Matching Items (3)
Description
Currently, consumers throw away products every day, turning those materials into waste. Electronic waste poses special problems when it is not recycled because it may contain toxic components that can leach into landfill surroundings and reach groundwater sources or contaminate soil, and its plastic, metal, and electronic materials do not biodegrade and are lost rather than recycled. This study analyzes a system that attempts to solve the electronic post-consumer-waste problem by shifting the economic burden of disposal from local municipalities to producers, reducing its environmental impacts while promoting economic development. The system was created in British Columbia, Canada after the province enacted a recycling regulation based on Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR), a policy strategy that is fast growing globally. The BC recycling regulation requires all e-toy corporations in BC to comply with a government-approved product-stewardship program to recover and dispose of e-toys after they have been discarded by consumers. In response to the regulation, e-toy corporations joined a Canadian non-profit entity that recycles regulated waste. I conducted a case study using in-depth interviews with the stakeholders to identify the outcomes of this program and its potential for replication in other industries. I derived lessons from which corporations can learn to implement stewardship programs based on EPR regulations. The e-toy program demonstrated that creating exclusive programs is neither efficient nor economically feasible. Corporations should expect low recycling rates in the first phases of the program implementation because EPR regulations are long-term strategies. In order to reach any conclusions about the demand of consumers for recycling programs, we need to measure the program's return rates during at least three years. I also derived lessons that apply to the expansion of EPR regulations to a broader scope of product categories. The optimal way to expand EPR policy is to do it by gradually adding new product categories to the regulation on a long-term schedule. By doing so, new categories can take advantage of existing stewardship programs and their infrastructure to recover and recycle the post-consumer products. EPR proved to be an effective option to make corporations start thinking about the end of life of their products.
ContributorsNemer Soto, Andrea (Author) / Dooley, Kevin (Thesis advisor) / Basile, George (Committee member) / White, Philip (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2014
Description
Electronic waste (E-waste) is a concern, because of the increasing volume of materials being disposed of. There are economical, social and environmental implications derived from these materials. For example, the international trade of used computers creates jobs, but the recovery from valuable materials is technically challenging and currently there are environmental and health problems derived from inappropriate recycling practices. Forecasting the flows of used computers and e-waste materials supports the prevention of environmental impacts. However, the nature of these material flows is complex. There are technological geographical and cultural factors that affect how users purchase, store or dispose of their equipment. The result of these dynamics is a change in the composition and volume of these flows. Collectors are affected by these factors and the presence of markets, labor and transportation costs. In northern Mexico, there is an international flow of new and used computers between Mexico and the United States and an internal flow of materials and products among Mexican cities. In order to understand the behavior of these flows a field study was carried out in 8 different Mexican cities. Stake holders were interviewed and through a structured analysis the system and the relevant stakeholders were expressed as Data Flow Diagrams in order; to understand the critical parts from the system. The results show that Mexican cities have important qualitative differences. For example, location and size define the availability of resources to manage e-waste. Decisions to dispose a computer depend on international factors such as the price of new computers, but also on regional factors such as the cost to repair them. Decisions to store a computer depend on external factors such as markets, but also internal factors such as how users perceive the value of old equipment. E-waste collection depends on the value of e-waste, but also on costs to collect and extract value from them. The main implication is that a general policy base on how E-waste is managed at a big city might not be the most efficient for a small one. More over combining strengths from different cities might overcome respective weaknesses and create new opportunities; this integration can be stimulated by designing policies that consider diversity
ContributorsEstrada Ayub, Jesus Angel (Author) / Allenby, Braden R. (Thesis advisor) / Ramzy, Kahhat A (Thesis advisor) / Kahhat, Ramzy A (Committee member) / Williams, Eric (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2012
Description
The problem is that children in developing countries are doing our dirty work. Electronic waste that end up in landfills in these developing countries pose a danger to the children extracting metals that are then resold in local markets. The dumping of solar panels in these landfills is sometimes the only alternative for some manufactures because there is no viable option for silicon wafers. Solar panel installations started to peak in the early 1990's . With the lifespan of a solar panel being 25 years, recycling these panel is not a priority task in government policies. First Solar is currently the only company in the United States that executes the full recycling process. However, there is an environmental hotspot and an energy intensity phase identified in their process. The second stage in First Solar's recycling method consist of hammering and shredding the solar panel to reduce the surface area to then move on the chemical path stage. This stage currently uses 1.1 kWh for a meter by meter solar cell. A thermal processing method was explored and found to be the most environmentally conscious chose in terms of emissions and energy cost. The thermal method uses a conventional furnace to burn away the EVA, leaving the internal components of the cell intact and ready for the remaining process of recycling. SLICE method aims to introduce an industry tailored, low energy cost process, that initiates a solar panel recycling infrastructure in the United States. The recycling infrastructure is needed to sustain the exponential growth of solar panels and avoid third party recycling to developing countries. This new method transitions from lab tested batch processes to a continuous process.
ContributorsMartinez, Mariana (Co-author) / Grayson, Madison (Co-author) / Seager, Thomas (Thesis director) / Ravikumar, Dwarak (Committee member) / Civil, Environmental and Sustainable Engineering Programs (Contributor) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor)
Created2017-05