Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment (WEEE)

Waste electrical and electronic equipment (WEEE) is a rapidly growing category of waste material, which has been of particular concern over the last decade due to risks to human health and environmental contamination resulting from some of the toxic components used in its manufacture. This has been especially the case in countries of the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), where the market for such goods is continually inundated with new models and therefore, turnover rates, and hence disposal rates, are high. Legislation has been quickly put in place in many of these countries, setting targets for collection, recycling, and disposal of WEEE. Developing countries are rapidly catching up in terms of WEEE use, and some have put legislation in place. However, these countries are faced with the problems of the importing of old equipment, which often contains higher4.1 Legislation Dealing with WEEE ... 108 4.1.1 European Union (EU) ... 108 4.1.2 United States of America ... 112 4.1.3 India ... 112 4.1.4 China ... 113 4.1.5 Developing Countries ... 1134.2 Production of WEEE ... 114 4.3 Composition of WEEE and Potential for Recovery and Recycling ... 115 4.4 Recycling Processes ... 1174.4.1 Collection of WEEE ... 119 4.4.2 Manual Dismantling/Sorting/Removal of HazardousComponents ...119 4.4.3 Resource Recovery ... 1214.4.3.1 Ferrous Metals ... 121 4.4.3.2 Aluminium ... 121 4.4.3.3 Precious Metals ... 122 4.4.3.4 Plastics ... 122References ... 126amounts of toxic components, and the informal dismantling of equipment with no health or environmental controls.