Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment

Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment (WEEE) – or e-waste in short – is the term used to describe old, end-of-life or discarded appliances using electricity. It ranges from large household appliances such as refrigerators and air conditioners, computers and stereo systems, to hand-held digital apparatuses and mobile phones. This equipment often includes hazardous substances, such as lead, mercury, hexavalent chromium, cadmium, and halogenated flame retardants that may cause serious damage to the environment and have adverse effects on human health. With the recent digital equipment having a life-cycle of only a few years, e-waste has become the fastest growing component of the municipal solid waste stream. 116 In 1998 six million tons of e-waste were generated, which represented 4% of all municipal solid waste worldwide, nearly the same amount as all plastic packaging (UNEP 2005).