Energy saving potential of electronic waste management practices

Start Page
106
End Page
112
Citation
Wastes: Solutions, Treatments and Opportunities III - International Conference Wastes: Solutions, Treatments and Opportunities: 106-112 (2019-09)
Contribution to Conference
Wastes: Solutions, Treatments and Opportunities III - Selected papers from the 5th International Conference Wastes: Solutions, Treatments and Opportunities, 2019  
Publisher DOI
10.1201/9780429289798-17
Scopus ID
2-s2.0-85079682160
This study aims at estimating the energy savings that could be achieved throughout additional e-waste recycling efforts in fifteen Latin America countries, followed by a qualitative e-waste management evaluation of each considered country. The energy analysis was performed using the United States Environmental Protection Agency’s Waste Reduction Model. The results indicate that up to 19,871 GJ of energy savings could have been achieved if 15% of the total e-waste generated in 2016 of each related country would have been recycled instead of landfilled. Moreover, 1,569,139 Mt of carbon dioxide equivalent emissions could have been avoided. Regarding the current status of e-waste situation in Latin America, the fifteen countries present different levels of e-waste management, and key steps have been identified to explore the energy and environmental benefits. Establishing a sound regulatory framework and foster closer cooperation between countries has proven to be essential to achieve e-waste technical standards and solutions.