ABSTRACT
Waste electrical and electronic equipment (WEEE or E-waste) generation is identied as one of the fastest growing waste streams. Developing countries in Asia are currently importing more than 80% of the E-waste generated worldwide (20-50 million tons/year) and recovering valuable components through informal waste recycling approaches. These recycling centers are neither using appropriate recycling technologies, nor handling the E-waste properly taking into consideration environmental and health impacts. In many cases, precious metals are recovered from the electrical components (including electrical wires) by simple burning, which releases deadly toxic airborne pollutants such as phthalates and dioxins into the environment. Also, acid leaching, wet chemical processing, and melting treatment are in place for metal recovery purposes. These processes, when carried out under unsafe and environmentally risky conditions, pose great risks to health and create impacts to the surrounding environment. These aspects of E-waste recycling are given prime focus in this chapter. Further, the need to comply with the existing rules and regulations for the safe
Abstract .......................................................................................................................................... 339 10.1 Overview ...............................................................................................................................340 10.2 E-Waste Categories and Quantities ...................................................................................... 342
10.2.1 Statistics of E-Waste Generation .............................................................................. 342 10.2.2 Material Composition of E-Waste ............................................................................344
