Life cycle assessment of electronic waste treatment

Jinglan Hong; Wenxiao Shi; Yutao Wang; Wei Chen; Xiangzhi Li

doi:10.1016/j.wasman.2014.12.022

Life cycle assessment of electronic waste treatment

Waste Manag. 2015 Apr:38:357-65. doi: 10.1016/j.wasman.2014.12.022. Epub 2015 Jan 23.

Authors

Jinglan Hong¹, Wenxiao Shi², Yutao Wang³, Wei Chen², Xiangzhi Li⁴

Affiliations

¹ Shandong Provincial Key Laboratory of Water Pollution Control and Resource Reuse, School of Environmental Science and Engineering, Shandong University, Jinan 250100, PR China; Shandong University Climate Change and Health Center, Public Health School, Shandong University, Jinan 250012, PR China. Electronic address: hongjing@sdu.edu.cn.
² Shandong Provincial Key Laboratory of Water Pollution Control and Resource Reuse, School of Environmental Science and Engineering, Shandong University, Jinan 250100, PR China.
³ School of Life Science, Shandong University, Shanda South Road 27, Jinan 250100, PR China.
⁴ School of Medicine, Shandong University, Jinan 250012, PR China. Electronic address: xiangzhi@sdu.edu.cn.

PMID: 25623003
DOI: 10.1016/j.wasman.2014.12.022

Abstract

Life cycle assessment was conducted to estimate the environmental impact of electronic waste (e-waste) treatment. E-waste recycling with an end-life disposal scenario is environmentally beneficial because of the low environmental burden generated from human toxicity, terrestrial ecotoxicity, freshwater ecotoxicity, and marine ecotoxicity categories. Landfill and incineration technologies have a lower and higher environmental burden than the e-waste recycling with an end-life disposal scenario, respectively. The key factors in reducing the overall environmental impact of e-waste recycling are optimizing energy consumption efficiency, reducing wastewater and solid waste effluent, increasing proper e-waste treatment amount, avoiding e-waste disposal to landfill and incineration sites, and clearly defining the duties of all stakeholders (e.g., manufacturers, retailers, recycling companies, and consumers).

Keywords: E-waste; End-life disposal; Heavy metal; Improper treatment; Recycling.

Publication types

Comparative Study
Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

China
Databases, Factual
Electronic Waste / analysis*
Incineration
Recycling / methods*
Refuse Disposal / methods*
Waste Disposal Facilities