Wastes from Industrialized Nations: A Socio-economic Inquiry on E-waste Management… DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.5772/intechopen.88075


### Table 1.

problems. It is said that the best available environmentally sound management (ESM) systems are programs and techniques that produces sustainable environment through its protection, paving way for safer health and working conditions, generating employment as well as other socioeconomic benefits [10]. In pursuit of these, there arises the deployment of frontier strategies (including the 5Rs) in ewaste management. However, the activities of metal recyclers in Nigeria are secondarily connected with the e-waste recycling sector, because the business outputs are a measure of functional items and valuable components rather than just raw materials [7]. Though, the 2011 Basel Report found the sector producing significant amount of e-waste. This is because the e-waste recycling sector in Nigeria is dominated by firms (or individuals) with "informal" arrangements which collect WEEE at random, manually dismantling (or sorting), preprocessing, selling valuable components and, disposal of the leftovers [10]. On the other hand, prized metals present in printed wiring boards (PWBs) are hardly collected for export to recycling facilities, and when that happens, the selling price is often below world market prices and discouraging to WEEE traders [7]. Also, some devices extracted

Assessment and Management of Radioactive and Electronic Wastes

from WEEE are used as spare parts in the repairs of faulty EEE.

market potential for e-waste recycling in many developing nations.

adopted by e-waste recycling firms in Nigeria.

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Obviously, the ease to getting vital production materials used in the manufacture of new EEE is progressively attracting concern as global reserves of raw materials is fast declining and becoming more expensive [1]. The overall aim for "formal" e-waste recycling is to avert hazardous materials from WEEE in an ESM manner; recover prized items as much as possible; build an eco-friendly and sustainable SMEs and; consider the socio-economic implications [24]. Consequently, the recycling of e-waste is a key strategy for reducing "stockpiled" waste streams, minimizing the consumption of natural resources as well as improving energy usage. In this light, the paper briefly discuss the sustainability benchmarks for evaluating and adopting technologies for e-waste recycling; some innovative WEEE recycling technologies that could be adopted by recycling firms; as well as the

For a better consideration of the procedure for selecting innovative e-waste recycling technologies in developing countries, Schluep et al. [28] suggested, among others, the importance of sustainability benchmarks. Table 1 shows the sustainability benchmarks for evaluating and adopting technologies for WEEE recycling in developing nations, including Nigeria. The benchmarks to compare the innovation of technologies were then grouped with elements of sustainability. Whereas, Table 2 shows some innovative e-waste recycling technologies that could be

To sum up, the market potential for e-waste recycling are enormous as the annual growth rate of WEEE in Nigeria is put at 10% in the volume of waste generated [13]. It has been identified that a mid-term medium potential for integrated e-waste smelting already exist in some countries of Asia, Africa, South and North America [24]. Hence, from job creation, entrepreneurship and sustainability viewpoints, the "informal" practices of collection and manually dismantling of ewaste may not really require a transformation to a "formal" arrangement using high-tech equipment for the processing of WEEE [29]. The innovative technologies been continuously adapted by the larger informal sector in Nigeria is gaining ground [7]. Opportunities in recycling of e-waste arise in the improvement of the processing of cable-coated from poly-vinyl-chloride and insulators, and polybrominated biphenyls coated plastics. Also is the collection of large quantities of PWBs for export and fair pricing. By using the voluntary carbon standard (VCS) or carbon action reserve (CAR) schemes, there is now the potential of recovering chlorofluorocarbon from cooling units and insulation foam which in turn brings both environmental and economic gains [7]. It was also suggested that the improved Sustainability benchmarks for evaluating and adopting technologies for e-waste recycling in developing countries (Adapted from Schluep et al. [28]).


#### Table 2.

Innovative e-waste recycling technologies for recycling firms (Adapted from Schluep et al. [28]).

utilization of polystyrene from e-waste recycling would guarantee a higher monetary value from the pricing of carbon (IV) oxide.
