Politecnico di Milano, Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Piazza L. da Vinci 32, 20133 Milano, Italy.
Politecnico di Milano, Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Piazza L. da Vinci 32, 20133 Milano, Italy.
Sci Total Environ. 2015 Aug 15;524-525:361-75. doi: 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2015.04.041. Epub 2015 Apr 23.
Waste electrical and electronic equipment (WEEE) is one of the fastest growing waste streams in Europe, whose content of hazardous substances as well as of valuable materials makes the study of the different management options particularly interesting. The present study investigates the WEEE management system in Lombardia Region (Italy) in the year 2011 by applying the life cycle assessment (LCA) methodology. An extensive collection of primary data was carried out to describe the main outputs and the energy consumptions of the treatment plants. Afterwards, the benefits and burdens associated with the treatment and recovery of each of the five categories in which WEEE is classified according to the Italian legislation (heaters and refrigerators - R1, large household appliances - R2, TV and monitors - R3, small household appliances - R4 and lighting equipment - R5) were evaluated. The mass balance of the treatment and recovery system of each of the five WEEE categories showed that steel and glass are the predominant streams of materials arising from the treatment; a non-negligible amount of plastic is also recovered, together with small amounts of precious metals. The LCA of the regional WEEE management system showed that the benefits associated with materials and energy recovery balance the burdens of the treatment processes, with the sole exception of two impact categories (human toxicity-cancer effects and freshwater ecotoxicity). The WEEE categories whose treatment and recovery resulted more beneficial for the environment and the human health are R3 and R5. The contribution analysis showed that overall the main benefits are associated with the recovery of metals, as well as of plastic and glass. Some suggestions for improving the performance of the system are given, as well as an indication for a more-in-depth analysis for the toxicity categories and a proposal for a new characterisation method for WEEE.
废弃电气电子设备（WEEE）是欧洲增长最快的废物之一，其所含的有害物质和有价值的材料使得研究不同的管理选择变得尤为有趣。本研究通过应用生命周期评估（LCA）方法，研究了 2011 年伦巴第大区（意大利）的 WEEE 管理系统。为了描述处理厂的主要产出和能源消耗，进行了广泛的原始数据收集。之后，评估了与根据意大利法规（R1 类：取暖器和冰箱；R2 类：大型家用电器；R3 类：电视机和显示器；R4 类：小型家用电器；R5 类：照明设备）分类的 WEEE 的每一类的处理和回收相关的效益和负担。五类 WEEE 的处理和回收系统的质量平衡表明，钢铁和玻璃是处理过程中主要的材料流；还回收了相当数量的塑料，以及少量的贵金属。区域 WEEE 管理系统的 LCA 表明，与材料和能源回收相关的效益平衡了处理过程的负担，除了两个影响类别（人类毒性-癌症效应和淡水生态毒性）外。处理和回收对环境和人类健康更有益的 WEEE 类别是 R3 和 R5。贡献分析表明，总体而言，主要的效益与金属、塑料和玻璃的回收有关。还提出了一些改进系统性能的建议，以及对毒性类别进行更深入分析的建议和对 WEEE 的新特征描述方法的建议。
