Estimating total potential material recovery from EEE in EU28

In this paper we explored the recycling potential across EU28 of Electrical and Electronic Equipment (EEE). This category embodies the commodities that require electricity in order to function. Per capita rate of EEE varies from less than 150 Kg to more than 2 tons in 2018. Economic intensity of this stock is overall decreasing and it is currently near to zero. EEE are composed by a wide range of materials, comprehending valuables ones as gold and rare ones as antimony. We calculated the potential recovery rate of 16 materials from this category. Using inflow-driven analysis, we estimated the potential value for both in-use stock and waste flows. We defined this rate artificial ore grade (AOG), given recycling as mining of the anthroposphere. Using the same dataset, we estimated the composition of EEE for the same materials and compared the results with other studies. Results show that in-use stock AOG is decreasing over time, possibly due to com-position change of EEE. Nevertheless, potential recovery from these 16 materials accounts to almost 15% of EEE weight in richer countries. Similar results occur for waste AOG. The only two materials that face an increase in rate are iron and chlorine: respectively 0.08%–0.1% and 0.0013%–0.0015% stock-waste. Heavy equipment seems to be the richest category due to size effect. We finally compared the in-use material stock contained within EEE and the rest of anthroposphere. The total weight of EEE is residual compared to total in-use stock. Our results show that high recovery potential is paired with low material consumption compared to the rest of economy. This is a good sign for material footprint, but negative for the volume of recycled materials. •Defined total material recovery as interaction between flow, composition and recovery rate.•Estimated the total potential recovery of materials from Electrical equipment and Electronics (EEE) for sixteen materials.•Used Ore grade definitions to create comparisons with mining extraction.•EEE potential material recovery is influenced by durability and stock vs waste composition.