Development of integrated e-waste management system based on resource-saving in China

Abstract

In terms of volume and environmental impact on the planet, electronic waste (e-waste) has become the fastest growing waste stream in the world. However, the officially recorded collection and recycling rate is only 17.4%, so recycling activities have not kept pace with the global growth of e-waste. The distribution and environmental impact of e-waste varies across regions of the globe. In developed countries, there is usually infrastructure for e-waste recycling, but in low- and middle-income countries the infrastructure for managing e-waste is still underdeveloped or non-existent, and therefore e-waste is mainly managed by the informal sector. In such cases, e-waste is usually disposed of in poor conditions, posing a serious threat to human health and causing serious environmental pollution in the areas where it is collected and disposed of. E-waste has a complex composition, containing both hazardous and valuable substances, and is known as urban mine. It contains several precious, critical and other non-critical metals that can be used as secondary materials if recycled. Unfortunately, specialized technologies are rarely used and a large amount of e-waste is disposed of outside the formal treatment system. Rough technologies are very ineffective in recovering resources, as recycling in this case is usually concentrated on a few high-value elements, with low recovery rates, while most other metals are discarded and inevitably lost. Governments around the world are formulating national e-waste regulations and legislation to cope with the increase in end-of-life electrical and electronic products. In most countries, current e-waste legislation includes bans on the import and export of e-waste, recycling requirements for specific types of e-waste and extended producer responsibility. The EU has a long history of e-waste legislation. The EU Waste Electric and Electronic Equipment Directive, which has been in force since early 2003, is a comprehensive e-waste management law that governs the collection, recycling and resource recovery process. Another directive, the Restriction of Hazardous Substances Directive, aimed at modifying product design and packaging to restrict the use of six toxic materials in the manufacturing process. China has enacted laws banning the import of hazardous e-waste, and in addition, the Chinese government has passed the “Measures for the Prevention and Control of Pollution from Electronic Information Products” and the “Regulations on the Collection and Disposal of Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment”. China has established a fund for the disposal of waste electrical and electronic equipment (WEEE) to finance the recovery and treatment of e-waste. China's e-waste recycling system is very poorly organized and consists of both the formal and informal sectors, with the informal sector dominating until 2003. In 2009, China introduced the "old for new" household appliance replacement policy, which encourages consumers to participate in the recycling of end-of-life household appliances through formal channels. In 2012, the Chinese government implemented the WEEE recycling fund management scheme and provided fixed subsidies to certified e-waste treatment plants based on the actual amount of e-waste dismantled. Afterwards, the subsidy policy for the disposal fund of discarded electrical and electronic products was improved. In 2020, China implemented the “Program on Improving the Recycling and Disposal System for Waste Household Appliances and Promoting the Renewal of Household Appliance Consumption", and took many specific actions to support household appliance manufacturers, sales and recycling enterprises in establishing diversified recycling channels. There are six main ways of handling e-waste in China. Peddlers collect about 60% of recyclable e-waste. Approximately 20% of recyclable e-waste is collected by distributors or retailers, mainly through "old for new" policy. Only 10% of recyclable e-waste is collected by specialized collectors. A small amount of e-waste is recycled in the second-hand market. Smaller sized e-waste products are always discarded at home or sometimes in municipal solid waste. Circular economy (CE) is the good point of sustainability because it provides a set of practices that can generate more sustainable operations, making organizational sustainability possible. In an ideal CE, all generated waste would be reused as raw materials in the production process. The implementation of the CE is mainly due to the lack of information, which makes digital transformation an ideal enabler of the CE. The rapid development of digital technologies (DTs) has facilitated the waste management process in CE, and the application of smart technologies provides new opportunities for more effective e-waste management. This study provides a comprehensive understanding of the current research status on intelligent e-waste management in China through a systematic literature review and content analysis. Based on this, advanced DTs used in the e-waste management are discussed. With the rapid development of Internet and the popularity of e-commerce, Internet-based e-waste collection provides consumers with a simple and formal channel to dispose of their e-waste, overcoming the limitations of traditional e-waste collection. E-waste management based on the Internet of Things (IoT) and cloud platforms has created a smarter way of managing and disposing of waste, with IoT technology collecting information about the content and location of trash cans from monitors on the lids and transmitting the information to the e-waste collection team through a centralized server. Artificial intelligence (AI) technology has the potential to revolutionize e-waste management by improving efficiency, accuracy and sustainability. After collected, e-waste can be sorted using AI algorithms, making it easier to recover valuable elements, reducing the demand for original resources. AI technology can also be used to create decision support systems for managing e-waste that can recommend the most appropriate recycling practices, disposal options, and resource recovery technologies based on data analytics and machine learning algorithms. Many companies in China are applying the IoT, big data, cloud computing and AI to develop smart e-waste collection and recycling systems, and this study introduces the latest progress of smart e-waste collection and classification measures in China, which have been implemented and scaled up through local businesses and entrepreneurial initiatives as an alternative to informal methods. The results highlight the potential of smart technologies in e-waste management. The recycling of waste electronic products involves national legislation, payment mechanisms, definition of responsibilities of relevant recycling and treatment entities, and government supervision. China's e-waste management is relatively backward, and developed countries’ e-waste management system and practical experience can provide us with learning and reference. This study analyzed the e-waste recycling and treatment systems of the Netherlands, Belgium, Sweden, Germany and Switzerland, the countries in Europe where e-waste management legislation and practice were carried out earlier, and the extended producer responsibility system has become a recognized principle. It also introduced the Japanese government's home appliance law and recycling system, and the U.S. state laws and regulations on the recycling and treatment of waste electronic products as well as professional waste electronic product recycling and treatment companies. The recycling of e-waste can adopt an integrated strategy, which can be divided into three types: vertically integrated recycling mode with manufacturers as the center, vertically integrated recycling mode centered on third-party recycling and treatment, and horizontally integrated mode with joint recycling and treatment as the core, and analyzed the advantages of each mode. The characteristics of the market for refurbished/remanufactured electrical and electronic products after the recovery of e-waste and how to improve the utilization rate of used electrical and electronic products and reduce the cost of refurbishment/remanufacturing were investigated. Literature studies shows that DTs have positively influenced the shift from a linear to a CE model and have facilitated the implementation of circular strategies by enterprises. However, how should enterprises apply various DTs of Industry 4.0 throughout the whole product lifecycle to implement CE-related strategies. This study presents a conceptual framework for exploring DTs in CE operations from the perspective of product lifecycle. The rapid development of DTs such as IoT, Cyber-Physical Systems, Cloud Computing, AI, Big Data Analytics, and Digital Twins has mobilized automation and data exchange in the smart manufacturing and production processes to reduce overconsumption and production errors, improve efficiency, and thus drive sustainable development. This study investigates the relationship between CE and DTs to identify the role of DTs in supporting CE implementation. Various business model innovation approaches have been proposed to support CE. DTs can achieve circular goals through interrelated monitoring, control, optimization, and automation functions. DTs applied to service-oriented product-service systems (PSS) can help to innovate circular business models, fully utilize idle resources, and provide high-quality personalized services. Shifting business thinking from linear economy to CE faces many challenges, requiring appropriate management of sustainable production and consumption patterns, closed-loop supply chains and PSS. This study provides useful insights into the digitization of circular business models, helping to understand the role and functionality of DTs in circular business with whole lifecycle management, especially in the design and recovery phases. In addition, we studied how various Industry 4.0 DTs, such as IoT, Big Data, and Cloud Computing, can be utilized to enable the transition to CE. The goal of Industry 4.0 is to use DTs to improve the manufacturing of high-quality products at the lowest cost. Industry 4.0 offers alternatives for sustainable production and consumption, minimizing energy loss, resource consumption and environmental degradation. Industry 4.0 provides a new perspective on how the manufacturing industry can utilize new technologies to create value with maximum output and minimum resource utilization. Based on the literature analysis, six DTs have been identified as primarily Industry 4.0 technologies relevant to CE: cyber-physical systems, IoT, AI, Big Data Analytics, Additive Manufacturing, and Simulation. DTs play an important role in environmental sustainable operation decision making, and the synergies and sustainability of Industry 4.0 will further contribute to a sustainable society. To measure the impact of DTs on CE development, we defined CE performance objectives. We adopted three CE performance objectives: using fewer materials and resources by improving resource efficiency, extending product lifespan, and closing the loop. we clarified how DTs promote CE performance objectives in terms of the three stages of the product lifecycle: product design, product use, and product recovery. In the initial stage of the product lifecycle, that is, the design stage, DTs help realize the circular design of the product, such as detachable and recyclable components, to achieve the third CE performance objective, that is, to close the loop. In addition, product design to increase lifespan helps achieve the second CE performance objective, that is, to slow down resource flows. In the middle of the product lifecycle, that is, the use stage, the application of DTs makes the product "smart"; thus, value is no longer generated from the design and production stages, but from the use stage. IoT technology can monitor and track product activities, collect usage data, and combine with cloud computing, big data analytics, and AI to provide technical support for product use, guide users on optimizing the product use, extend product lifetime, and accomplish the CE second performance objective, which is to slow down resource consumption. Based on the usage data, the product design can be improved to satisfy the CE first performance objective, enhance the efficiency of raw materials, and reduce the flow of resources. DTs also facilitate preventive or predictive maintenance; thus, products can maintain a longer service life. At the end stage of product lifecycle, the loop can be closed by streaming the product into a second lifecycle or by efficient recycling through efficient reverse logistics systems. However, in the final stage of the product life cycle, CE activities are closely related to the design in the initial stage of the product life cycle. Increasing the investment in DTs in the product design stage is necessary to create conditions for the product to close the loop in the end stage. Circular business models, such as access-based product-service system (AB-PSS), have been enabled by DTs. In recent years, bike-sharing systems have flourished in smart cities. As a typical example, intelligent transportation systems can effectively improve the mobility and safety while reducing the impact on the environment. Bike-sharing service is based on the company's time-sharing rental model, which provides many public bicycles to the public in public places. To illustrate the impact of DTs on CE, we studied the case of shared bicycles service. In the case of shared bicycles, DTs enables improvements in CE. DTs combined with the AB-PSS business model can improve resource efficiency, extend product life, and close the loop on resource flows. By examining how DTs affect CE performance objectives, the conceptual framework developed provides further insights into the role of DTs as a CE enabler in terms of the product lifecycle. Our findings provide a practical reference for researchers and managers to utilize the potential of DTs to support CE transformation. This study systematically researches the construction of the evaluation index system of urban CE and the selection of evaluation indicators, and proposes a set of methods for constructing the evaluation index system of urban CE, and applies them to practical case of Chinese cities. When designing the evaluation index system for urban CE, it is necessary to follow the principles: scientific principle, systematic principle, dynamic principle, comparability principle, operability principle and territorial principle. The methodology applied in the evaluation of urban CE includes 4 steps. First, a critical literature review was conducted based on PRISMA to identify the theoretical basis for the contribution of digital technology to smart city CE and to establish an evaluation framework for urban CE. A reasonable conceptual framework was selected as the basis for establishing the indicators, and effective indicators were identified in the Chinese context. Second, the raw data of the indicators are standardized. Third, analytic hierarchy process method was used to calculate the weight values of the indicators within the framework. Finally, the formula was utilized to calculate the evaluation index of urban CE. The index system is divided into three levels: the guideline layer, the elementary layer and the indicator layer, and the guideline layer is divided into the economic subsystem, the social subsystem and the environmental subsystem, which are comprehensively measured and examined as a whole. The elementary layer is based on five levels: economic strength, economic efficiency, reduced use of resources, reuse and resource recovery, and ecological environment. Through investigation and research, a total of 17 quantitative indicators were selected for the indicator level, each with practical and meaningful data support. The use of advanced technology to improve urban management in smart cities has become an important trend for future urban development, and urban CE is regarded as an important way to realize sustainable urban development. This study established an urban CE evaluation index system, including the selection and standardization of evaluation indexes, calculates the weights through the analytic hierarchy process method, and finally calculates the CE evaluation indexes of prefecture-level cities in China. This study empirically examines the relationship, mediating effect, and timing mechanism of smart city policies on environmental pollution reduction and urban CE development based on the panel data of 253 prefecture-level cities in China from 2003 to 2017 by using difference in difference method. The results of the empirical analysis show that (a) smart city construction has a significant relationship with environmental pollution emission reduction and urban CE development; (b) the implementation of smart city policies can increase the contribution to urban CE development through technological innovation; and (c) This study further proves that with the support of technological innovation, smart cities have a long-lasting impact on the development of CE. Moreover, when we conducted robustness testing, the conclusion remained valid. Further examining the results of the study on the difference-in-difference method of smart cities on environmental pollution and CE, the study finds that smart city policies promote environmental pollution reduction and urban CE development through technological innovation. This study provides insights for urban policy makers and managers to implement urban transformation for smart city and CE development. This dissertation promotes e-waste management in Xinxiang city from the perspective of digital technology. It explores the construction of an advanced, efficient, and intelligent recycling management program for e-waste in Xinxiang city, and tries to guide practice through case studies. This study proposes an intelligent recycling system for e-waste based on IoT technology. On the one hand, for large volume waste home appliance, reservation and quotation can be made in advance through online methods such as websites, smartphone application, and WeChat applet, and door-to-door pickup of large e-waste can be realized for residents. On the other hand, for small waste appliances, IoT smart recycling bins set up in communities and major commercial areas are used as recycling carriers. By setting up an infrared full container alarm system in the smart recycling bins at each recycling outlet, real-time analysis of back-office data is used to plan optimized logistics and recycling routes. In addition, after the delivery of waste appliances is completed, the value of the delivered waste will be exchanged through the back-end settlement system at the first time, thus incentivizing more residents to participate in the formal recycling of waste appliances. IoT technology is the key to building an intelligent recycling system for waste household appliances. Key DTs such as radio frequency identification tags, warehouse management barcodes, logistics tracking technology, data sharing and data backtracking provide an intelligent platform for urban e-waste management. This study explores the construction of an intelligent logistics and recycling system for the recycling of e-waste in Xinxiang city, which consists of four parts: e-waste logistics and recycling network coverage, e-waste logistics and recycling process tracking, e-waste logistics and recycling routes intelligent recommendation, and e-waste inventory management. The e-waste logistics and recycling network will be combined with the intelligent recycling bins based on IoT to build a three-tier logistics and recycling system with "points, stations and centers" as the core. By setting up community collection points (collection booths or mobile collection vehicles), regional collection stations (collection stores) and regional collection centers (processing and utilization centers), a new intelligent integrated recycling system with reasonable layout and comprehensive coverage will be formed. The tracking of the recycling process of the reverse logistics of used and end-of-life household appliances will utilize the logistics tracking technology, adopting the fusion of multiple tracking technologies to realize the heterogeneous sharing and chain query of waste household appliance reverse logistics recycling data. Through the wireless communication network and technology, comprehensive road traffic information is obtained, global positioning system /GIS control center is used to obtain the road traffic condition and the state of logistics vehicles on the recycling logistics network, the whole process of vehicles is tracked, the comprehensive control of the recycling logistics state is realized. The visualization management platform is established to visualize the utilization plan of the recycling vehicles, the optimization of the transportation scheme and the dynamic control of the vehicles and goods within the platform. Based on logistics and recycling information data management, it establishes the inventory management of waste household appliances, collects all the data in the work of inventory processing, and realizes the inventory decision-making support. A questionnaire survey was conducted among the citizens of Xinxiang city, and statistical analysis methods were used to determine the relationship between the variables. It was found that residents' willingness to recycle e-waste will directly affect residents' e-waste recycling behavior. Residents' willingness to recycle e-waste is influenced by the internal environment, thereby adjusting residents' e-waste recycling behavior. Residents' willingness to recycle e-waste is affected by the external environment, thereby regulating residents' e-waste recycling behavior. The incentives for residents to recycle e-waste will adjust residents' willingness to promote the sustainable development of e-waste recycling. Addressing barriers to e-waste recycling will adjust residents' willingness to recycle e-waste, intervene in residents' behavior, and promote the sustainable development of e-waste recycling. Adopting relevant incentives to solve the problems caused by e-waste recycling barriers will increase residents' willingness to recycle e-waste, thereby intervening in residents' behavior and promoting the sustainable development of e-waste recycling. We combined the incentive system with the smart e-waste collection system to construct a set of incentives suitable for China's smart e-waste recycling system, which is conducive to improving the e-waste recycling rate and has applicability. Existing smart e-waste collection systems use a single economic incentive method. It faces fierce competition from unauthorized informal recyclers, resulting in a small number of users and inability to fully utilize its advantages. In the reverse logistics of e-waste recycling, consumers are the starting point of product recycling. By analyzing the characteristics and determinants of Chinese users' recycling behavior, this study selects appropriate incentives for a smart e-waste collection system to meet Chinese consumers' perceptions of WEEE. The incentive system is based on economic incentives, including currency, reward points, and tax incentives, and combines negative incentives, mainly fines. Rewards and punishments are employed simultaneously to achieve long-term and sustainable incentive effects. The incentive system is based on the convenient infrastructure of the smart e-waste collection system, and its financial model must be shared by multiple stakeholders from the government, smart e-waste systems, and manufacturers.