Recycling of waste from electrical and electronic equipment
Herzig, Tamara (2025)
2025
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Julkaisun pysyvä osoite on
https://urn.fi/URN:NBN:fi:amk-2025052315189
https://urn.fi/URN:NBN:fi:amk-2025052315189
Tiivistelmä
Recycling gained an increasing importance due to the growing awareness of the need for a more economical and ecological future. Therefore, this thesis intended to raise awareness of recycling and to analyse the currently used methods for recycling of waste from electrical and electronic equipment. Thereby, a comparative study of Finland and Austria was conducted to evaluate the effectiveness and suitability of the used recycling methods. In addition, old electronic components were selected and analysed to determine if they were still suitable for recycling.
This thesis aimed to show the current economic and environmental situation regarding the recycling of waste from electrical and electronic equipment on a global scale, with a particular focus on Finland and Austria. By reflecting on the situation in different countries and analysing the reasons for these differences, this thesis identified the best practices and potential strategies to improve the recycling rates and reduce the environmental impact. Globally, only 22.3 per cent of e-waste was formally collected and recycled in an environmentally sound manner in 2022, which highlighted the need for improvements both in Europe and worldwide.
The main findings indicated that both compared countries had a better recycling rate than the average of the European Union. The recycling rate was calculated by comparing the total e-waste collected in 2022 to the average amount of EEE placed on the market in the last three years. Furthermore, both countries applied similar recycling techniques and shared common implementation methods. During the component analysis, an initial optical microscope inspection revealed that the components were largely intact prior to processing. Areas of interest that were identified at this stage were then further analysed by using an x-ray microscope.
This thesis aimed to show the current economic and environmental situation regarding the recycling of waste from electrical and electronic equipment on a global scale, with a particular focus on Finland and Austria. By reflecting on the situation in different countries and analysing the reasons for these differences, this thesis identified the best practices and potential strategies to improve the recycling rates and reduce the environmental impact. Globally, only 22.3 per cent of e-waste was formally collected and recycled in an environmentally sound manner in 2022, which highlighted the need for improvements both in Europe and worldwide.
The main findings indicated that both compared countries had a better recycling rate than the average of the European Union. The recycling rate was calculated by comparing the total e-waste collected in 2022 to the average amount of EEE placed on the market in the last three years. Furthermore, both countries applied similar recycling techniques and shared common implementation methods. During the component analysis, an initial optical microscope inspection revealed that the components were largely intact prior to processing. Areas of interest that were identified at this stage were then further analysed by using an x-ray microscope.