Environmental Engineering Reference
In-Depth Information
in.these.countries.arises.from.the.lood.of.e-wastes.and.electronic.goods.
imported. from. developed. countries;. 80%. of. all. e-wastes. are. exported. to.
the. developing. countries.. Given. the. limited. policies,. safeguards,. legisla-
tion,.and.enforcement,.imported.e-wastes.and.electronic.goods.have.led.to.
serious.human.and.environmental.problems.in.these.countries..Concern.
arises. not. just. from. the. large. volume. of. e-wastes. imported. in. develop-
ing.countries.but.also.from.the.large.amounts.of.toxic.chemical.contents.
in.such.e-wastes.received..Numerous.researchers.have.demonstrated.that.
toxic. metals. and. polyhalogenated. organics,. including. polychlorinated.
biphenyls.(PCBs),.can.be.released.from.e-waste.during.recycling,.subject-
ing. the. local. residents. around. the. e-waste. recycling. site. and. the. living.
environment. to. extremely. harmful. levels. of. toxicity,. which. is. caused. by.
deposits. of. impurities. into. the. soil. or. emitting. of. other. airborne. pollut-
ants.into.the.atmosphere.during.the.recycling.process.(Czuczwa.and.Hites.
1984;.Williams.et.al..2008)..A.review.of.published.report.on.e-waste.prob-
lems.in.developing.countries.reveals.that.developing.countries.and.coun-
tries. in. transition. such. as. China,. Cambodia,. India,. Indonesia,. Pakistan,.
and.Thailand,.including.African.countries.such.as.Nigeria,.receive.e-waste.
from. all. around. the. world;. nevertheless,. the. nature. and. scope. of. prob-
lems. faced. on. account. of. e-waste. import. differ. between. these. countries..
For.instance,.although.African.countries.mainly.reuse.disposed.electron-
ics,. Asian. countries. dismantle. them,. using. mostly. unsafe. methods. (U.S..
Government. Accountability. Ofice. 2008).. With. the. recent. recognition.
of. social. and. human. health. problems. experienced. in. some. developing.
countries,.it.is.worth.noting.that.China,.India,.and.other.Asian.countries.
have. recently. amended. their. laws. to. address. e-waste. imports. (Widmer.
et. al.. 2005).. Moreover,. some. manufacturers. of. electronic. goods. have.
also. attempted. to. safely. dispose. of. e-waste. with. advanced. technologies.
(Widmer.et.al..2005;.U.S..Government.Accountability.Ofice.2008).
In.this.chapter,.we.present.an.overview.of.e-waste.problems.experienced.
by.most.countries.and.possible.decision.support.tools.that.could.be.used.to.
manage.e-wastes.
E-WasteCategories
E-waste.is.classiied.into.10.different.categories,. including.large.household.
appliances,.small.household.appliances,.IT.and.telecommunications.equip-
ment,. consumer. equipment,. lighting. equipment,. electrical. and. electronic.
tools. (with. the. exception. of. large-scale. stationary. industrial. tools),. toys,.
leisure. and. sports. equipment,. medical. devices. (with. the. exception. of. all.
implanted.and.infected.products),.monitoring.and.control.instruments,.and.
automatic.dispensers.(EU.2002).(Table.11.1).
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