Evaluating the urban mining potential of distinct anthropogenic spaces for the management of waste electrical and electronic equipment (WEEE)

Abstract

Circular Economy (CE) has been championed as a concept that aims to address the current unsustainable linearity in resource consumption by circulating resources in the so-called ‘material loop’ for as long as possible. This concept is relevant to the production, consumption and end-of- life management of electrical and electronic equipment (EEE) which has seen a rapid increase in usage in recent years. End-of-life (EoL) management of EEE has often been discussed in the context of material recovery and recycling via means such as Urban Mining. This option is desirable as it is contributory towards attainment of circularity. However, this EoL option should ideally cater for EEE with no residual reuse value, a quality that depreciates over the period of a product’s usage life. For this reason, there is a need for the consideration of product reuse when and where possible ahead of product recycling. This study investigates the potential for this outcome by investigating EEE reuse within the context of urban mining. The study begins with a review of the current end-of-life management practices in different regions across the world together with associated and relevant regulatory and legislative provisions. The review presents the current situation in EEE management as well as contemporary issues on current and future management scenarios. The study then explores the potential for product reuse. This was carried out by an empirical investigation on Distinct Urban Mine (DUM) potential for EEE reuse as well as a demonstration of the recovery of EEE with residual reuse value from a DUM. The key contributions of the study include: i) comprehensive review of existing EoL management of EEE; ii) identification and discussion of contemporary issues in EoL management of EEE; iii) empirical data on EEE stocks with reuse value in hibernation in an exemplar distinct urban mine at different levels (meso- and macro levels); iv) estimation of economic potential of EEE with reuse value in hibernation and finally v) demonstration of a conceptual reuse-centred recovery protocol with the aim of EEE recovery and redistribution at local and regional levels. The findings presented in this study have implications for stakeholders at different stages of a product’s lifecycle (from manufacturers to product users). It presents the case for product reuse as a viable option and desirable outcome to support the shift from a linear to a circular economy.

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Identifiers

ORCID for Olanrewaju Shittu: orcid.org/0000-0002-7494-4229

ORCID for Ian Williams: orcid.org/0000-0002-0121-1219

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