A logistic concept to improve the re-usability of electric and electronic equipment

Abstract

If one considers the huge amounts of WEEE (waste from electrical and electronic equipment) which will become available for recovery, one has to strengthen various end-of-life possibilities such as upgrade, re-use, recondition, re-manufacture, resale or recycling of materials. The quality of these end-of-life possibilities are decisively determined by the quality of the logistic systems. Today the end-of-life electric and electronic equipment is mostly regarded as scrap and treated like it is usual for scrap-in a destructive way. This makes it impossible to re-use equipment, components and parts. This paper describes the development of a logistic solution which meets the demands for several re-use strategies and also increases the effectiveness in material recycling.