Moving Sustainable Electronics Forward
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The Oklahoma Computer Equipment Recovery Act: a Summary of the 2014 Manufacturer Annual Reports
The Oklahoma Computer Equipment Recovery Act: A Summary of the 2014 Manufacturer Annual Reports 6/23/2015 Oklahoma Department of Environmental Quality Melissa Adler-McKibben Submitted To: The Governor, the President Pro Tempore of the Senate, and the Speaker of the House of Representatives [1] Introduction The Oklahoma Computer Equipment Recovery Act (“Act”), 27A O.S. § 2-11-601 et seq ., was signed into law on May 12, 2008 and became effective on January 1, 2009. The Act requires manufacturers, as defined in 27A O.S. § 2-11-603, to submit annual reports to the Oklahoma Department of Environmental Quality (“DEQ”) no later than March 1 st of each year that include: 1. A summary of the recovery program implemented by the manufacturer during the previous calendar year, specifically describing the methods of recovery implemented by the manufacturer; 2. The weight of covered devices collected and recovered during the previous calendar year; 3. The location and dates of any electronic waste collection events during the previous calendar year, if any, and the location of collection sites if any; and 4. Certification that the collection and recovery of covered devices complies with the provisions of Section 9 of the Act. 1 The Act requires DEQ to summarize the recovery program in a report for the Governor, the President Pro Tempore of the Senate, and the Speaker of the House of Representatives. Background The Act was created as part of an ongoing, nationwide effort, embraced and supported by the computer industry, to establish convenient and environmentally sound collection, recycling, and reuse of electronics that have reached the end of their useful lives. -
Design for Urban Mining – Sustainable Construction Planning
Homepage Contact Sitemap Webmail Telephone / e-mail Home page > Output - Ausgabe 18/2017 > Design for urban mining – sustainable construction planning Design for urban mining – sustainable construction planning by Prof. Annette Hillebrandt hillebrandt{at}uni-wuppertal.de Global raw material deposits have shifted their location. Many raw materials are no longer at their original source: they are bound up in new, anthropogenic structures, above all buildings. The paradigmatic change affecting the construction industry in the anthropocene – the epoch in which human impact on the earth’s biology, geology and atmosphere has become paramount – entails the separation of construction processes and materials, and high-quality recycling of the latter. Encapsulated in the concept of ‘urban mining’, this involves circular planning and costing over the entire life cycle of a building, including its ecological impact. Conversely, it signifies a departure from linear economic thinking, with its one-way logic of expansion, one-sided view of investment costs, and ultimate landfill disposal scenarios. Future buildings are being planned not for waste, but as interim deposits (‘mines’) of raw materials. In this scenario, suspect materials are entirely excluded, and the industry is committed to a responsible product policy in which the principal stands warranty for the building, the manufacturer for its products and materials, and planners and builders for its construction and future deconstruction – a major reform Prof. Annette Hillebrandt program in line with the sustainable development goals (SDG) of the United Nations as well as federal German sustainability strategy. Published 45 years ago, Donella and Dennis Meadows’ The Limits to Growth1, subtitled a “Report for the Club of Rome’s Project on the Predicament of Mankind,” predicted the dwindling resources and environmental pollution that are today an integral part of the world we live in. -
An Integrated Review of Concepts and Initiatives for Mining the Technosphere: Towards a New Taxonomy
An integrated review of concepts and initiatives for mining the technosphere: towards a new taxonomy Nils Johansson, Joakim Krook, Mats Eklund and Björn Berglund Linköping University Post Print N.B.: When citing this work, cite the original article. Original Publication: Nils Johansson, Joakim Krook, Mats Eklund and Björn Berglund, An integrated review of concepts and initiatives for mining the technosphere:towards a new taxonomy, 2013, Journal of Cleaner Production, (55), 35-44. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.jclepro.2012.04.007 Copyright: Elsevier http://www.elsevier.com/ Postprint available at: Linköping University Electronic Press http://urn.kb.se/resolve?urn=urn:nbn:se:liu:diva-77301 10 439 words An Integrated Review of Concepts and Initiatives for Mining the Technosphere: Towards a New Taxonomy Nils Johanssona*; Joakim Krooka, Mats Eklunda, and Björn Berglunda. *Corresponding author: Department of Management and Engineering, Environmental Technology and Management Linköping University, SE-581 83 Linköping, Sweden. [email protected], +46(0)13 285629. a Department of Management and Engineering, Environmental Technology and Management Linköping University, SE-581 83 Linköping, Sweden. [email protected], [email protected], [email protected]. 1 10 439 words Abstract Stocks of finite resources in the technosphere continue to grow due to human activity, at the expense of decreasing in-ground deposits. Human activity, in other words, is changing the prerequisites for mineral extraction. For that reason, mining will probably have to adapt accordingly, with more emphasis on exploitation of previously extracted minerals. This study reviews the prevailing concepts for mining the technosphere as well as actual efforts to do so, the objectives for mining, the scale of the initiatives, and what makes them different from other reuse and recycling concepts. -
Water Reclamation for Direct Re-Use in Urban and Industrial Applications in South Africa and Its Projected Impact Upon Water Demand
Water Reclamation for Direct Re-Use in Urban and Industrial Applications in South Africa and its Projected Impact Upon Water Demand A Grobicki • B Cohen Report to the Water Research Commission by Abbott Grobicki (Pty) Ltd r WRC Report No KV118/99 -^r -^r -^r *^^ Disclaimer This report emanates from a project financed by ihe Waler Research Commission (WRC) and is approved for publication. Approval docs not signify that the contents necessarily reflect the views and policies of the WRC or the members of the project steering committee, nor does mention of trade names or commercial products constitute endorsement or recommendation tor use. Vrywaring Hierdie verslag spruit voort uit 'n navorsingsprojek wat deur die Waternavorsingskommissic (WNK) gefinansier is en goedgekeur is vir publikasie. Goedkeuring beteken nie noodwendig dat die inhoud die sicning en beleid van die WNK of die lede van die projek-loodskomitee weerspieel nie, of dat melding van handelsname of -ware deur die WNK vir gebruik goedgekeur n( aanbeveel word nie. WATER RECLAMATION FOR DIRECT RE-USE IN URBAN AND INDUSTRIAL APPLICATIONS IN SOUTH AFRICA, AND ITS PROJECTED IMPACT UPON WATER DEMAND A STUDY FOR THE WATER RESEARCH COMMISSION BY DR ANIA GROBICKI AND DR BRETT COHEN Abbott Grobicki (Pty) Ltd Kimberley House 34 Shortmarket Street 8001 Cape Town Tel: (021) 424-3892, Fax: (021) 424-3895 email: [email protected] OCTOBER 1998 ii EXECUTIVE SUMMARY Water reclamation, or the direct use of treated sewage effluent to replace a proportion of the fresh water demand, is regarded as a non-conventional approach to water management. However, water reclamation is becoming increasingly common internationally, especially in countries which have water shortages similar to that in South Africa. -
Sustainable Electronics Vision Report
1 Vision for Sustainable Electronics Page 2 ______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ Vision for Sustainable Electronics July 2015 NOTE: This is a discussion draft (NOT YET FOR PUBLIC RELEASE), for which we are seeking comments, edits, and feedback from experts from industry, academia, government and NGO’s. Please send us any feedback by October 1, 2015, to: [email protected] Thank-you. Barbara Kyle and Ted Smith, ETBC Electronics TakeBack Coalition 4200 Park Blvd. #228, Oakland, CA 94602 www.electronicstakeback.org Vision for Sustainable Electronics Page 3 ______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ Contents Executive Summary Page 2 Why do we need a vision for sustainable electronics? Page 4 It’s time for new strategies for sustainability in electronics Page 7 What are the current impacts from the lifecycle of electronics Page 9 - 24 products? • Hazards and harm • Destruction of communities and resources • Wasted natural resources: energy and water. • Wasteful inputs. High resource churn of virgin materials, many of which are scarce. • Wasteful outputs. • Sweatshop working conditions. • A business model that makes problems worse (that thwarts sustainability efforts) The New Vision for Sustainable Electronics Must Offer Solutions Page 24 to Current Impacts and Problems Principles for Sustainable Electronics Page 27 The Sustainability Matrix Page 29 Detailed Vision Goals Across Product Lifecycle Conclusions Page 38 Next steps Page 41 Glossary of terms Page 47 Vision for Sustainable Electronics Page 2 ______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ Executive summary Definitely not green. In spite of all of the hype about “Clean Tech” branding, it’s easy to see that the electronics industry has a long way to go to become a “green” industry, if that’s even possible. -
Urban Mining a Contribution to Reindustrializing the City
MATERIAL FLOW ANALYSIS Urban Mining A Contribution to Reindustrializing the City Paul H. Brunner Today’s most advanced societies are service- the term to describe exploitation of resources oriented economies. The main resources of such from landfills, others apply it to traditional re- societies are knowledge and information created cycling schemes of waste materials, such as con- by and embedded in people and institutions. struction debris, scrap iron, plastics, or glass. The Classical resources, such as materials, energy, purpose of the present column is to introduce and land, are of less value for service-oriented a more comprehensive interpretation of urban societies. mining. I incorpo- Nevertheless, even rate two additional if one acknowledges the Megacities can produce sufficient aspects—creating a primary role of intel- amounts of secondary resources for goal-oriented knowl- lectual resources, mate- large-scale production of raw ma- edge base by preserving rial resources are still information from the backbone of all soci- terials by urban mining, and cities production through eties. We cannot pursue are always in need of energy. Thus, recovery, and locating our daily activities with- combining recycling plants for metals recycling facilities out the provision of ce- within service-oriented ment, steel, aluminum, such as iron, aluminum, and cop- cities—to develop the cellulose, polyethylene, per in cities with utilization of waste concept into a new linear alky benzene sul- energy from such plants to fuel the strategy to increase the fonates, and many other sustainability of the materials. Given the city (heating and cooling, electricity) urban metabolism. high volatility of re- seems an attractive option for im- First, to facilitate source prices and the proving the sustainability of cities. -
Green Solvents in Urban Mining Isabelle Billard
Green solvents in urban mining Isabelle Billard To cite this version: Isabelle Billard. Green solvents in urban mining. Current opinion in green and sustainable chemistry, Elsevier, 2019, 2018-12-11, 18, pp.37-41. 10.1016/j.cogsc.2018.11.013. hal-02271235 HAL Id: hal-02271235 https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-02271235 Submitted on 26 Aug 2019 HAL is a multi-disciplinary open access L’archive ouverte pluridisciplinaire HAL, est archive for the deposit and dissemination of sci- destinée au dépôt et à la diffusion de documents entific research documents, whether they are pub- scientifiques de niveau recherche, publiés ou non, lished or not. The documents may come from émanant des établissements d’enseignement et de teaching and research institutions in France or recherche français ou étrangers, des laboratoires abroad, or from public or private research centers. publics ou privés. Green solvents in urban mining Isabelle Billard*a aUniv Grenoble Alpes, CNRS, Grenoble INP, LEPMI, 1130 rue de la Piscine, 38402, Saint Martin d’Hères, France; [email protected] Abstract. General considerations about urban mining and green solvents are first briefly discussed. Then, the use of green solvents in the recycling processes of technological objects present in urban mines is reviewed, focusing on metal recovery. Keywords : urban mining, green chemistry, metal recovery, wastes Scope After promoting urban mining and defining green solvents, this paper, which is by no means exhaustive, reviews academic works. It is sorted by object types, chosen as iconic examples to highlight achievements and unresolved questions, because totally green processes are hardly found at the present stage. -
Environmental and Socioeconomic Impacts of Urban Waste Recycling As Part of Circular Economy
sustainability Article Environmental and Socioeconomic Impacts of Urban Waste Recycling as Part of Circular Economy. The Case of Cuenca (Ecuador) Damián Burneo 1, José M. Cansino 1,2,* and Rocio Yñiguez 1 1 Faculty of Economic and Business/Department of Economic Analysis and Political Economy, Universidad de Sevilla, Avda. Ramón y Cajal 1, 41.005 Sevilla, Spain; [email protected] (D.B.); [email protected] (R.Y.) 2 Faculty of Business and Administration, Universidad Autónoma de Chile, Avda. Pedro de Valdivia, 425, Providencia, Santiago 7500912, Chile * Correspondence: [email protected]; Tel.: +34-954557528 Received: 4 March 2020; Accepted: 15 April 2020; Published: 22 April 2020 Abstract: Urban mining by recyclers represents a positive environmental impact as well as being part of the waste management chain. This paper analyzes the contribution of waste pickers in the city of Cuenca in Ecuador and the conditions of their activity. This research has a two-fold objective. First, it calculates the reduction of greenhouse gas emissions resulting from the substitution of virgin raw material in the production process by using recycled urban waste. The second objective is to conduct a socioeconomic analysis of the workers involved in the urban waste sector. Cuenca (Ecuador) is the main city used for this case study, thanks to the accessibility of a rich database built from the survey conducted by the NGO Alliance for Development. The information contained in this survey facilitates the identification of potential consumers of the waste industry. This study uses Clean Development Mechanism methodology. Finally, this work proposes a theoretical model for solid waste management, applied to the city, following the principles of the circular economy. -
It Is Smart Only If It Sustainable
IT IS SMART ONLY IF IT IS SUSTAINABLE Environmentally Friendly Business Strategies as a Source of Creating Bigger Value Pool and Reducing Negative Environmental Impacts By Mohammad Tashfeen Khan July 24, 2016 A Major Paper submitted to the Faculty of Environmental Studies in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the Degree of Master in Environmental Studies, York University, Toronto Ontario, Canada Dr. Ellie Perkins (Superviser) __________________________________________ Mohammad Tashfeen Khan (MES Candidate) ___________________________________________ IT IS SMART ONLY IF IT IS SUSTAINABLE IT IS SMART ONLY IF IT IS SUSTAINABLE “We have met the enemy and he is us”. Walt Kelly “We cannot “Modern command technology owes Nature except ecology an by obeying her.” apology.” Francis Bacon Alan M. Eddison “Earth provides enough to satisfy every man's needs, but not every man's greed.” Mahatma Gandhi Major Paper MES 2016 Mohammad Tashfeen Khan (212984142) i IT IS SMART ONLY IF IT IS SUSTAINABLE Contents Chapter 1: Introduction: Starting with a Concluding Point ............................................................................................. 1 1.1 Environmental Sustainability ................................................................................................................................ 1 1.2 The Smartphone Dilemma .................................................................................................................................... 3 Chapter 2: Methodological Approach ............................................................................................................................ -
A Circular Approach to the E-Waste Valorization Through Urban Mining in Rio De Janeiro, Brazil
Journal of Cleaner Production 261 (2020) 120990 Contents lists available at ScienceDirect Journal of Cleaner Production journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/jclepro A circular approach to the e-waste valorization through urban mining in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil * Marianna Ottoni a, d, Pablo Dias b, c, Lúcia Helena Xavier d, a Polytechnic School (Escola Politecnica), Department of Water Resources and Environment, Federal University of Rio de Janeiro, Av. Athos da Silveira Ramos, 149, Cidade Universitaria, Rio de Janeiro, 21941-909, Brazil b Faculty of Science and Engineering, Macquarie University, Sydney, NSW, 2109, Australia c Programa de Pos-Graduaç ao~ em Engenharia de Minas, Metalúrgica e de Materiais (PPGE3M), Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Sul (UFRGS), Av. Bento Gonçalves, 9500, Porto Alegre, RS, 91509-900, Brazil d Center for Mineral Technology (CETEM / MCTIC), Av. Pedro Calmon, 900, Cidade Universitaria, Rio de Janeiro, 21941-908, Brazil article info abstract Article history: Electronic waste (e-waste or WEEE) is one of the most critical categories regarding the decision-making Received 1 October 2019 for waste management. Brazil is the second major e-waste producer in Americas, after USA, with 1.5 Received in revised form million tones generated annually. However, the absence of adequate system for e-waste reverse logistics 4 March 2020 are a reality in most of the Brazilian cities. Concerning this hypothesis, we proposed a scenario analysis to Accepted 6 March 2020 support decision-making in e-waste management. This study analyzed the e-waste amount generation, Available online 9 March 2020 the location of the recycling companies of this segment and the collection routes in the metropolitan Handling editor: Bin Chen region of Rio de Janeiro (MRRJ). -
Urban Mining As a Sustainable Strategy for the Management of Residual Solid Waste
15th International Conference on Environmental Science and Technology Rhodes, Greece, 31 August to 2 September 2017 Urban mining as a sustainable strategy for the management of residual solid waste V. Belgiorno, A. Cesaro SEED - Department of Civil Engineering, University of Salerno, via Giovanni Paolo II – Fisciano (SA), Italy. Corresponding author e-mail address: [email protected] Keywords: recovery, resource, solid waste The production of waste represents a pressing issue and its sustainable management is being regarded as one of the greatest challenges of this century. Over the years waste handling strategies have moved from landfilling, often performed under uncontrolled conditions, to recycling processes, in order to reduce the environmental footprint of residue disposal. Although more recently the need to prevent waste production has been pointed out, the relation between consumption patterns and waste production limits the reduction of both amount and hazardousness of waste. This issue is even more serious as it comes along with the depletion of resources aiming at the production of those goods destined to become waste. The level of waste generation is indeed directly related to economic development, rate of industrialization, and public practices (Fazeli et al., 2016). Therefore the decoupling of prosperity from resource consumption (Sauvè et al., 2016) has been identified as a suitable strategy to promote the decrease of both resource consumption and waste generation, addressing a circular economy approach over the traditional linear one (Preston, 2012; Bonciu, 2014; Ghisellini et al., 2016). In a circular economy, the production of goods is preferably pursued by either the use of by-products or waste recycling rather than by virgin resource consumption, so as to close the loop of material streams (Geng and Doberstein, 2008; Souza, 2013). -
Smartphone Sustainability Assessment Using Multi-Criteria Analysis and Consumer Survey
DEGREE PROJECT IN ENVIRONMENTAL ENGINEERING, SECOND CYCLE, 30 CREDITS STOCKHOLM, SWEDEN 2017 Smartphone sustainability assessment using multi-criteria analysis and consumer survey JANIS GEDUSEVS KTH ROYAL INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY SCHOOL OF ARCHITECTURE AND THE BUILT ENVIRONMENT DEGREE PROJECT IN THE BUILT ENVIRONMENT, SECOND CYCLE, 30 CREDITS STOCKHOLM, SWEDEN 2017 Smartphone sustainability assessment using multi-criteria analysis and consumer survey JANIS GEDUSEVS Supervisor PhD.Rajib Sinha Examiner Monika Olsson Supervisor at Tech Buddy AB Tahero Nori Degree Project in Environmental Engineering KTH Royal Institute of Technology School of Architecture and Built Environment Department of Sustainable Development, Environmental Science and Engineering SE-100 44 Stockholm, Sweden Acknowledgements I would like to thank Tahero Nori for hosting and supervising my graduation internship at Techbuddy AB. Also I would like to express my gratitude to PhD. Rajib Sinha and Monika Olsson for supervising and counselling my graduation internship. Finally, I would like to express my gratitude to all of my friends and family for support during my studies at KTH Royal Institute of Technology Stockholm. 1 Abstract Sustainability is a fairly new emerging business concept for manufacturing industry and this this thesis will specifically focus on smartphone sustainability. In 2015 there were 1.86 billion smartphone users and it is estimated to increase to 2.87 billion in 2020. Currently the average lifetime of a smartphone is 21 months and according to Consumer Technology Association the technical life expectancy of a smartphone is 4.7 years. The European Commission approximated that from 17–20 kg of electronic waste is produced per person per year and that smartphones are contributors for increase of electronic waste.