Utilizing Economic Value, Resource Availability, and Environmental Impact Metrics to Improve the WEEE and Battery Directives and Promote Alignment with the European Commission Circular Economy Strategy
Name
2015.10.19DraftREWASProceedingsforReview-2.pdf
Description
Accepted version
Size
99.84 KB
Format
Adobe PDF
Checksum (MD5)
bcb039cf0a18c2a50b279485cc8e10c0
Author(s)
Ford, Patrick Benjamin
Santos, Eduardo
Ferrão, Paulo
Margarido, Fernanda
Van Vliet, Krystyn J
Olivetti, Elsa A.
Date Issued
2016
Journal
REWAS 2016
Publisher
Springer International Publishing
Citation
Ford, Patrick et al. "Utilizing Economic Value, Resource Availability, and Environmental Impact Metrics to Improve the WEEE and Battery Directives and Promote Alignment with the European Commission Circular Economy Strategy." REWAS 2016, edited by Kirchain, R. E. et al., Springer, 2016, 289-295. © 2016 The Minerals, Metals & Materials Society
Version
Author's final manuscript
Abstract
Waste electrical and electronic equipment (WEEE) provides complex challenges and unique opportunities for maximizing resource efficiency in the European Union (EU). This is due in part to the increasing volume, complexity, and value, and decreasing life cycles of such items. Current EU regulations, specifically the WEEE Directive and Battery Directive, focus on the end-of-life management of electronics and the impact of device design and material composition on environmental and human health. While these Directives are robust, the mass-based metrics on which they are focused can lead to a loss of materials that are impactful from an economic, resource availability, and environmental perspective. There is a need for increased research on the impact of these Directives on the availability of secondary raw materials and for an alignment of the WEEE Directive with the European Commission’s Circular Economy Strategy. This can facilitate the development of more holistic policies based on the complete life cycle of devices and all stakeholders involved in its design, manufacturing, use, reuse, repair, and recycling.
MIT Department
Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Department of Materials Science and Engineering
Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Department of Biological Engineering
Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Institute for Data, Systems, and Society
Terms of Use
Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-Share Alike
Persistent DSpace Link
DOI of Published Version
https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-48768-7_45
