SUbstance flow analysis of the recycling of small waste electrical ...

102 Substance flow analysis of the recycling of small WEEE
6.1.2. Collection
In Germany, legislative requirements provide the main motivation for collection, reuse and
treatment of WEEE. The current collection target of 4 kg per year and capita does not set
incentives to increase the collection of WEEE, because this collection target was already
achieved in Germany in 2000 (long before the implementation of the ElektroG), where
476 000 tonnes of electronic waste appliances were collected (BMU 2007). Moreover, the
collection target is not differentiated according to the equipment types, so that it does not
promote the collection of small and light devices, but the collection of heavy appliances
(Rotter et al. 2006). However, the regulations define how collection should be performed and
who is responsible for financing the operations, so that collection systems are in place for all
types of waste equipment including the small ones. In the USA, where little legislation
regulates the recycling of WEEE, collection and treatment are mainly driven by the economy
and by voluntary environmental protection for equipment types with a high hazardous
potential, like CRT monitors. If maximising the revenues from the production of secondary
raw materials is the primary focus, mainly very high-grade equipment like mobile phones and
personal computers are collected for treatment or reuse. Because there is little motivation to
collect low-grade equipment, the collection rate for this equipment group is almost zero. In
this sense, the different legislative frameworks explain the higher collection rates in Germany
than in the USA.
Regarding non-separated collection of sWEEE, a clear correlation between average size of
the WEEE and percentage of end-of-life devices disposed of by the last user was identified,
as illustrated for Germany in Figure 32. To estimate the average size of the devices,
quantified as the diagonal length, the data of the database described in chapter 3.3.1 were
used. The smaller the device, the more likely it is to be disposed of by the last user. The
economic value of the device also plays a role in the discard behaviour of the user, as well
as other factors like the emotional value, or the identification of the user with the device that
is not only used for its function but primarily as a “life-style companion”. Low-grade
equipment is more likely to be disposed of than large high-grade equipment (Figure 32).