1996 Electronics Industry Environmental Roadmap - Civil and ...

Appendix G
The Nordic cooperation group for cleaner technology of the Nordic Council of Ministers
commissioned a project to examine: (1) the environmental impact of incinerating and landfilling
waste from electric and electronic equipment (WEEE), and (2) the hazardous materials and
substances in electric and electronic equipment. 25 Although the entire work was sponsored by
the Nordic Council, the discussion of incineration and landfilling is based primarily on
information gathered from Sweden and Denmark, due to the lack of information available from
the other Nordic countries during this three-month project. 26
The study compares the hazards associated with incinerating and landfilling WEEE, in particular
cathode ray tubes (CRTs), flame retardant plastic, and printed wiring boards (PWBs). A sound
understanding of the comparative environmental impact is crucial to improving product designs
for future disposal. The report proposes ways in which incineration and landfilling might change
to lessen the impact, and discusses CRT closed-loop recycling and flame retardant plastic in lowgrade
recycling as disposition options. In order to improve the outcome of such an exercise,
more quantitative data regarding emissions from WEEE in landfills is needed. This highlights,
once again, the lack of information on product materials and substances. Reliable information is
critical for better estimates of the impact from WEEE incineration and landfilling, and to DFE in
general.
A second portion of study funded by the Nordic Council of Ministers resulted in a ranked list of
problematic materials in WEEE (products manufactured before 1993). In descending order, the
problems were: mercury and PCBs; halogenated flame retardants; a lack of information about
flat panel display content materials; cadmium in nickel-cadmium batteries; and lead oxide in
CRTs.
The report 27 provides consolidated data on electronic systems. The data includes materials and
substances for: printed board assemblies, including ICs, other semiconducting materials, diodes,
capacitors, resistors, inductors, relays, PWBs, indicators and switches, fuses and circuit breakers,
electron tubes, PBA connectors, and PBA front; displays (CRTs and FPDs); and other components
(e.g., batteries, cables and wires, sensors, and connectors). The report also estimates the
volume of hazardous substances in WEEE, looking at cadmium, PCBs, mercury, lead, beryllium,
indium, arsenic, and gallium.
IMEC
Although the 1996 Electronics Industry Environmental Roadmap is not chartered to study
environmental activities in the semiconductor industry, a program at IMEC (Leuven, Belgium) 28
25 The Council report defines electric and electronic equipment as that which “...uses electricity or through which
electricity flows and/or which contains an electronic circuit, i.e. with active and passive components.”
26 For a copy of the report, Environmental Consequences of Incineration and Landfilling of Waste from
Electronic Equipment, contact the Nordic Council of Ministers, Fax: 45 33 96 02 02. Reference TemaNord
1995:555.
27 “Waste from Electrical and Electronic Products—A Survey of the Contents of Materials and Hazardous Substances
in Electric and Electronic Products,” may be obtained from the Nordic Council of Ministers, Fax: 45 33
96 02 02. Reference TemaNord 1995:554.
28 IMEC was founded in January 1984 by the Government of Flanders and is the largest independent microelectronics
research center in Europe. It has an annual research budget of $U.S. 60 million and 650 employees. It
is closely linked to universities, research institutes, and industry and participates in a number of European R&D
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