Electronic waste

Under electronic waste or electronic waste is understood to electrical and electronic equipment or components thereof, which are no longer used because they no longer meet either their intended purpose or have been replaced with better equipment. Electronic waste can be classified into different categories. These include

• Large household appliances (so-called white goods) like washing machines, refrigerators, electric cookers
• Small household appliances such as vacuum cleaners, electric kettle, coffee machine, electric toothbrushes
• Information ( IT ) and communication technology devices, such as computers, laptops, monitors, printers, printer cartridges, smartphones, telephones, cell phones, tablet PCs
• Consumer electronics devices ( so-called brown goods), such as televisions, DVD players, MP3 players, game consoles, cameras, as well as electrical cable
• Lighting fixtures such as lamps, bulbs, fluorescent tubes, energy saving lamps

Under the Disposal of electronics used equipment in Germany must be withdrawn from the equipment manufacturers for disposal and disposal.

Danger and opportunity

On the one hand, there is scrap of valuable materials which can be recovered as secondary raw materials. On the other hand it contains a variety of heavy metals such as lead, arsenic, cadmium and mercury, halogen compounds such as polybrominated biphenyls, PVC, chlorinated, brominated and mixed halogenated dioxins and other highly toxic and environmentally hazardous substances. Dioxins are carcinogenic, teratogenic, very persistent and accumulate in fatty foods (meat, milk ... ) to ( bioaccumulation). The use and marketing of PCB-containing components is banned in the EU since the 1980s (PCB Prohibition Ordinance ), they are therefore in today's electrical (electronic) no longer scrap appreciably present.

Electronic devices have a shorter product life cycle than ever before; their number has increased rapidly worldwide. Germany's 38 million households produced in 2005 estimated 1.1 million tons of electronic waste ( source ZVEI). Switzerland is the first country in the world which has introduced an electronic waste recycling system; it has been in operation since 1991.

Some industrialized countries, including the U.S., Europe and Australia, their electronic waste export preferably in emerging and developing countries. It is estimated that 50 to 80 % of your electronic and electrical exported from industrialized countries. There, electronic waste with the simplest means (fire, hammer and tongs, acid bath, etc.) and heavy load of human and environmental substances are removed. The adult children often also operate this recycling. To eliminate the cross-border transport of hazardous waste, many countries signed the agreement of the Basel Convention. The signatory countries commit themselves, among other things, to also recycle electronic waste imposed by the country.

Causes for scrapping

Previously, the main cause for scrapping was a technical defect in the device. Today often other reasons for scrapping are paramount:

• Missing or overpriced wear or spare parts: Wear parts that must be replaced regularly (eg, batteries, ink, toner ) are no longer available. As such functional devices must therefore be scrapped.
• Planned obsolescence, that is, premature aging or failure of technical equipment by design measures by the manufacturer. Often a repair of such equipment is no longer economically represented.
• The prices for spare parts are excessive or out of proportion for new or value of the device. Part with intent ( new purchase boosts market to ), partly due to the high diversity of parts and corresponding effort warehousing.
• Repair costs are high relative to production costs through their barely possible automation ( to ).
• Other transaction costs, such as Transport costs to a distant workshop.

• Newer devices have a better balance of benefits and selling price. Older devices losing some value.

• Computer (see backward compatibility )
• Analog TV

Legal regulations in the EU

In the EU, the handling of electronic waste by the WEEE Directive is regulated in Germany in Electrical and Electronic Equipment ( WEEE ) has been implemented.

The EU Member States had until August 13, 2005 a functioning e-waste recycling system have been commissioned and recycle at least 4 kg per person and year from December 2006. The new EU Member States were given a reprieve of two years, Slovenia 1 year. An electronic waste recycling system includes the duty of the manufacturer to withdraw its electronic scrap again and dispose of properly. Depending on the country different models are implemented. Basically it comes to the collection, reuse and recycling of devices, the manufacturer - and ultimately the end user - have to finance the system.

For devices that were manufactured before August 13, 2005, apply, depending on the country, either the existing waste regulations ( Germany: Private disposed of through the local authorities, Commercial have to dispose of it yourself ). Other concepts and procedures more accommodating countries with the historical electronic scrap and take this as in Switzerland in terms of environmental protection also free returns.

Another EU directive RoHS (Restriction of Hazardous Substances), also requires that certain hazardous substances no longer used in production, others such as mercury, cadmium, chromium and lead are avoided.

Recycling options

The most environmentally friendly form of recycling of electronic scrap is the reuse of equipment or individual components may after repair (eg, Second -hand equipment, or as a donation eg Linux4Afrika ). If this is not practical or possible, the recycling of metals or plastics contained offers. It must - depending on the complexity and pollutant content ( electronic components) - the device or assembly can be disassembled by hand before machine processing can be performed (eg, shredding ). Economic aspects in addition to the environmental aspects of meaning: Higher prices for metals (see Material Exchange ) make recycling of electronic products commercially attractive. Apart from secondary raw materials such as metals of all kinds incurred mainly plastics that are now mostly burned in addition to the other required fuels in incinerators. The third largest group of materials has long been the leaded glass from cathode ray tubes. Earlier, it was converted back into CRT glass. The picture tube has been displaced in many markets by flat screens.

Some hazardous substances from electrical (electronic) scrap recovery come into the hazardous waste incineration or in a hazardous waste landfill.

Disposal of LED and energy- saving lamps

Defective or worn-out energy -saving light bulbs ( CFLs ) are special because they contain mercury and other problematic substances in lamp, starter and electronics and fall also below the Electrical and Electronic Equipment ( WEEE ). The proper disposal of separately from household waste or household-like commercial waste is not just for the environment but also the health of coming into contact with the garbage people. From broken tubes mercury evaporates at room temperature.

LED lamps should also be supplied to the electrical, although they do not contain toxic substances. They should not be treated as household waste or in the glass container, since they contain electronic components, some of which can be recycled.

The raw materials such as copper, aluminum and tin, and the phosphors can be re-used more than 90 percent. For the mercury usually applies only if the glass envelope is intact, as it can evaporate at room temperature. Lead, chromium and cadmium are no longer allowed and should therefore only in older lamps (made before July 2006) to be found.

Due to the Electrical and Electronic Equipment Act and the related EU directive WEEE EU-wide, the manufacturer, not the dealer of fluorescent lamps obliged to redeem them; force in Germany since March 24, 2006. The collection is organized in Germany of the reverse logistics enterprise Lightcycle.

Disposal of computer equipment

In addition to the new procurement and management of computer installation, disposal increasingly represents a problem area There are different concepts are used:

• Traditional: The computers are used for as long as possible and then scrapped or transferred to a recycling facility, which will dispose of the equipment. Depending on the country, this is a fee or free of charge, or is a disposal fee levied on new equipment, shall be paid.
• Leasing: New machines are leased (not owned by the company or user, but a lessor ) and exchanged or returned after a specified period. This has the advantage that no large sums in the purchase must be invested - that's according to the country a tax advantage. The Altrechner are often sold through a growing distribution network for used computers. However, the whereabouts of many computers from leasing and similar contracts is not completely clear today. Often these devices are internally displaced in branches in other countries, where loses its track.
• New approaches to the sustainable use of computer hardware are looking for ways to increase the life cycle of a PC in order to reduce costs and waste.

The enormous annual volume of commercial second-hand computer equipment has led to the emergence in Europe of ramified and division of labor, companies that wiedervermarktet incurred devices, partly after a treatment, either in the country of origin or other European countries. Certain quantities are exported from Germany to Eastern Europe and to Africa to be used. Often the scrap ends up in unauthorized dumps and burned without any protective measure to come to the precious metals so.

The initiative Solving the E-waste problem, an activity of the United Nations University, has to address the issue of electronic waste to the target, with a reasonably neutral interest groups and global address through different measures.

The Green Grid has developed a concept for companies to be tried with the to raise awareness of electronic waste. In March 2013 were presented with a metric of The Green Grid, a whitepaper, companies can evaluate how responsibly they deal with the mucking electronic devices. The aim is to show the company how and where they can improve. This is intended to raise awareness of the company to be sharpened and are trying to get by in the future less electronic waste. The proposed metric calculates the percentage of devices that are no longer used or are broken and have been disposed of vera processing full. The companies may be as measured by the metric itself and try to improve.