Reveal dynamic flows of regional e-waste: Evidence from a field research

Chonggang Yang; Bingyu Xu; Zhikun Zhu; Yan He; Yujia Wang; He Xu; Mo Zhang

Circular Economy (Jun 2024)

Reveal dynamic flows of regional e-waste: Evidence from a field research

Chonggang Yang,
Bingyu Xu,
Zhikun Zhu,
Yan He,
Yujia Wang,
He Xu,
Mo Zhang

Affiliations

Chonggang Yang: College of Environmental Science and Engineering, Nankai University, Tianjin 300350, China; Research Center for Resource, Energy and Environmental Policy, Nankai University, Tianjin 300350, China
Bingyu Xu: College of Environmental Science and Engineering, Nankai University, Tianjin 300350, China; Research Center for Resource, Energy and Environmental Policy, Nankai University, Tianjin 300350, China
Zhikun Zhu: College of Environmental Science and Engineering, Nankai University, Tianjin 300350, China; Research Center for Resource, Energy and Environmental Policy, Nankai University, Tianjin 300350, China
Yan He: College of Environmental Science and Engineering, Nankai University, Tianjin 300350, China; Research Center for Resource, Energy and Environmental Policy, Nankai University, Tianjin 300350, China
Yujia Wang: College of Environmental Science and Engineering, Nankai University, Tianjin 300350, China; Research Center for Resource, Energy and Environmental Policy, Nankai University, Tianjin 300350, China
He Xu: College of Environmental Science and Engineering, Nankai University, Tianjin 300350, China
Mo Zhang: College of Environmental Science and Engineering, Nankai University, Tianjin 300350, China; Research Center for Resource, Energy and Environmental Policy, Nankai University, Tianjin 300350, China; Corresponding author.

Journal volume & issue: Vol. 3, no. 2
p. 100086

Abstract

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Electronic waste (e-waste) has increased because of the rapid replacement of electrical and electronic equipment. Owing to the increased emphasis on the dual properties of environmental contamination and metal resources, accurate identification of the e-waste recycling process is crucial. In this study, a product-level material flow analysis (MFA) is performed from a macroscopic social flow of waste TV sets in order to demonstrate the material metabolism of regional e-waste recycling. Previous studies have focused on the estimation of the quantity of e-waste generated or analyzing the overall amount of recycled resource output, the results derived from the estimation may have some unreliability, and our bottom-up research investigates the material flows that occur between the generation, collection and recycling of e-waste. MFA based on questionnaires and field research present accurate quantities and proportions of the recycling process. The results reveal that accelerating the construction of regional e-waste recycling systems and data networks and accurately identifying e-waste source, flow, and destination are required in order to improve resource efficiency toward carbon neutrality.

Published in Circular Economy

ISSN: 2773-1685 (Print); 2773-1677 (Online)
Publisher: Elsevier
Country of publisher: Netherlands
LCC subjects: Social Sciences: Industries. Land use. Labor: Economic growth, development, planning; Technology: Environmental technology. Sanitary engineering
Website: https://www.sciencedirect.com/journal/circular-economy

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