How to enhance the environmental sustainability of WEEE plastics management: An LCA study.

A new management scheme of plastics from waste of electrical and electronic equipment (WEEE), which includes novel treatments of sorting, dissolution/precipitation, extrusion, catalytic pyrolysis, and plastic upgrading, is proposed. Its environmental performances are quantified by an attributional Life Cycle Assessment and compared with those of European currently adopted schemes, which include conventional mechanical recycling and thermal treatments as well as improper options of dumping and open burning, largely applied to WEEE plastics exported to developing countries. The proposed innovative scheme greatly enhances the environmental sustainability of WEEE plastics management, by increasing the annual amounts of polymers sent to recycling (from 390 kt/y up to 530 kt/y), decreasing residues to be sent to combustion (from 360 kt/y up to 60 kt/y), and reducing the potential impacts of all the midpoint categories under analysis (up to 580% for that of Global Warming).

About the environmental sustainability of the European management of WEEE plastics.

A huge increase of waste of electrical and electronic equipment (WEEE) is observing everywhere in the world. Plastic component in this waste is more than 20% of the total and allows important environmental advantages if well treated and recycled. The resource recovery from WEEE plastics is characterised by technical difficulties and environmental concerns, mainly related to the waste composition (several engineering polymers, most of which containing heavy metals, additives and brominated flame retardants) and the common utilisation of sub-standard treatments for exported waste.