A systematic selective disassembly approach for Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment with case study on liquid crystal display televisions

Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment is one of the major waste streams in terms of quantity and toxicity, and a critical step in Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment end-of-life processing is through disassembly. Compared with full disassembly, which is a sub-optimal solution due to its high operational cost, selective disassembly is more economic and practical as only selected parts with recycling potential are considered. In this article, a systematic selective disassembly approach for handling Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment with a maximum disassembly profit in accordance to the Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment and Restriction of Hazardous Substances Directives has been developed. First, a space interference matrix is generated based on the interference relationship between individual components in the three-dimensional computer-aided design model of Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment. A matrix analysis algorithm is then applied to obtain all the feasible disassembly sequences through the obtained space interference matrix in a three-dimensional environment. Second, an evaluation and decision-making method is developed to find out an optimal selective disassembly sequence from the obtained feasible disassembly sequences. The evaluation takes into account the disassembly profit and requirements of the Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment and Restriction of Hazardous Substances Directives, which regulate on recycling rates of different types of products and removal requirements of (1) hazardous, (2) heavy and (3) high-value components. Thus, an optimal solution is a selective disassembly sequence that can achieve the maximum disassembly profit, while complying with the Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment and Restriction of Hazardous Substances restrictions based on a brute-force search method. Finally, an industrial case on Changhong liquid crystal display televisions of the type LC24F4 is used to demonstrate the effectiveness of the developed approach.