Economic and environmental opportunities in electronics industry
Name
1003284273-MIT.pdf
Description
Full printable version
Size
6.51 MB
Format
Adobe PDF
Checksum (MD5)
08d066905113943783e5eb0d98fc2c6f
Author(s)
Liu, Weitong, S.M. Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Advisor(s)
Elsa Olivetti.
Date Issued
2017
Publisher
Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Abstract
Due to industrial development and technological innovation, many problems arise from the increasing number of electronics devices that need to be managed at end of life. The two main market failures related to waste electrical and electronic equipment (WEEE) are economic loss and environmental externalities. Incomplete recovery of materials in waste mobile phones results in a great amount of economic loss. Many studies aim to improve the situation by characterizing metals within printed circuit boards (PCBs). My work focuses on the evolving composition and the flow of materials located outside of PCBs. I have discovered significant economic potential of non-PCB metals, and provide suggestions for optimization of different preprocessing steps. I recommend that preprocessors pay special attention to precious metals in fine shredding. And I have also provided strategies for plastics recycling by forecasting the demand and supply of it in Portugal. Besides opportunities for addressing environmental impact in the end-of-life stage of electronics products, there are also opportunities in other life cycle stages such as GHG savings by the enablement of semiconductors in the use stage. I identify six areas of GHG savings and provide insights for more informed policy to better evaluate the influence of technologies in the electronics industry.
Description
Thesis: S.M. in Technology and Policy, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, School of Engineering, Institute for Data, Systems, and Society, Technology and Policy Program, 2017.
This electronic version was submitted by the student author. The certified thesis is available in the Institute Archives and Special Collections.
Cataloged from student-submitted PDF version of thesis.
Includes bibliographical references (pages 65-68).
Subjects
Institute for Data, Systems, and Society.
Engineering Systems Division.
Technology and Policy Program.
MIT Department
Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Engineering Systems Division
Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Institute for Data, Systems, and Society
Technology and Policy Program
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