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erly disposed of, waste electric and electronic equipment (WEEE) may trigger environmental impacts and negative effects on health. Also, the expansion of the
electronic industry is based on the extraction of natural resources, some of which
are running increasingly scarce. In this scenario, recycling stands as an alternative
in the effort to recover economically interesting materials such as metals, which are
abundant in waste electric and electronic equipment. This text discusses the current
scenario in the electrical and electronic equipment industry and generation of waste
electric and electronic equipment considering the implications of resource management and environment, social, and economic impact in this production chain.
Keywords E-waste · Scarce resource · Economic, environmental, and social
issues · Recycle process · Urban mining · Elements recovery · Reclamation · Rare
earth elements · Critical metals · Hitchhike metal/element
10.1 Introduction
In addition to the reduction in prices of electrical and electronic equipment (EEE),
the extraordinary technological development and impressive economic growth of
this industry have led to an increase in sales in the past two decades. At the same
time, the life cycle of electrical and electronic equipment was reduced dramatically,
leading to a significant increase in end-of-life electronic devices, commonly known
as waste electric and electronic equipment (WEEE). Current estimates say that
roughly 45 million tons of waste electric and electronic equipment are generated
every year in the world, and it is said that this number is growing exponentially
(Ghosh et al. 2015).
The electronic industry is characterized by technological dynamism (ABINEE
2009). The fast pace of technological development continually presents new, stateof-the-art cell phones, inducing customers to replace devices more often (Sarath
et al. 2015). Obsolescence of electrical and electronic equipment is a result of factors like innovative design and new functionalities such as high computing power
and speed to carry out tasks, in addition to unrestrained consumption. The useful
life of these devices is increasingly short, which translates to higher amounts of
waste and consumption of natural resources (Sena 2012).
Compared with conventional kinds of waste, waste electric and electronic equipment pose singular, complex challenges such as the variety and evolution of products in terms of size, weight, functions, and materials used in manufacture. The
constant introduction of new products also requires the development of new end-oflife treatment approaches. Another important aspect is the fact that electrical and
electronic equipment are produced using high amounts of metals like gold, silver,
indium, and platinum, as well as rare earth elements. The low availability of these
metals in natural environments and the technological complexity associated with
the recycling of these elements are other important variables in waste electric and
electronic equipment management (GSMA 2015).
T. A. da Silveira et al.
erly disposed of, waste electric and electronic equipment (WEEE) may trigger environmental impacts and negative effects on health. Also, the expansion of the
electronic industry is based on the extraction of natural resources, some of which
are running increasingly scarce. In this scenario, recycling stands as an alternative
in the effort to recover economically interesting materials such as metals, which are
abundant in waste electric and electronic equipment. This text discusses the current
scenario in the electrical and electronic equipment industry and generation of waste
electric and electronic equipment considering the implications of resource management and environment, social, and economic impact in this production chain.
Keywords E-waste · Scarce resource · Economic, environmental, and social
issues · Recycle process · Urban mining · Elements recovery · Reclamation · Rare
earth elements · Critical metals · Hitchhike metal/element
10.1 Introduction
In addition to the reduction in prices of electrical and electronic equipment (EEE),
the extraordinary technological development and impressive economic growth of
this industry have led to an increase in sales in the past two decades. At the same
time, the life cycle of electrical and electronic equipment was reduced dramatically,
leading to a significant increase in end-of-life electronic devices, commonly known
as waste electric and electronic equipment (WEEE). Current estimates say that
roughly 45 million tons of waste electric and electronic equipment are generated
every year in the world, and it is said that this number is growing exponentially
(Ghosh et al. 2015).
The electronic industry is characterized by technological dynamism (ABINEE
2009). The fast pace of technological development continually presents new, stateof-the-art cell phones, inducing customers to replace devices more often (Sarath
et al. 2015). Obsolescence of electrical and electronic equipment is a result of factors like innovative design and new functionalities such as high computing power
and speed to carry out tasks, in addition to unrestrained consumption. The useful
life of these devices is increasingly short, which translates to higher amounts of
waste and consumption of natural resources (Sena 2012).
Compared with conventional kinds of waste, waste electric and electronic equipment pose singular, complex challenges such as the variety and evolution of products in terms of size, weight, functions, and materials used in manufacture. The
constant introduction of new products also requires the development of new end-oflife treatment approaches. Another important aspect is the fact that electrical and
electronic equipment are produced using high amounts of metals like gold, silver,
indium, and platinum, as well as rare earth elements. The low availability of these
metals in natural environments and the technological complexity associated with
the recycling of these elements are other important variables in waste electric and
electronic equipment management (GSMA 2015).
T. A. da Silveira et al.