WEEE recovery strategies and the WEEE treatment status in China

The electric and electronic equipment has been developed, applied, and consumed world wide at a very high speed. Subsequently, the ever-increasing amount of waste electric and electronic equipment (WEEE) has become a common problem facing the world. In view of the deleterious effects of WEEE on the environment and the valuable materials that can be reused in them, legislations in many countries have focused their attention on the management of WEEE, and new techniques have been developed for the recovery of WEEE. In China, rapid economic growth, coupled with urbanization and growing demand for consumer goods, has increased the consumption of EEE in large quantity, thus made the VVEEE manifold rapidly, posing a severe threat to the environment and the sustainable economic growth as well. This article reviewed the implementation of strategies of WEEE treatment and the recovery technologies of VVEEE. It presented the current status of WEEE and corresponding responses adopted so far in China. The concept and implementation of scientific development is critical to the sector of electronics, one of the important industrial sectors in China's economy. To achieve this objective, it is significant to recycle WEEE sufficiently to comply with regulations regarding WEEE management, and to implement green design and cleaner production concepts within the electronics industry to comply with the upcoming EU and China legislation in a proactive manner. (c) 2006 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.