Illegal management of electronic product (e-product) from cradle to grave poses a huge threat to human and the environment, and the significant increases of electronic waste (e-waste) have violated ...the targets of previous regulations. To tackle these threats, a number of directives and regulations related to e-product and e-waste were promulgated, implemented and updated in China and in the European Union (EU) from 2006 to 2012. Comparing the relevant legislation along the e-product’s entire life cycle between China and the EU, the prospect of e-waste management in China is presented. Some results and prospects have been reached: (1) the life cycle of e-product from forward logistics to reverse logistics is properly covered by the legislation framework both in the EU and in China. Within the reverse logistics of electronic product, EU legislation demonstrated a clearer and more systemic idea of eco-design and integrated product policy. More stakeholders are involved in China than the EU in the course of law enforcement; (2) the legislation differences between China and the EU can be attributed to the different cultural and social circumstances. The long-dated weak environmental awareness, many ministries and government hierarchies in China lead to the different frameworks and content from the EU; and (3) based on the comparison, a four-phase process of e-waste management in China is clearly outlined, including an informal manual dismantling phase (1980s–2000), recycling pilot phase (2001–2008), development phase (2009–2020), and mature phase (2020–).
► A legislation management comparison of “from e-product to e-waste” between China and the EU is carried out. ► The differences of the whole e-waste legislation system between China and the EU is analyzed in detail. ► A perfective four-phase process of e-waste management in China is clearly outlined from the past to the future.
China not only is the largest generator of electrical and electronic waste (e-waste) in the world but is among the countries affected the most by previous importation and informal recycling. In this ...paper, we explore how the implementation of policies has impacted a transition toward an established e-waste management system. We combine a brief review of the main advancements of e-waste management legislation in the country with field observations at two e-waste recycling sites. Informed by transition management, we investigate interconnections between the informal and formal sectors, and motivations to focus on certain appliances. Our findings suggest that the strongest drivers of change toward sustainability transitions are external, such as legislation and market. The remaining challenges include policy gaps for specific appliances and the disconnection between policies and the informal sector. This study provides scientific insights into transition possibilities for more established e-waste practices and contributes to advancements toward a circular economy.
•Policy implementation has impacted a transition in e-waste management in China.•The case studies illustrate transition aspects in the informal and formal sectors.•The x-curve model of transition dynamics is applied to China's e-waste management.•The remaining challenges include policy gaps for specific appliances.•Approaches are proposed to include the informal sector in the emerging regime.
Abstract
Industrial waste is the byproduct of many industrial processes. Estimating the recycling potential of industrial waste can help solve the anthropogenic circularity conundrum. Here we ...employed the Environmental Kuznets Curve (EKC) to verify GDP as a route to "amplified resource efficiency". The results provide substantial evidence for an inverted U and N relationship between the hypothesized GDPPC and industrial waste generation. During 2011–2025, the recycling potential in China showed a downward trend. China is projected to experience a dramatic increase in the production of industrial hazardous waste until the successful implementation of industrial hazardous waste prevention measures reverses the current trends. The turning point of the EKC between industrial waste generation and economic development is around US$8000, while the comprehensive utilization is 102.22 million tons. The EKC inflection points established by the study are correlated with the waste category’s turning point. The revised EKC claims that technological change may accelerate the turning points; thus, the graph shifts downward and right. The study recommends investing in new technology development to help the industry produce virgin and recycled industrial waste for a circular economy. Recycling potential evaluation also assists us to achieve our Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).
Globally, to build cities and communities more inclusive, safe, resilient and sustainable is one of the most important sustainable development goals. Eco-districts in cities emerged as an answer to ...current global environmental concerns and have been developed in France since the 1990s. The objective of this work is to gather operational feedback from sustainable neighborhood projects owners to better understand the key barriers of such projects and how to overcome them. A case study of the eco-district Les Tanneries, Lingolsheim showed that the carbon footprint of each inhabitant annually amounted to 4 tons CO
2
equivalent, more than half of the French average. Rooms for improvements were clearly identified regarding transports and food carbon footprint. Indicators for energy consumption, social diversity and density reached the level of the eco-districts average. A governance review pointed out some superior practices such as the formalization of a specification requirements handbook, a competition between project management teams, and the use of neighborhood sustainability assessment tools to measure and track changes in performance. The validated tools and obtained results can be useful in building sustainable cities and even China’s ecological civilization.
Resource and environmental management are shaping our society and economy. Virgin mining is rapidly becoming unsustainable as primary resources are in increasingly short supply and energy consumption ...continues to increase. Urban mining through a circular economy has emerged as a promising option for securing copper and aluminum resources. However, the sustainability and viability of this circular economy industry are heavily dependent on its profitability. Here, we demonstrate the economic benefits of urban mining for anthropogenic minerals: e-waste, end-of-life vehicles, waste wiring and cables. The material and cost flows associated with urban mining are deeply examined. Through life cycle cost and cost-benefit analysis, the cost of obtaining one ton of copper or aluminum is found to be, on average, 3,000 US$ or 1,660 US$, which is significantly lower than the cost of virgin mining. Moreover, in terms of the costs and benefits, copper may differ tremendously from aluminum depending on the type of anthropogenic mineral. Some additional regulations or policies enactment need to reinforce the urban mining and circular economy.
•The economic performance of urban mining is the pressing challenges in metal sustainability.•Copper and aluminum are two of the most widely used metals in modern industry.•Urban mining could be economically competitive with virgin mining.•Recycling aluminum from ELVs is more cost-effective than virgin production.
•Material flow analysis for cobalt cycle in China is determined from 2005 to 2013.•We forecast the demand of cobalt in China.•Cumulative demand of cobalt is obtained under different recycling ...scenarios.•We summarize carrying capacity of cobalt resource and vision of cobalt industry.
Cobalt, one of the more scarce energy metals, is widely utilized in many crucial industries. China is a major consumer and supplier of resources such that domestic cobalt are being rapidly depleted, which results in the boost of consumer electronics (CE) and electric vehicles (EV) industries vulnerable to the sustainability of cobalt reserve base. Here we summarize that China's cobalt demand will increase significantly due to the continuing growth of CE and the briskly emerging market of EV, resulting in a short carrying duration of cobalt, even with full recycling of cobalt products. With these applications increasing at an annual rate of 5%, the carrying duration of cobalt resource until 2030 will oblige the cobalt products recycling rate of not less than 90%. To sustain cobalt utilization in China, one approach for cobalt recycling would be to improve the collection system and recycling technology towards closed-loop supply chain, and other future endeavours should include commercializing the low-content cobalt battery and optimizing cobalt industrial structure.
Increasing population, booming economy, rapid urbanization and the rise in community living standards have significantly accelerated the solid waste generation in the world. Solid waste has become ...one of the global environmental issues. Continuous depletion of natural finite resources is leading the globe to an uncertain future. To prevent further depletion of global resources, sustainable consumption and a strategic waste management system would be required. One approach that has been suggested as a means of addressing these concerns is that of the concepts of “Zero Waste”. However, transforming currently over-consuming activities into zero waste is still challenging. In this study, the challenges of solid waste (focusing on industrial waste e-waste, food waste and packaging waste), zero waste practices, and zero waste strategy were discussed to analyze the challenges and opportunities to transform traditional waste management toward zero waste vision. “Zero Waste” is a good solution to minimizing the increasing solid waste. However, in order to minimize the solid waste, there are still more endeavors need to be done in future.
Abstract
Transport infrastructure allows society to function. Such systems continuously improve through manufacturing transformation and technology upgrading. However, its metabolism mechanism of ...material degradation and quantities from consumption to obsolescence remains unclear. Here we estimate the recycling potential of typical large-scale public transport vehicles (LPTV) in China, in particular, predicting the end-of-life quantity of railway and aviation equipment between 2000 and 2050. Their total recycling potential has been experiencing rapid growth. The total obsolescence mass in 2020 exceeded 33 million tons, and it is expected to reach another 74 million tons by 2050, roughly twice the amount in 2020. By 2050, waste LPTV in China will contain at least 72 million tons of steel, 838 kilotons of aluminum, 2539 tons of titanium, and 223 tons of neodymium. We also compare waste LPTV to e-waste and end-of-life private vehicles. Interestingly, their growth of generation quantity indicates a distinct industry succession from an industrial ecological perspective.
The viability of closed-loop recycling of electronics can sustain the future development of the flourishing electronics industry. Identification for the recyclability of e-waste (or WEEE) plays an ...enhanced role in process designing and policy making. However, precise measurements of recyclability, subjected to resource reclamation and environmental protection analysis, have not yet been well recognized. This study defines the rules of grade determination for various materials in any given WEEE, then combines these rules with the Statistical Entropy function, to develop an innovative model to measure the recyclability, emphasizing the product design stage, in order to significantly promote qualitative to quantitative eco-design. Using this model, not only e-waste recycling can be partitioned into three levels of difficulty, but also the measurement method can be employed to divide the responsibility for electronics recycling between producer and recycler.
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•Identification of recyclability contributes to process development and policy making.•We establish mathematical models to measure the recyclability of e-waste.•The models can promote eco-design from qualitative to quantitative.•We can distinguish responsibility of e-waste recycling for producer and recycler.
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•Peak mineral of nickel is coming to China in the year of 2020–2022.•The prolonged supply crunch is indeed plausible for China’s nickel resource.•Nickel is supplied not only from ...domestic reserves and importation, but from urban mines.•Shifting from virgin mining of geological minerals to urban mining of solid waste is needed.
Rapid economic growth and accelerating urbanization in the past three decades have accelerated the exhaustion of China’s mineral resources. China is the world’s largest consumer and importer of nickel resources; therefore, a growing domestic demand will increase China’s import dependence and in turn make it potentially vulnerable to supply shortages. One hundred years from 1950 to 2050 were examined for China’s nickel utilization. Identified domestic nickel resources can only sustain China’s industries until 2017, but nickel will reach peak utilization around the year of 2020–2022. Given the 5% annual increase in applications and the growing importation of minerals in China, the carrying duration of nickel resources until 2020 will require a nickel-recycling rate of more than 90%. To sustain China’s nickel utilization, future strategies should foster three solutions: maintaining a high level of imports, adjusting the landscape of nickel applications, and shifting from virgin mining of geological minerals to urban mining of anthropogenic resources.
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