The report on current status and development of national and

international technology on e-waste recycling

Basel Convention Coordinating Center for Asia and the Pacific

Summary China has been experiencing a rigorous challenge for the waste electronic and

electric equipments (WEEE) since the drastic increase of domestic generated WEEE. The WEEE dumping from developed countries to China increases this disaster. In this report, the present technology and equipments used in developed counties are assessed. The main drivers behind their sound recycling and recovery system are revealed as well. Meanwhile, this report states significant reasons, which arouse the survival dilemma of formal companies and the serious environment problem of informal individuals facing by China.

The comparison and assessment result shows that: (a) an enormous disparity presents in technology and equipment needs within two systems existing in the China (as well as in other less-developed countries, such as India, Nigeria) and developed countries; (b) the context arising from the amount, definition and source of WEEE, market of second-materials reuse, employees, policies and governance system is quite distinct. Thus, through selected WEEE, this study makes following recommendations which are best available technology for China, including: which technology, equipments, and combination processes are optimal choice, and which should be adapted to newly develop or design. It seeks to leverage both of the environmental impact and resource extraction within the present advanced technology in developed countries and specific factors in China.

1. Introduction

Many electronic companies around the world were attracted to set up factories or sub-contract products to manufacturers in China due to the low labor cost and the huge consumer market. For example, China’s importance as both a supplier and consumer of electronic goods and equipment has grown at an unprecedented pace over the course of the past decade since its entry into the WTO since 2001. The electronic industry now accounts for 10.2% of the country’s total industrial output value and 6.3% of national industrial profits (2006) (Wong and El-Abd, 2003; NBSC, 2006). The rapid transition towards global market leadership in the electronic industry has produced significant economic benefits at both the national and community levels in China.

For example, the Suzhou industrial area (Jiangsu province, demonstration city selected in this report) alone is responsible for 61%, 40%, 40%, 33%, 25%, 20%, and 8% of the world’s computer mouse manufacturing, the small LCDs, PC-Cameras, crystal units, LCDs, scanners and motherboards (Wen, 2006).

Advances in technology, decreasing product prices, and product designs that discourage upgrading and repair has increased the demand for new products and the disposal of old ones in China. The waste electronic and electric equipments (WEEE) dumping from developed countries to China increases this pressure of the environment. Amounts of WEEE produced around the world every year illegally finds its way into China, India and Nigeria. WEEEs’ management facing by China both in terms of quantity and toxicity has been exposed to the dilemma in this period of the great amounts of WEEE generation and the shortage of best available treatment technology. This has also placed increasing pressures on the local and global environment.

2. Estimation of WEEE generation in national and international

2.1 Definitions of WEEE and its global generation

Electronic waste, “WEEE” or “e-waste” for short expression, is a general term encompassing a wide range and various forms of electric and electronic equipment (EEE) wastes that have ceased to be of any value to their owners. There is not standard definition (Rolf et al., 2005) in the world. WEEE, if in accordance with the EU WEEE directive (that was published in the Official Journal of the European Union on 13 February, 2003), is waste including all components, sub-assemblies and consumables, which are part of the product at the time of discarding. The Directive sorts EEE into 10 categories: Annex 1B of the WEEE Directive provides a list of products which fall under each category. The list is not exhaustive but shows examples of the type of products included in the broader categories. Actually, the general definition of WEEE in LDCs is the similar as in EU, but the management of WEEE is focusing on key products both in terms of quantity and toxicity, including consumer equipment, large household appliances, IT and telecommunications equipment. For example, according to Chinese regulation, waste CRT TV, washing machine, fridge/freezers, air conditioner, dust cleaner, computer, copy machine, printer, fax machine, and telephone machine are given high priority to manage.

The amount of electronic products discarded globally has skyrocketed recently, with 20-50 million tons of generation every year (Innocent and Oladele, 2007). WEEE is now the fastest growing component in municipal solid waste (MSW) stream because people are upgrading their mobile phones, computers, televisions, audio equipment and printers more frequently than ever before. In the developed countries,

such as USA, it accounts 1% to 3% of the total MSW generation. In EU, historically, WEEE is growing more than three times faster than average annual MSW generation. For instance, the amount of WEEE in Finland in 1996 was estimated to be 94,000 ton. Considering the estimated growth rate of 3-5 % per year, the total amount of WEEE in 2003 can be extrapolated to be 120,000 tons (EEA, 2003; Ylä-Mella, 2004). In 2005, El Kretsen collected 126 million kg of WEEE, equal to 14 kg/person in Sweden. The combined Irish schemes are on target to collect approximately 6.7 kg/person/year of WEEE. In Switzerland, annual generation per capita is around 10.2kg per capita per year. In the developing countries, it ranges 0.01% to 1% of the total MSW generation. In China and India, though annual generation per capita is less than 1 kg, it is growing at an exponential pace. Environmental issues and trade concern associated with WEEE at local, national, regional and international level has driven many countries to introduce interventions (MEF, 2007).

Table 1 shows the domestic volume of WEEE in world (Duan, 2007). The volume of domestically generated WEEE in China accounts for a high proportion of the overall amount.

Table 1 WEEE generation in selected developed countries1 Country Tons/y Categories of Appliances counted in e -waste Year

Switzerland 66,042 2003

Germany 1,100,000 2005

UK 900,000

ICTs (computers, display, mobile phone etc), Consumer

Entertainment Electronics, small and Large Home Appliances

(LHAs), Fractions 2005

Denmark 118,000 Electronic and Electrical Appliances including Refrigerators 1997

Sweden 78,600 Large white good (excl. refrigerator); other appliance; Hand tool,

gardening equipment; IT, office equipment; TV, video, audio;

Cameras, clocks, toys; Light sources, fittings; Medical and

laboratory equipment.

2003

USA 1,824,800 Desktop and Laptop Computers, LCD, CRT and Projection TVs,

Cell Phones, Printers, Keyboards, Mouse

2005

Canada 67,000 Computer (computers, printers) & Consumer Electronics (TVs) 2005

Korean 6,800 TV, Refrigerator, Washing Machine, Air Conditioner 2005

Japan 447,262 TV(CRT), Refrigerator and Freezer, Washing Machine, Air

Conditioner

2006

China

mainland

1,354,809 LHAs (Refrigerator, Air Conditioners, Washing Machines);

Consumer electrics (TV, PDP TV); ICT

2005

Thailand 60,000 Refrigerator, Air Conditioners, TV, Washing Machines, 2003

                                                              1  Source: http://www.ewaste.ch/facts_and_figures/statistical/quantities. 

Country Tons/y Categories of Appliances counted in e -waste Year

Computers

India 146,180 Computers, TVs, Washing Machine, Air conditioner,

Refrigerator

2005

These figures are not very significant compared to the total amount of waste generated by households. However, treatment difficulties due to the high variety and complexity of these products, and toxic chemicals in WEEE make this waste stream problematic. If WEEE is subjected to illegal dumping or inadequate treatment, toxic materials contained in them may adversely affect the environment and human health through several ways such as heavy metal leaching to ground water or dioxin emission to the environment. (Kohei, 2004)

2.2 WEEE generation in China and less-developed countries

2.2.1 Trans-boundary movements of WEEE

In China, and other less-developed countries, the sources can be categorized into domestically generated waste and that imported from other countries. In 2003, 160,000 metric tons of secondary and waste electronic equipment were exported from the UK, therein, 133,000 tons of this was IT/telecom equipment. In this category, 110,000 tons were declared to export and to be properly documented while 23,000 tons were undeclared or by grey market exports going to non-OECD countries (Williams, 2005). According to estimations, between 50% and 80% of WEEE collected for recycling in the US each year is being exported, amounting to about 10.2 million PCs (Roman and Puckett, 2002; BAN/SVTC, 2002; BAN, 2005). It is estimated that South Korea exports about 1.8 million used computers to China each year to avoid paying the steep recycling and disposal costs within its own borders (Toxic Dispatch, 2004). A statistics data from Japan which indicated the transfer of so-called e-waste was showed in table 3 (Takayoshi S., 2009).

Table 3 The amount of secondhand personal computer monitors exported from Japan in 2005

Hong

Kong

Vietnam Thailand Arabian

countries

Malaysia China Cambodia Indonesia Others

1,354,963 197,815 65,323 27,264 14,440 13,011 8598 6643 18,015

Sources: Japan Environmental Sanitation Center et al. (2007).

2.2.1 China

In China, nearly 60% of the generated WEEEs were sold to private individual collectors and passed into informal recycling processes. More than 90% of Chinese citizens are reluctant to pay for the recycling of their WEEE (Xin, 2004). In 2006, it

was estimated that the theoretic volume of 9 kinds of selected end-of-life e-products, including PC, notebook, mobile phone, washing machine, refrigerator, air conditioner, TV (CRT, LCD and PDP), reached 80 million units, about 1.7 million tons. And it was extrapolated that the volume would reach to 4.0 million tons by 2010. (Duan, 2007).

China has banned to import WEEE since 2001. On 1st, February in 2000, Notification on the Import of the Seventh Category of Solid Wastes (Number [2000]19) was issued by SEPA. WEEE listed in the seventh category was prohibited from import. However, no clear definition regarding “WEEE” term was listed in this regulation or other governmental documents. In 2002, MOFCOM, jointed with China Custom and SEPA, drafted the provision on Catalog of Goods Prohibited from Import. A list of WEEEs, 21 kinds in total, was prohibited from import.

Although the data of the actual quality of WEEE imports is unavailable, China is the destination of a large proportion of WEEE shipments from developed countries. Some media have claimed that WEEE imports are still an increasing problem and are spreading from the primary Guangdong Province to other regions such as Guangxi, Zhejiang, Shanghai, Tianjin, Hunan, Fujian and Shandong. At least 30 cases of illegal shipment of WEEE were caught by the Chinese government during 1994–2007. The exporters/importers declared that these WEEEs were secondhand goods or mixed metals, which are not regulated under the Basel Convention. However, these imports were illegal according to Chinese regulations (Balakrishnan, 2007). Fig. 1 lists some pictures, which indicates that China Customs officers have seized electronic waste and smuggled goods from an inbound container from abroad.

Source: a, shanghai.customs.gov.cn/Default.aspx?TabID=48..., Sep 2004; b, http://www.zjkjt.gov.cn/ht‐ 

ml/gxjs/detail.jsp?lmbh…, Nov 2007; c, http://www.ycwb.com/gb/content/2005‐03/28/content_87381‐ 

8.htm, Mar 2005 (in Chinese). 

Fig. 1 Electronic waste smuggle seized by China custom in coastal cities

The Beijing Zhongse Institute of Secondary Metals (2002) estimated that the amount of WEEE imported in the Yangtze River delta accounts for over 700,000 tons in 2001 (Xianbing, 2006). Pearl River Delta was another destination for WEEE import. Applying the estimation methods of WEEE import by Yangtze River delta to the Pearl River Delta, it was estimated that another 700,000 tons was imported

illegally from Pearl River delta. In addition, it was reported that some other harbor regions (Bohai Sea Bay area, including Tianjin harbors and Shandong) also illegally imported WEEE, accounting for roughly 10% of the total WEEE imports. It is summed up that the imported WEEE volume in this area was about 150,000 tons. Consequently it can be assumed that the amount of imported WEEE in 2001 was about 1.5 million tons (Xin, 2004).

2.2.2 In other less developed countries

(1) India

The WEEE inventory based on this obsolescence rate in India for the year 2005 has been estimated to be 146,180 tons which is expected to exceed 800,000 tons by 2012. There is no large scale of formal WEEE recycling facility in India, but there are two small WEEE dismantling facilities are functioning in Chennai and Bangalore. In India, most of the WEEE recycling units are operating in informal sector. Table 2 shows the total generation and treatment of WEEE (Balakrishnan, 2007).

Table 2 Number of scrap PCs entering Delhi’s dismantling/recycling market Obsolete

Scrap PCs in Delhi (2003) 5 Year life 7 Year life

Domestics PCs 250 000 150 000

Imported PCs 133 000 133 000

Grand total 383 000 283 000

Total number of dismantled PCs /day 1277 943

Scrap (ratio imported/domestics) 53% 89%

(2) Nigeria

The recent Basel Action Network (BAN) coordinated study in Nigeria –Exporting Reuse and Abuse to Africa- revealed the level of transboundary movement of secondhand and scrap EEE into Nigeria. The study observed that an average of 500 containers enter Nigeria through the Lagos ports monthly with each containing about 800 monitors or CPUs. This indicates that an average of 400,000 secondhand or scrap PCs (CPUs) or monitors enter the country monthly through the Lagos ports. This amounts to an annual importation of an estimated 5 million PC units, with a weight estimated at 60,000 metric tons (considering an average weight of 8–14 kg for a PC (Lee, 2000) and 12 kg for a monitor (Li, 2004). Secondhand computer wares are also imported through other sea and air ports, and also through donations by charities to organizations and educational institutions. Data is however scarce on the local generation of WEEE and on the in-flow of new computers and other EEE from the original equipment manufacturers (OEMs). In Nigeria, there is virtually no

capacity for material recovery operations for electronic waste, as a result of which these items become discarded in local dumps.

3. Current situation and development of WEEE treatment in China

The developing countries are facing huge challenges in the management of electronic waste (e-waste) which are either internally generated or imported illegally as ‘used’ goods in an attempt to bridge the so-called ‘digital divide’. E-waste contains hazardous constituents that may negatively impact the environment and affect human health if not properly managed. In these countries, because of lack of adequate infrastructure to manage wastes safely, these wastes are buried, burnt in the open air or dumped into surface water bodies. Crude ‘backyard’ recycling practices, which are not efficient and are highly polluting are also used in material recovery activities (I.C.

Nnorom and O. Osibanjo, 2008).

In the developing countries, such as in China, WEEE treatment technologies are used at three levels as described below: 1st level treatment, 2nd level treatment and 3rd level treatment. The 1st level treatment is informal WEEE recycling with manual dismantling and materials recovery with traditional technology and primitive equipment. Actually, a majority of WEEE was of disposal in this level. The 2nd level treatment is formal, mid-scale or small-scale companies, and it accounts for a minority proportion of treated WEEE volume. Potential pollution is prone to generate, thus it lacks support by government. The 3rd level treatment is also formal, large-scale or national pilot companies, who are supported by government, most of them is just under-constructed or operated with a difficult way. Both the source of WEEE and shortage of best available technology result to the ineffective operation.

3.1 Analysis on the scenario of informal treatment and its impacts

Currently the majority of WEEE in China is processed in backyards or small workshops using primary methods such as manual disassembly and open burning. Workers in countries such as China, India and Nigeria, use hammers, gas burners and their bare hands to extract metals, glass and other recyclables, exposing themselves and the environment to a mixture of toxic chemicals. Together with the development of the economy, LDCs, such as Vietnam, now has to face with the increase of WEEE from vary sources. Due to the lacking of experience, capital, law and technology, the country almost has no WEEE treatment system in a large scale except dumping and the small metal recovery activity (Quang, 2006).

The appliances are stripped of their most valuable and easily extracted components/ materials such as printed wiring boards (PWB), cathode ray tubes (CRTs), cables, plastics, metals, condensers and the worthless materials such as batteries, LCDs or wood. These fractions are processed to directly reusable

components and secondary raw materials in a variety of refining and conditioning processes. The remaining parts are dumped or stockpiled directly.

Fig. 2 shows the significant environmental impact resulting from informal dismantling and material recovery of WEEE in China. The most prominent regions with small-scale, unlicensed processes are located in the southern Guangdong province and in Zhejiang province in eastern China (Xianbing, 2006).

Source: EMPA, ftp.empa.ch, 2004. Fig. 2 Significant environmental impact and waste of resource resulting from informal

dismantling and material recovery of WEEE in China

Guiyu, China is infamous for its involvement in primitive WEEE processing and recycling activities. The article by Wong indicated that proliferation of primitive WEEE processing activities has caused serious metal contamination of the riverine environment of Guiyu. It was evident that metals continued to be released to the environment despite of the official ban against primitive WEEE processing activities. Furthermore, excessive anthropogenic inputs of metals, including Ag, Cd, Co, Cu, Mo, Ni, Pb, Se and Zn, were attributed to open strong acid leaching operations along waterways in Guiyu (Goby et al., 2006).

3.2 Analysis on the scenario of formal treatment

Both the large volume of WEEE and low cost of labors result in the business for WEEE recycling in China. And it has attracted many recycling companies around the world to plan to set up their factories there or to sub-contract their businesses to China. For example, TES-AMM (Singapore) Pte Ltd has subcontracted their business in Shanghai, Suzhou, and Beijing in China since 2002. Dowa environmental management Co, Ltd (Japan) has subtracted their business in Suzhou in China since 2003.

However, as the 2nd level treatment, mid-scale or small scale companies haven’t played a significant role in WEEE recycling since simple treatment technology was used. WEEEs, only precious materials, are focused on in their treatment operation. And many companies involved in WEEE treatment who could be classified in this level just are presented in their initial phase, and face various barriers from both recycling system and best available technology which could not be simply reached. In China, several large-scale formal facilities, as national pilot project, have been built or are being planned and constructed, such as Qingdao Xintiandi WEEE Recycling Co. Ltd, Tianjin Hechang Investment Co. Ltd and Beijing Huaxing Environmental Protection Co. Ltd. All these facilities are spread along the eastern coast (central cities) of China where there is a relatively developed economy, and their current facilities only include dismantling worktable. Their economic performances are poor because of an insufficient supply of materials for processing.

For the large-scale facilities with formal and advanced technical processes, at present, the raw materials for their recycling are mainly by-products from the manufacture of electronic products as very few end-of-life electronic appliances are collected and transported to them. At present, technology and equipments only used in bare PWBs and CRT recycling field are newly developed or designed in China. Fig. 4 (a) shows the patent technology/equipment developed by Chinese Institute of Household Electric Appliances (CIHEA), used for separated screen glass and lead glass from CRT. Fig. 3 (b) shows the technology for cleaning organic substance on the surface of lead glass.

Source: CIHEA

Fig. 3 Equipments for CRT separation and lead glass cleaning

3. Current situation and development of WEEE treatment in

demonstration city: a review of Suzhou

Suzhou, in eastern China's Jiangsu Province, is a well-known tourist and cultural city, as well as a coastal economic opening area. During the past few years, Suzhou

businesses, government agencies and households have experienced a significant growth in the use of electronic and electric equipment. As the amount of e-product has been significantly increasing, there has been a corresponding growth in the processes related to collection, reuse and recovery (Widmer, R. 2005).

According to the questionnaire-assisted investigation during 2005-2006 in Suzhou city, 50% of the urban residents indicated use of a computer, and above 90% of them reported having access to the internet. The average lifespan of a computer has decreased from 5 years in 2002 to an estimated 3 years in 2006 and is in further decreasing. A quantity of approximately 415,000 of computers was generated with a split of 9:1 between cathode ray tube (CRT) and liquid crystal display (LCD) screens in 2006. It is extrapolated that the volume will reach to 1,658,000 units (a split of 2:1 between CRT and LCD) within 2008.

At present in Suzhou, WEEE traders collect discarded electronic products with payment. In Suzhou, the e-wastes are from manufactures, household and organization. The discarded electrical and electronic products are mainly collected by individual collectors and small company for waste trade issue. A great amount of them enter the second-hand goods market for resale and others are disassembled and transport to the south-east of China for recycling.

The recyclers that recycle and treat with WEEE in Suzhou could be divided into two types, one of which are formal companies, there are supplied by the one or several kinds of WEEE categories those are from e-producers or related industries manufactures. These kinds of companies keep an insignificant profit because it depends on the amounts of waste which purchased, and they could hardly expend their scale. But the environmental protection facilities are usually complete, the other are workshops which only disassemble WEEE by hand.

To sound manage the WEEE in Suzhou has been facing following challenges: (1) the establishment of recycling system for e-waste collection. The major sources of e-waste are households, businesses, institutions, governments, and original equipment manufacturers. The secondhand market and the donation of e-waste play a key role in distributing the huge amount of such wastes from developed areas to underdeveloped areas. A self-established distributing and recycling system exists in Suzhou, as well as in whole China mainland. Door-to-door collectors and recycling workshops constitute the main force for recycling e-waste. How to shift present informal collection systems to a formal way is urgent to be tackled by Suzhou government. (2) Although lots of practical and advanced technologies and facilities which have own intellectual properties have been used widely in the field of WEEE recycling and disposal, there still have many key technologies and equipments dependent on import from

developed countries. Suzhou will continue to enhance innovative research and technology transformation.

5. Present situation of WEEE treatment in developed countries

5.1 Options for WEEE treatment

In the developed countries, if excluding reuse and recycling activities, there is a limited number of options available to the treatment of WEEE. They are briefly described below: (i) Recycling, recovering the individual materials and components from end-of-life (EOL) PC for using in the production of new PC (closed-loop recycling) or in other products (open-loop recycling). Identification, sorting, cleaning, and further processing (e.g., smelting) are often required before the recovery. (ii) Incineration and landfilling, landfilling site is a preferred option by developed countries. In addition, a portion of WEEE after separated valuable materials is routinely sent to incinerators or waste-to-energy (WTE) facilities for energy recovery. Fig. 4 shows the destined way of WEEE treatment in U.S.A (2005). If WEEE export is out of consideration, nearly a half of WEEE volume will be disposed with landfill or incineration (USEPA, 2007).

Fig. 4 The destined way of WEEE treatment in U.S.A (2005)

Where and how CRTs from computer monitors and TVs were handled after collection by electronics recyclers in the U.S are presented in Table 4. Differences in handling of desktops, laptops, hard copy peripherals, and cell phones in the U.S. and abroad were not examined in this analysis. These products at EOL have different technical and economic characteristics and therefore, the resale and recycling end markets are not at all similar. Non-CRT-containing products may be addressed in a subsequent analysis. Data indicates that a large majority of CRT monitors and TVs (61 percent) that were collected for recycling are exported for the purpose of producing remanufactured or refurbished TVs and CRT monitors.

In European countries, the proportion of landfilling and incineration WEEE is quite lower than in North American. In Sweden, the way for WEEE treatment as follows: recycled and recovered, 70%; energy recovery (incineration), 20%; landfill, 10%.

In New Zealand, options available to them for disposing of residual WEEE are as follows: components recovery and sale; scrap materials recovery and sale; exporting; storage; Landfill (John and Laurence, 2006). Very few TV sets are being exported, but computer monitors certainly are. Overseas markets for New Zealand computer monitors are mainly in China, South-east Asia, India and Pakistan. Purchasers include: companies which refurbish them for continued use as monitors; companies which convert them to television sets; companies which scrap them for raw materials. TVs, desktop computers and CRTs are not classified as hazardous waste and can be landfilled almost everywhere in New Zealand. Landfilling is the usual disposal method for TVs. Computers and monitors are being landfilled either as complete units, as the unsalable waste (mainly plastic) left over after saleable items have been recovered. The single greatest WEEE challenge facing New Zealand is the safe disposal of the estimated 10 million cathode ray tubes (CRTs) in computers and television sets.

In Korea, the volume of waste PCs is estimated at over 380 thousand. About 46% of a PC is recycled as raw materials, such as plastics, aluminum, steel, and other materials. 54% of a PC becomes landfill (Byung-Chul, 2006). In Japan, almost three-third of WEEE was exported to LDCs for treatment. Fig. 5 shows the proportion of destinations for WEEE treatment.

Fig. 5 Proportion of destinations for WEEE treatment

5.2 Technology and equipment for e-waste and scrap computer treatment

WEEE treatment companies in Switzerland have their own-developed technology and equipments for WEEE disposal. The characteristics are as follows: (i) high efficiency for metals and plastic separation and recycling, (ii) mainly rely on automated technology; (iii) use dry technology for WEEE treatment to great extent. In addition, a key point for the well-managed companies is that they could receive a steady supply for WEEE from SWICO and SENS for free. In the developed countries, both the initial investment on the technology and equipment and the operation fee for energy consumption and labors cost are quite expensive. That is impossible to accept by LDCs.

In Switzerland, the treatment for waste LHAs (CRT TV, Refrigerator, Air conditioner, and other large home appliances) is recognized as in a State-of-the-art

(Hischier, 2005). For example, while it uses soundly environmental technology for CRT recycling and disposal, the initial investment on the technology design and equipment is about 5 million Euros. Actually, the investment could be afforded by China companies is less than 10,000 Euros for CRT treatment.

Many developed countries with great amount of WEEE have advanced technology, such as Japan and Germany. Generally, both automatic design for less labor used and environmental protection are given priorities to research or develop new technology for WEEE treatment. However, the shortages under their special context are obvious: (i) low proportion of valuable materials recycling or recovery, automatic technology means that precious metals are mixed with non-metallic waste and difficult to separate, and inevitably dumped into landfill site or incinerated as hazardous waste; (ii) technology bottleneck of recycling or treatment special e-waste categories which contain hazardous substance, such CRT glass which is prohibited from import by developing counties; (ii) the lack of best available technology for emerging electronics, such as Liquid Crystal Display (LCD) and Plasma Display Panel (PDP ) screen.

6. Conclusion and perspective

In this report, the present technology and equipments used in developed counties are assessed. The main drivers behind their sound recycling and recovery system are revealed as well. Meanwhile, this paper states significant reasons, which arouse the survival dilemma of formal companies and the serious environment problem of informal individuals facing by China. The comparison and assessment result shows that: (a) an enormous disparity presents in technology and equipment needs within two systems existing in the China and developed countries; (b) the context arising from the amount, definition and source of WEEE, market of second-materials reuse, employees, policies and governance system is quite distinct. Thus, through selected WEEE, this study makes following recommendations which are best available technology for China, including: which technology, equipments, and combination processes are optimal choice, and which should be adapted to newly develop or design. It seeks to leverage both of the environmental impact and resource extraction within the present advanced technology in developed countries and specific factors in China.

China has been experiencing a rigorous challenge for the WEEE since the drastic increase of domestic generated WEEE and the pressure of imported WEEE. However, the environmentally sound treatment of WEEE also enables valuable resources recovery and compensates environment contribution. At present, there is great difference on technology and equipment within two systems existing in the China and the developed countries. The contexts arising from the amount, definition and source of WEEE, market of second-materials reuse, cost of employees, policies and

governance system are quite distinct. China cannot fully duplicate the foreign models (EU, U.S.A or Japan) for WEEE treatment. The best available technology of WEEE treatment for the China should find the route according to national present situation.

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