ABSTRACT
Introduction ......................................................................................................... 210 E-Waste Categories ............................................................................................. 211 Toxic and Hazardous Substances in E-Waste .................................................. 212 Impacts of E-Waste .............................................................................................. 213
Environment ................................................................................................... 213 Human Health ................................................................................................ 215
Strategies for Managing E-Waste ...................................................................... 215 Policy and Legislation ................................................................................... 215 Economy, Society, and Culture ..................................................................... 217 Science and Technology ................................................................................. 217
Tools for Decision Making ................................................................................. 218 Life Cycle Assessment ........................................................................................ 219
Goal and Scope De’nition ............................................................................ 220 Inventory Analysis ......................................................................................... 220 Impact Assessment ......................................................................................... 220 Interpretation .................................................................................................. 220
Risk Assessment .................................................................................................. 221 Framework of Environmental Risk Assessment ........................................ 221
Problem Formulation ................................................................................ 221 Analysis ....................................................................................................... 221 Risk Characterization ................................................................................ 221 Risk Management ......................................................................................222
Assessment and Interpretation for Integrated Life Cycle and Risk Assessment ..................................................................................................223 Conclusion ...........................................................................................................223 References ............................................................................................................. 224
There are a number of de’nitions of electronic wastes (or e-waste), which is also known as waste electrical and electronic equipment (WEEE) (EU 2002; Puckett and Smith 2002; Electronic Recyclers International 2006; Wong et al. 2007a). For the purpose of this chapter, e-waste will be de’ned as consisting of old, end-of-life electronic devices such as televisions, refrigerators, washing machines, vacuum cleaners, computers, computer peripherals, and mobile phones that original users no longer want because they are obsolete or irreparable.
