IT and Environment Initiative

Project: Sustainability and international reuse and recycling of computers

Summary:

Globalization continues to transform forward supply chains. The scope of mining and manufacturing activities has expanded around the globe, accompanied by massive material and monetary flows between nations, which entail profound environmental, economic and social effects. While a degree of consideration has been given to the sustainable management of international forward supply chains, almost no attention has been paid to the globalization of reverse supply chains. A reverse supply chain is the network of activities carrying out the reuse, recycling and final disposal of products.

The project addresses international reuse and recycling of computers. Computers are an important component of the growing volumes of end-of-life electronics, also known as e-waste. Disposal of used computers in the U.S. and other developed countries is increasing. These computers are resold, sent to landfills, recycled domestically or shipped abroad for reuse and recycling6. While precise estimates remain elusive, a significant portion of end-of-life computers go abroad and are recycled by an informal or backyard industry. Informal electronics recycling activities have been documented in many parts of the world, including Guiyu and Wenqiao in China, Bangalore, Chennai, Dehli and New Dehli in India, Lagos in Nigeria, and Karachi in Pakistan. These reports indicate serious environmental implications of informal recycling. While computers have valuable recyclable materials they also contain toxic substances of concern. Backyard recycling processes both release these toxics as well as generate new ones. Growth of informal recycling informal reuse/recycling is economically driven because it runs a net profit as opposed to a net cost for recycling in the U.S. Socially, computers are of particular importance vis a vis their enabling role in using Information and Communications Technology (ICT). International used markets help to make inexpensive computers available to lower income people.

This project works to engineer and manage international reverse flows from a sustainability perspective. This is explored through a case study of end-of-life personal computers in the US. The first component of the project is a material flows analysis to understand the current state of flows of end-of-first-life computers from the U.S. internationally. The second component involves exploration of the environment and development characteristics of different international paths for the reverse chain for computers. A third component combines of engineering design at product and system level and policy considerations to explore reuse/recycling systems achieving different societal objectives.

Project Status:

Current work is supported by the U.S. National Science Foundation via grant# CBET-0731067 in the Environmental Sustainability program, active Fall 2007-2010.

Publications:

Adoption and Disposition of New and Used Computers in Lima, Peru Kahhat, R. and Williams, Resource Conservation and Recycling. In Press. 2010.

Product or Waste?: Importation and end-of-life processing of computers in Peru. Kahhat, R. and Williams, E. Environmental Science & Technology. ASAP Article DOI: 10.1021/es8035835, Online since June 2009

Evolution of product lifespan and its role in the environmental assessment and management of products: a case study of personal computers in higher education. Babbitt, C.; Kahhat, R.; Williams, E. and Babbitt, G. Environmental Science & Technology, ASAP article doi: 10.1021/es803568p. Online since May 2009

Logistic model-based forecast of sales and generations of obsolete computers in the U.S. Yang, Y. and Williams, E. Technological Forecasting and Social Change doi:10.1016/j.techfore.2009.03.004, Online since March 2009

Environmental, social and economic implications of global reuse and recycling of personal computers, E. Williams, R. Kahhat, B. Allenby, E. Kavazanjian, J. Kim and M. Xu, in press, Environmental Science & Technology (2008)

Exploring e-waste management systems in the United States, R. Kahhat, J. Kim, M. Xu, B. Allenby, and E. Williams, Resources, Conservation and Recycling 52, 955964 (2008)

Sustainability review of the international reverse chain for reuse and recycling of computers, E. Williams, R. Kahhat, B. Allenby, E. Kavazanjian, J. Kim and M. Xu in Proceedings of the 2008 IEEE International Symposium on Electronics and the Environment, San Francisco, CA (2008)

Forecasting sales and generation of end-of-life computers in the U.S., Y. Yang and E. Williams, in Proceedings of the 2008 IEEE International Symposium on Electronics and the Environment, San Francisco, CA (2008)

Current status and research on E-waste issues in Asia, A. Terazono, S. Murakami, N. Abe, B. Inanc, Y. Moriguchi, S. Sakai, M. Kojima, A. Yoshida, J. Li, J. Yang, M. H. Wong, A. Jain, I. Kim, G. L. Peralta, C.C. Lin, T. Mungcharoen, and E. Williams, J. Material Cycles and Waste Management, 1-12 (2006)

Mandated prices as an instrument to mitigate environmental impacts in informal reuse/recycling, E. Williams, in Proceedings of The Second National Institute for Environment Studies (NIES) Workshop on E-waste: November 23rd, Tokyo, Japan, pp 43-56 (2005) (full article pdf format)

International activities on E-waste and guidelines for future work, E. Williams, in Proceedings of The Third Workshop on Material Cycles and Waste Management in Asia, National Institute of Environmental Sciences: Tsukuba, Japan (2005) (full article pdf format)

The relevance of computer usage patterns and secondary markets for energy management, E. Williams and T. Hatanaka, in Proceedings of the 2005 ACEEE Summer Study on Energy Efficiency in Industry, American Council for an Energy-Efficient Economy: Washington D.C. (2005)

Computers and the environmentan introduction to understanding and managing their impacts, R. Kuehr, J, Velasquez and E. Williams, , in R. Kuehr and E. Williams (eds.), Computers and the Environment: Understanding and Managing their Impacts, Springer, 1-16 (2003)

Environmental impacts associated with the production of personal computers, E. Williams, in R. Kuehr and E. Williams (eds.), Computers and the Environment: Understanding and Managing their Impacts, Springer, 41-72 (2003)

Strategizing the end-of-life handling of personal computers, E. Williams and Y. Sasaki, in R. Kuehr and E. Williams (eds.), Computers and the Environment: Understanding and Managing their Impacts, Springer, 183-196 (2003)

Todays Markets for Used PCsAnd Ways to Enhance Them, E. Williams and R. Kuehr, in R. Kuehr and E. Williams (eds.), Computers and the Environment: Understanding and Managing their Impacts, Springer, 197-210 (2003)

Contact:

For more information and/or copies of publications, please contact:

Ramzy Kahhat
Dept. of Civil and Environmental Engineering Arizona State University
P.O. Box 875306, Tempe, AZ, 85287 USA
Phone: (480)242-5610
Fax: (480) 965-0557
E-mail: ramzy.kahhat@asu.edu