Mitigating Health and Environmental Risks From E-Waste Dismantling via Plasma Arc Gasification WtE and Sustainable Materials Management Modeling

Abstract

Informal E-waste recycling is an epidemiological and environmental crisis of unprecedented scale and complexity in human history. The expanding demand for electronics and the growing human population is putting indeterminable strain upon the Earth’s resources and ecosystems. The demand and scarcity of rare earths, heavy metals, embedded glass and plastics, compounded by the sheer volume of untrackable flows of E-waste, present both opportunity and crises to the poorest marginalized communities, who employ basic and dangerous dismantling means to extract small quantities of valuable metals for subsistence-level resale. Local ecosystems and vulnerable populations suffer toxicological burdens from this work, the extent of which have yet to be determined. Researchers suggest the data indicates the answer is there is risk to human health, with pregnant women and children suffering the highest chronic damage from multi-channel exposures to chemical compounds. This study examined the possibility of adapting Taiwan’s Smart Materials Management system to China’s biggest E-waste dismantling regions, in order to control the flow of printed circuit boards away from illegal enterprises, towards licensed processors with proper protective gear and efficient machinery. China’s reliance upon fossil fuels for electricity generation exacerbates greenhouse gas emissions. Once control of E-waste flows can be established, using plasma arc gasification to process the waste into energy becomes more attractive to traditional project financing. This study focused upon the first stage of major dismantling emissions, mechanical shredding, comparing China to the rest of the world, and found a LCA single score of 3. However this analysis was based upon Swiss data over 10 years old, and technical details about the machinery were not available. The waste-to-energy technology focused upon was AlterNRG’s plasma arc gasification torches, which have potential for decreasing the E-waste dumps prevalent in China, and thus decreasing human health risks.