China s role in the management of the global e-waste challenge Jianxin Yang Research Center for Eco-Environmental Sciences, Chinese Academy of Sciences 中国科学院生态环境研究中心 yangjx@mail.rcees.ac.cn
Topics to be addressed Why will China be an important role in WEEE management? E-waste flow in China Reuse of E-waste Recycling system of E-waste Policy and regulations concerned Conclusion 2008 WEEE FORUM CONFERENCE, 3-4, April 2008, Vienna.
mi l l i on 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 2008 WEEE FORUM CONFERENCE, 3-4, April 2008, Vienna. 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 PCs sales history in China Domest i c sal es of PCs 36. 00 32. 00 28. 00 24. 00 20. 00 16. 00 12. 00 8. 00 4. 00 0. 00
China s EEE Product output in 2005 PCs Ai r condi t i oner Washi ng machi ne Ref r i ger at or s Col or TV set s 0. 0 20. 0 40. 0 60. 0 80. 0 100. 0 Pr oduct i on Expor t t o wor l d Expor t t o EU
E-Waste Categories in China Clear category list is unavailable Home appliances Personal computers and mobile devices Business electric and electronics Industrial EEE Others Current policy focus is on home appliances and PCs TV, WM, AC, Ref, PCs 2008 WEEE FORUM CONFERENCE, 3-4, April 2008, Vienna.
Framework of LCM of WEEE Material extraction and preparation Domestic LCI Database Material Imported Industrial Process Products use Products disposal Product Imported WEEE Waste Imported Reuse Collection Recycling abroad Final disposal Recycling Life Cycle Management of Waste
E-waste sources E-Wastes Domestic E-wastes E-wastes imported Household and small businesses 2.3 Mt Large businesses, institutions, and governments Original equipment manufacturers Legal imported 10 Mt Illegal imported 20 Mt??
Restricted imported waste and recyclers Regi on Recycl er s i n 2004 Li cenced wast e % Recycl er s i n 2005 Bei j i ng 5 0. 075 0. 8% 5 Shanghai 21 0. 11 1. 2% 18 Fuj i an 21 0. 36 3. 8% 17 Hei bei 24 0. 32 3. 4% 25 Shandong 29 0. 17 1. 8% 33 Ji ansu 43 0. 25 2. 6% 48 Ti anj i n 46 0. 34 3. 6% 48 Zhej i ang 60 3. 25 34. 0% 104 Gudong 108 2. 61 27. 3% 109 Ot her s 123 2. 065 21. 6% 96 Tot al 480 9. 55 100. 0% 503 wire, cable, mix metals, motor etc. Unit: Mt 2008 WEEE FORUM CONFERENCE, 3-4, April 2008, Vienna.
Imported E-waste and recycling sites # # Tianjin Beijing Japan # Shanghai Europe # Guangzhou # Hong Kong USA
WEEE generation estimation model WEEE generation ( t) N ( t ls ) N ( t) N ( t) N ( t) N ( t) N NP Im Ex N n with N ( t) : National sales of EEE of certain category in year t N ls : medium life-span of new product n N ( t) : National production EEE of certain category in year t NP N ( t) : Imports of EEE of certain category in year t Im N ( t) : Exports of EEE of certain category in year t Ex
WEEE generation estimated 60 50 40 30 20 Mi l l i on pi eces PC TV Refrigerator Wash Machine Air Conditioner 10 0 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 Year
Domestic E-waste Flow in China 50% Used electric or electronic products (WEEE) 20% Peddler 30% Reuse Temporary storage at home or office? % E-waste treatment 12% WEEE pool 18% Repair 7.2% Informal Recycling Valuable metals or plastics Manual dismantling Residuals 0.6% Residuals 4.2% Pile or landfill Parts reuse Residuals Second-hand Market Reuse Sales to the poor region? %
Individual Collection network Lots of people involved (100,000 waste collectors in Beijing). To door collection Buy from owners or traders Mixture of collection-disassemblingcomponent reuse 2008 WEEE FORUM CONFERENCE, 3-4, April 2008, Vienna.
Collection system is real challenge To door collection (used by informal recyclers) Return used appliance for new in shopping Manufacturing site collection Governmental institution collection pilot Community collection kurbsite 2008 WEEE FORUM CONFERENCE, 3-4, April 2008, Vienna.
Three way of reuse Direct second-hand use, such as computers, televisions, mobile phones, consumer electronics etc. Use after repairing or refurbishing; such as notebook computers, printers, scanners, hard disks, cameras, air conditioners and copiers. Use some components or parts, such as memory upgrades, main boards, and monitors etc, to make new electronic appliances 2008 WEEE FORUM CONFERENCE, 3-4, April 2008, Vienna.
Issues in E-waste reuse Flow direction: from the richer area and higher-labor cost region to the poorer and lower-labor cost region. The testing and certification organization or institution for used products is unavailable. The abuse second-hand market can make higher profit than normal market. e.g. used product was sold as new product after simple repair or modification, e.g. mobile phone. Some reuse of face-lifting product has caused serious security problem, e.g. used-crt tube Television explosion, used motors.
Focus of Four Pilot Projects Tsingdao city To Setup the collection network Constructing Hair Recycling Center (phase I: 200k sets: TV,AC,WM;final capacity 600k sets), combined with Tsingdao city hazardous treatment center. Zhejiang Province To develop the disassembling/dismounting techniques and equipment. Constructing the Zhejiang Recycling Center(TV, Refrigeritor and PCB line), 15 tons of home appliance was recycled. Collection system model: EOL replaced with new in shopping center(33 hot spots in Gomei). Collecting center in Communities Beijing Tianjin
Recycling Flowchart in Tsingdao City E-waste Hazardous waste Treatment Center Maunal disassembling Plastic, Metals, PCB waste heat Metals recovering Au, Ag etc Shatter/Crush CFCs, Dust, Incinarator Sepreating by wind and/or magnetic resisuals waste heat Landfill Fe,Cu, Al, Glass etc.
Dilemma of recyclers: cooking without rice Discarded yearly in Tsingdao city: 250k TV set 100k Refrigerator 100k Washing machine 150k PCs and others Recycling center has 200k capacity at phase I. In 2005, less than 1000 home appliances were collected by pilot project. 2008 WEEE FORUM CONFERENCE, 3-4, April 2008, Vienna.
Why formal recycler can t beat informal sector Low collection cost Efficient underground network Mix reuse and recycling Low recycling cost without paying for environment
Cost analysis of Recycling of E-waste in China Payment t o owner Cost % of VAR Tr anspor t Cost % of VAR Val ue af t er r ecycl i ng ( VAR) Benef i t wi t hout r ecycl i ng cost For i nf or mal r ecycl er s TV set 80 53% 5 3% 150 65 Ref r i ger at or 120 60% 10 5% 200 70 Ai r Condi t i oner 120 60% 10 5% 200 70 Wash machi ne 60 50% 10 8% 120 50 PCs 120 80% 5 3% 150 25 For pi l ot pr oj ect r ecycl er s TV set 156 780% 14. 5 73% 20-150. 5 Ref r i ger at or 165 96% 38. 7 23% 172-31. 7 Ai r Condi t i oner 308 308% 30. 8 31% 100-238. 8 Wash machi ne 115 288% 19. 3 48% 40-94. 3 PCs 150 75% 47. 3 24% 200 2. 7
Pollution from recycling of informal sectors Dismantling motors by Burning Making AL ingot by open melting
Pollution from recycling of informal sectors CRT Monitors PWB
WEEE recycling residuals in landfill site 2008 WEEE FORUM CONFERENCE, 3-4, April 2008, Vienna.
Advantage of manual dismantling Small aluminium Large aluminum Medium steel Wire PVC/ Cu Blank Cu wire Nickel Plastics Brass Magnets (strong) HDD disks C-black part? Circuit boards Waste Cu/Fe Mg Stainless medium Steel small Brass screws Screws stainless Lead?
Law and Regulation of WEEE Law of solid waste pollution prevention and control Law of clean production promotion Administration ordinance on recycling and treatment of discarded electric and electronic apppliances, public review since Sept.2004 National Development and Reform Commission,NDRC Management measures for prevention and control of pollution of IT products -Regulation on the list of forbidden import goods -Measures of prevention & control of the pollution from WEEE Ministry of Information Industry,MII issued on 28 Feb. 2006 in effect on 1 March 2007 State Environmental Protection Administration,SEPA issued on 27 Sept. 2007 in effect on 1 Feb. 2008 MofCOM: regualtion of collection and reuse CNIS: Requirement and Standard for WEEE
NDRC s policy points(1) Scope TV, Refrigerator, Washing machine, Air conditioner, Computer; Separate open collecting system The collection can be done openly by any bodies. The collected waste must be transited to authorized recyclers; Recycler Certification system Producer or other companies set up recycling and disposal system, must be certificated;
NDRC s policy points(2) Responsibility of the interest party: Distributors has responsibility for WEEE collection, then transit to recyclers. Recyclers should take reuse and safely disassembling and disposal. Consumers should send the WEEE to collectors; A special National Funding will be launched for WEEE recycling Part of funding will be got from producers
Policy strategy is ambiguous : EPR Why No clear definition of EPR? Reuse makes product responsibility complexity Ministry and agency taskforce conflict Industry voice is weak, e.g. SMEs Who will pay, how much rate, how to use? PRO (producer responsibility organization ) Government levy on the deposit for recycling Consumers pay part? 2008 WEEE FORUM CONFERENCE, 3-4, April 2008, Vienna.
Conclusion The Pressure of domestic E-waste flow is becoming heavier. The effective collection is the key factor for the recycling industry for e-waste. Transit informal sectors into formal sector is a challenge The policies and regulations associated with e- waste should be drafted and issued urgently, especially the recycling financial system. IPR is NOT suitable to Chinese situation 2008 WEEE FORUM CONFERENCE, 3-4, April 2008, Vienna.
Thanks for your attention Dr. Jianxin Yang Research Center for Eco-Environmental Sciences, The Chinese Academy of Sciences. P.O. Box 2871, Beijing 100085, China. Tel/Fax: 86-10-6284 9802 yangjx@rcees.ac.cn