evaluation of emission s impact are the following [36] ... 

Waste from electrical and electronic equipment arises at the sorting plant, where the frame, the printed circuit board PCB, the cathode ray tube, etc. are separated for recycling. The remaining plastics fraction is in part flame-retarded, hence contains brominated and antimony compounds. The number of WEEE recycling plants is growing, so that the logistics are no longer a major problem. 

Convention on Control of Transboundary Movements of Hazardous Wastes and their Disposal and 69 ratified the ban on all kinds of hazardous waste export from wealthy OECD-countries to non-OECD countries, large amounts of waste electrical and electronic equipment (WEEE) are shipped overseas for recycling, the majority to China as reported by Brigden et al. [2] and Puckett et al. [3], lesser quantities to India and Western Africa reported by Kuper and Hojsik [4]. WEEE contains a variety of harmful substances like endocrine disruptors and persistent organic pollutants (POPs). Additionally, hazardous substances may be formed during informal recycling. This often practised informal treatment without proper equipment for metal extraction and labour safety heavily affects the environment and human health of workers and the inhabitants of whole stretches of land. 

P.A. Tarantili, A.N. Mitsakaki, and M.A. Petoussi, Processing and properties of engineering plastics recycled from waste electrical and electronic equipment (WEEE), Polym. Degrad. Stab., In Press, Accepted Manuscript, 2010. 

Schlummer, M., Maurer, A., et al (2006) Report recycling of flame-retarded plastics from waste electric and electronic equipment (WEEE). Waste Management and Research, 24(6) 573-583. 

Today important flows of plastics originate in mandatory recycling schemes, such as those imposed by take-back obligations on packaging, End-of life vehicles, or waste electric and electronic equipment (WEEE). For such materials, the drive for collection and recycling is not normally economic, but mandatory. In snch cases, there is often a dump fee, to be paid for farther processing a stream of waste plastics into recycled products. The value of such fees varies from some 50 /tonne for injection into blast fnmaces in the European Community to as much as 50-100 kYen ( 370-750 /tonne)... 

Other items such as medical devices and meters that use plastic parts are exempt from the RoHS requirement until such time as the EU sees fit to come up with specifications before including them. Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment (WEEE) are defined as those requiring electricity or electromagnetic fields to operate them and most of the modern equipment contains plastics to some extent. 

The Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment (WEEE) Regulations will ensure that Britain complies with its EU obligation to recycle waste from electrical products. The regulations came into effect in July 2007 and from that date... 

They had planned to include a phase-out of PBDEs in the disposal of Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment (WEEE) Directive, in spite of the fact that preliminary conclusions under EU risk assessments indicated that there was no need for risk reduction from the two types, deeaBDE and octaBDE, mainly used in such equipment. 

The bromine industry became concerned in early 2000 about the formal proposal from the EC to mandate increased levels of recycling for Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment (WEEE). The BSEF stated that the requirement to separate all WEEE containing halogenated flame retardants would increase costs for collection and disposal. This is in complete contrast to Japanese copier makers who were specifying the very same halogenated flame retardants on grounds of the relative ease of recycling them. 

EnvirOTimental trends are having an impact on electrical applications. Waste legislation includes WEEE (Waste of Electrical and Electronic Equipment) directive 2002/%/EC which holds producers responsible for collection and recovery of materials at end of Ufe. Additionally, materials that contain bromine-based flame retardants must be removed from the waste and handled separately. In restrictions on use of hazardous substances (ROHS) directive 2002/95/EC, the use of various hazardous materials is restricted. These include lead, mercury, cadmium, hexavalent chromium, polybrominated biphenyls, and polybrominated diphenyl ether. Since the introduction of Blue Angel in Germany in 1978, several other eco-labels have been implemented. These include TCO (Sweden), Nordic Swan, Milieukeur (Netherlands), and the EU Ecolabel. The general purpose of these labels is to provide cmisumers with information relating to the environmental impact of the products they purchase. 

The behaviour of FRs during recycling, either by melt processing or by incineration, has been the subject of some controversy, with most of the argument centring on brominated retardants, which are particularly suitable for moulded housings of electrical and electronics equipment. The European Commission, in its draft directive for recycling. Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment (WEEE), proposed that such components should be removed from equipment and treated separately from the rest of the waste stream, which could amount to a ban. 

The WEEE Directive, Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment (WEEE) Directive 2002/96/EC, expands the recycling requirements of the ELV Directive to include a broad range of electronic and electrical appliances and equipment. WEEE went into effect on February 13, 2003. It is to be scheduled to become European national law by August 13, 2004, and be applicable to consumer use products by August 13, 2005. Article 2(3) however states Equipment which is connected with the protection of the essential interests of the security of Member States, arms, munitions and war material shall be excluded from this Directive. This does not, however, apply to products which are not intended for specifically military purposes. ... 

Antimony has been detected in electronic waste (e-waste) from different uses. This includes use in semi-conductor components as a flame retardant, or as a synergist with other flame retardants in circuit boards (Bi et al. 2011 Lincoln et al. 2007), and in plastic housings of electronic equipment (Santos et al. 2010). Antimony trioxide is used as a flame retardant in hard polymer plastics including acrylonitrile-butadiene-styrene plastic (ABS) commonly used for TV and computer housings (Tostar et al. 2013). Waste electric and electronic equipment (WEEE) exposure to antimony is of concern in Asia where most of the global WEEE is recycled, land-fiUed, or incinerated (Santos et al. 2010). 

Tostar S, Stenvall E, Boldizar A et al (2013) Antimony leaching in plastics from waste electrical and electronic equipment (WEEE) with various acids and gamma irradiation. Waste Manag 33(6) 1478-1482... 

The environmental impact of waste disposal and of chemical use in Europe has led to three legislative actions that, in today s global economy, greatly affect flame-retardant use and research. These actions go by the acronyms of RoHS (Reduction of Hazardous Substances), WEEE (Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment), and REACH (Registration, Evaluation, Authorisation, and Restriction of Chemical substances). These actions are discussed in detail in Chapter 22, but need to be mentioned here as they are clear examples of how changing regulations affect flame-retardant use, selection, and new fire-safety developments. The first one, RoHS, refers to how new items are manufactured, and specifically bans chemicals and elements of environmental and toxicological concern in Europe. One fall-out item of RoHS is the move from a lead-based solder on circuit... 

A similar effect may be expected from the EU Directive WEEE (Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment). This aims to control the use of certain materials and to encourage re-use and recycling of all electrical and electronic components (defined as that equipment which is dependant upon electric currents or electromagnetic fields in order to work properly ). For compounders, the immediate implication is to control the use of flame retardants, and a specific aim of the WEEE Directive is to reduce or eliminate halogenated flame retardant additives in the plastics compounds used for E and E products. The deadline for this is 2004, but there will obviously be much discussion as to which FRs should be phased out. 

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