The recycling potential of unregulated waste electrical and electronic equipment in China: Generation, economic value, and cost-benefit analysis

Despite the recent expansion in the list of regulated waste electrical and electronic equipment (WEEE) (from 5 to 14), significant amounts of valuable-resource components can be recycled from the WEEE uncovered by the existing regulations. This study estimated the quantities of valuable-resource components that could be recycled from 11 categories of unregulated WEEE generated in China between 2010 and 2030 using the material flow analysis and Weibull distribution-based lifespan model. The generation of these unregulated WEEE is expected to grow at an average annual rate of 9%, increasing from 2.17 million tons in 2010 to 12.1 million tons in 2030. As a result, the total economic value from the valuable-resource components from these 11 categories of unregulated WEEE is expected to decrease first from 102 billion USD in 2010 to 68.5 billion USD in 2019; subsequently, it is expected to gradually increase to 203 billion USD by 2030. Household baking apparatuses and household electric fans are expected to contribute to 55−68% of the total weights of unregulated WEEE, while electronics are expected to be the most significant source of economic value (92.7−98.7%). In addition, recycling electronics is also expected to be preferred from the point of recycling profits. These results can help close the knowledge gap on the economic potential of recycling the unregulated WEEE and guide the development of future policies on recycling WEEE. [Display omitted] •Recyclability of 11 categories of unregulated WEEE in China was estimated.•The generation of these unregulated WEEE would range from 2.17 to 12.1 million tons.•The economic value of these unregulated WEEE would range from 68.5 to 203 billion USD.•Electronics would be the most significant source of economic value.