E-Waste Management: From Waste to Resource

The landscape of electronic waste, e-waste, management is changing dramatically. Besides a rapidly increasing world population, globalization is driving the demand for products, resulting in rising prices for many materials. Absolute scarcity looms for some special resources such as indium. Used electronic products and recyclable materials are increasingly crisscrossing the globe. This is creating both - opportunities and challenges for e-waste management.

This focuses on the current and future trends, technologies and regulations for reusable and recyclable e-waste worldwide. It compares international e-waste management perspectives and regulations under a view that includes the environmental, social and economic aspects of the different linked systems. It overviews the current macro-economic trends from material demand to international policy to waste scavenging, examines particular materials and product streams in detail and explores the future for e-waste and its’ management considering technology progress, improving end-of-lifecycle designs, policy and sustainability perspectives. To achieve this, the volume has been divided in twelve chapters that cover three major themes:

• holistic view of the global e-waste situation
• current reserve supply chain and management of used electronics, including flows, solutions, policies and regulations
• future perspectives and solutions for a sustainable e-waste management.

The emphasis of the book is mainly on the dramatic change of the entire e-waste sector from the cheapest way of getting rid of e-waste in an environmental sound way to how e-waste can help to reduce excavation of new substances and lead to a sustainable economy.

It is an ideal resource for policy-makers, waste managers and researchers involved in the design and implementation of e-waste.

Klaus Hieronymi is Chairman of the Environmental Board for Hewlett Packard’s environmental strategy for Europe, the Middle East and Africa (EMEA). In addition, he has been leading the department of Environmental Business Management at Hewlett Packard for EMEA since 1998.

Ramzy Kahhat is a Research Professor at the Department of Engineering at Pontifical Catholic University of Peru.

Eric Williams is an Associate Professor at the Golisano Institute of Sustainability at Rochester Institute of Technology, USA.