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A Study on the Environmental Aspects of WEEE Plastic Recycling in a Brazilian Company

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A Study on the Environmental Aspects of WEEE Plastic Recycling in a Brazilian Company Int J Life Cycle Assess (2017) 22:1957–1968 DOI 10.1007/s11367-017-1282-2 LCA OF WASTE MANAGEMENT SYSTEMS A study on the environmental aspects of WEEE plastic recycling in a Brazilian company Juliana Mendes Campolina1 & Carolina São Leandro Sigrist1 & Jane Maria Faulstich de Paiva1 & Andréa Oliveira Nunes1 & Virgínia Aparecida da Silva Moris1 Received: 6 July 2016 /Accepted: 9 February 2017 /Published online: 13March 2 017 # Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg 2017 Abstract the consumption of energy and in CO2 emissions. When com- Purpose The high consumption of electrical and electronic pared to the production of virgin ABS and HIPS, the recycling equipment motivated by the rapid technological advances processes for such plastics showed a reduction in energy con- seen over the years has lead to an increase in the generation sumption by approximately 90% for both plastics and a reduc- of waste electrical and electronic equipment (WEEE). Such tion in CO2 emissions by approximately 84% for HIPS and residues contain various dangerous substances and therefore 87% for ABS. The plastics recycled by the company retain deserve special attention. To that end, the Brazilian Policy on over 90% of their virgin mechanical properties. Solid Waste has provided guidelines on integrated and solid Conclusions The study shows that recycling is highly relevant waste management, such as consumer electronics, aiming at and that components present in WEEE received appropriate their appropriate disposal and treatment through reverse logis- destination and treatment. Recycling avoids environmental tics. In this context, the present work focuses on studying the impacts as it prevents WEEE from being disposed of in land- recycling of some WEEE plastics. fills and as the pellets of recycled plastics can re-enter the Methods This study was conducted using the methodological supply chain as raw materials. Considering the legislation in framework presented in the International Standard ISO Brazil, the stage of collection/transport/treatment of WEEE 14040:2006 and aimed to determine the life cycle inventory conducted by the company under study presents strong indi- (LCI) of a WEEE plastic recycling process in a company in cations of contributions to the environment, society, and econ- Brazil. Having collected the data, it was possible to identify omy of the country. and quantify the environmental aspects caused by the recycling process of major plastics (acrylonitrile-butadiene- Keywords Environmental aspects . Life cycle inventory . styrene (ABS) and high impact polystyrene (HIPS). The study Recycled plastics . Waste electrical and electronic equipment was conducted in the only company in Brazil that operates WEEE plastic recycling in large scale. Results and discussion Some of the environmental aspects caused during the recycling process of the plastics under study 1 Introduction were identified and quantified. As a result, besides presenting the inventory, it was also possible to determine a reduction in Currently, it is possible to notice an increase in the consump- tion of electrical and electronic equipment (EEE), which is often the result of technological advancements and a model Responsible editor: Martin Baitz of consumption aimed at the acquisition of new products and their quick replacement. This, in turn, leads to the accelerated * Virgínia Aparecida da Silva Moris [email protected] generation of Waste electrical and electronic equipment (WEEE) (Tanskanen 2013). 1 Federal University of São Carlos, Rod. João Leme dos Santos, km In 2015, in Europe, it was estimated that approximately 110 (SP-264) Bairro do Itinga, Sorocaba CEP, São Paulo 18052-780, 12 million t of electronic waste was generated—the equivalent Brazil to 14 kg per capita a year (Goosey 2004). Content courtesy of Springer Nature, terms of use apply. Rights reserved. 1958 Int J Life Cycle Assess (2017) 22:1957–1968 WEEE is composed of glass, plastics, metals, and hazard- secondary raw materials. Menikpura et al. (2014)havemadea ous substances such as heavy metals and flame retardants, detailed investigation of the effectiveness of WEEE recycling which pose a threat to human health and to the environment on greenhouse gas (GHG) reduction by analyzing the overall if disposed of incorrectly. These substances are present in recycling process of major home appliances in Japan, con- different components of the equipment. Examples are antimo- cluding that a significant amount of GHG emissions could ny, found in semiconductors, alloys, and welds, and arsenic, be avoided when compared with the virgin production of ma- found in printed circuit boards, among others. Plastics, for terials by implementing an appropriate WEEE recycling and example, pose a risk to the environment when disposed of in resource recovery program. Wager et al. (2011) conducted a landfills due to their long-term degradation process and to the study in order to quantify the environmental impacts of the presence of flame retardants (Jonkers et al. 2016; Tsydenova collection, dismantling, recycling, incineration, and disposal and Bengtsson 2011; Horner and Gertsakis 2006;Yu2005). stages of WEEE in landfills in Switzerland. Additionally, plastics occupy a lot of space in landfills and This study aims to develop the life cycle inventory (LCI) of thus could be made better use of or recycled before being recycling WEEE plastics from information and communica- discarded. In 2015, the world production of thermoplastic tion technology products (ICT) at a company in the region of resins was 260 million t. Latin America represents 5% of this Sorocaba/SP (Brazil). The major polymers recycled during the production, with Brazil accounting for almost half of this val- study period were acrylonitrile-butadiene-styrene (ABS) and ue (ABIPLAST 2015). high impact polystyrene (HIPS). Having the data necessary According to the Social Environmental Institute for Plastics for the preparation of the LCI, it was possible to identify and in Brazil, the mechanical recycling rate of post-consumer plas- quantify some environmental aspects related to the recycling tic in Brazil is in the range of 21.7%, 3 % below the European process in question, such as (i) gaseous emissions, (ii) gener- average index of 24.7%. The semi- and non-durable consumer ation of solid waste, and (iii) energy consumption. goods sector is the largest consumer of recycled plastic in the The present study is the first to evaluate the environmental country, with an index of 41%, followed by the construction aspects of WEEE recycling in large scale in Brazil. It was and infrastructure sector with 16% and the agriculture, with carried out in the only large-scale company in the country that 11.8% (Plastivida 2011). collects and industrially recycles WEEE plastics. The compa- In this context, it is necessary to search for appropriate ny is also responsible for WEEE reverse logistics and the technologies and WEEE management sources, such as proper disposal of all unprocessed other materials and elec- recycling processes. The environmental management tool tronic components during the recycling process. In 2015, for used to evaluate the environmental performance of a product, example, the company processed 1340 t of electronic waste process, or service throughout its life cycle is known as life and put 270 t of plastic for reuse in the manufacture of new cycle assessment (LCA) (Curran 2012). products. The life cycle assessment (LCA) related to WEEE requires large amount of data because of the electronic product com- plexity and its inherent technology. Nevertheless, this type of 2 Literature review tool has been used in a successful way to develop ecodesign strategies in the electronics business (Andraw and Andersen 2.1 Electrical and electronic equipment and waste 2010). The LCA study for WEEE is usually done on a partic- ular product and from a product life point of view, including EEE are all devices that rely on electric currents or electro- focus on different waste management alternatives (Bigum magnetic fields to be operated. After the end of life of such et al. 2012). equipment, they are classified as WEEE and the global rate of The literature presents several studies on LCA related to growth of WEEE is about 3 to 5% per year (Cucchiela et al. WEEE, for instance, the study that determined the environ- 2015). Such waste is mainly composed of ferrous and non- mental impacts of WEEE plastics recycling in Europe and ferrous metals, glass, and plastics. Iron and steel account for which compared the incineration of such waste with the pro- almost half of the total weight, followed by plastics, which duction of virgin plastic (Wager and Hischier 2015). Hischier account for approximately 21% of the total, and the non- et al. (2005) have examined two Swiss take-back and ferrous metals, which account for 13%, where copper repre- recycling systems for computers, consumer electronics, tele- sents approximately 7% (Widmer et al. 2005). It is important communication equipments, and household appliances with a to bear in mind, however, that the weight percentage of WEEE combined approach of material flow analysis (MFA) and composition varies according to the type of equipment and the LCA. They concluded that the sorting and dismantling year of manufacture (Araújo et al. 2012). activities of the recycling chain are of lesser interest for The proper disposal and treatment of WEEE through companies, instead the main impact happens during the recycling provide benefits to the environment since materials treatment applied further downstream to turn the waste into in its composition are reused, thus reducing the consumption Content courtesy of Springer Nature, terms of use apply. Rights reserved. Int J Life Cycle Assess (2017) 22:1957–1968 1959 of natural resources and energy (Tanskanen 2013; Cui and Reverse logistics provides different types of benefits and is Forssberg 2003). an important stage in the recovery system. Concerning the On the other hand, if improperly disposed of, they become environment, reverse logistics reduces the incorrect disposal dangerous to human health and to the environment as they of WEEE and the consumption of energy through recycling.
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