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J. Wang and N. Mishima
13.1 Introduction
Waste electrical and electronic equipment (WEEE) is known as components, subassemblies and consumables that are deemed obsolete from users (Bhuie et al. 2004;
Ramzy et al. 2008; Babbitt et al. 2011), it is one of the fastest growing waste streams
all over the world (Widmer et al. 2005). According to Duygan and Meylan (2015), the
world generates 20–50 million tonnes of WEEE every year with an expected 3–5%
increase annually. WEEE contains various materials, including many kinds of metals,
plastics and rubber. These materials either have high value or limited quantity in earth
on one hand, such as gold, silver, copper and palladium (Oguchi et al. 2011; Xue
et al. 2012). On the other hand, these materials can lead to environmental pollution
and human safety risk if not well treated (Robinson 2009; Tsydenova and Bengtsson
2011).
Proper and appropriate collection and treatment of these WEEE are necessary
and important regarding their value and harmfulness. Even though formal collection channel and advanced recycling methodology have been implemented in several
developed countries, the formal collection channel and appropriate recycling methodology are still in their infancy in most developing countries. Specific to China, it is
reported that more than 80% of WEEE collected in China still depend on informal
private traders such as street peddles (Tang and Wang 2014; Chi et al. 2014). Almost
all the informal collectors send the collected WEEE to informal recyclers and the
WEEE are recycled there with environmentally polluted methodology. At the meantime, the informal recycling activity is always associated with poor working and
living conditions for informal recyclers (Medina 2000; Wilson et al. 2006).
Even though informal recycling activities are deemed as polluting environment
and damaging human health, the informal collection activities are always regarded as
helpful and beneficial to waste collection. Several studies have pointed out the cost
reductions to formal waste management systems and the reduced landfill volume
(Wilson et al. 2006, 2012). At the meantime, the informal collection activities can
also generate some working jobs for low income population (Linzner and Lange
2013).
Considering these benefits of informal collection activities, one constructive
proposal is to incorporate these informal collectors into the formal collection and
treatment channel. Instead of expelling informal collectors, incorporating these
informal collectors into the formal channel can also benefit the safety and health
of informal collectors and workers on the one hand. On the other hand, incorporating informal collectors into the formal channel can minimize the overall cost
of collection and treatment, which the cost is much lower than expelling informal
collectors through launching strict policy on informal collectors as well as through
fierce competition between informal and formal collectors (Campos 2014; Li and
Tee 2012). Besiou et al. modelled three different scenarios to study the impact
of the waste pickers activities in the WEEE recovery system through system
dynamics, and revealed that incorporating the informal into the formal waste recovery
J. Wang and N. Mishima
13.1 Introduction
Waste electrical and electronic equipment (WEEE) is known as components, subassemblies and consumables that are deemed obsolete from users (Bhuie et al. 2004;
Ramzy et al. 2008; Babbitt et al. 2011), it is one of the fastest growing waste streams
all over the world (Widmer et al. 2005). According to Duygan and Meylan (2015), the
world generates 20–50 million tonnes of WEEE every year with an expected 3–5%
increase annually. WEEE contains various materials, including many kinds of metals,
plastics and rubber. These materials either have high value or limited quantity in earth
on one hand, such as gold, silver, copper and palladium (Oguchi et al. 2011; Xue
et al. 2012). On the other hand, these materials can lead to environmental pollution
and human safety risk if not well treated (Robinson 2009; Tsydenova and Bengtsson
2011).
Proper and appropriate collection and treatment of these WEEE are necessary
and important regarding their value and harmfulness. Even though formal collection channel and advanced recycling methodology have been implemented in several
developed countries, the formal collection channel and appropriate recycling methodology are still in their infancy in most developing countries. Specific to China, it is
reported that more than 80% of WEEE collected in China still depend on informal
private traders such as street peddles (Tang and Wang 2014; Chi et al. 2014). Almost
all the informal collectors send the collected WEEE to informal recyclers and the
WEEE are recycled there with environmentally polluted methodology. At the meantime, the informal recycling activity is always associated with poor working and
living conditions for informal recyclers (Medina 2000; Wilson et al. 2006).
Even though informal recycling activities are deemed as polluting environment
and damaging human health, the informal collection activities are always regarded as
helpful and beneficial to waste collection. Several studies have pointed out the cost
reductions to formal waste management systems and the reduced landfill volume
(Wilson et al. 2006, 2012). At the meantime, the informal collection activities can
also generate some working jobs for low income population (Linzner and Lange
2013).
Considering these benefits of informal collection activities, one constructive
proposal is to incorporate these informal collectors into the formal collection and
treatment channel. Instead of expelling informal collectors, incorporating these
informal collectors into the formal channel can also benefit the safety and health
of informal collectors and workers on the one hand. On the other hand, incorporating informal collectors into the formal channel can minimize the overall cost
of collection and treatment, which the cost is much lower than expelling informal
collectors through launching strict policy on informal collectors as well as through
fierce competition between informal and formal collectors (Campos 2014; Li and
Tee 2012). Besiou et al. modelled three different scenarios to study the impact
of the waste pickers activities in the WEEE recovery system through system
dynamics, and revealed that incorporating the informal into the formal waste recovery