Recycling of e-waste in Korea

World Congress and Expo on Recycling

July 20-22, 2015 Barcelona, Spain

Jae-chun Lee

Posters-Accepted Abstracts: J Environ Anal Toxicol

Abstract :

Several million tons of waste electric and electronic equipment (WEEE) are being generated in Korea. The generation of such a large amount of WEEE containing a variety of hazardous substances is a major threat to both the environment and the human being. In order to contain the negative impact of this kind of wastes, the extended producer responsibility (EPR) system was implemented in 2003 in Korea to activate recycling practices of WEEE. EPR is basically applied to existing items under a deposit system based on the waste control act and all the new items began to be subjected to EPR starting from 2003. For further promoting recycling of WEEE, the Act on the Recycling of Electric and Electronic Equipment and Vehicles was legistrated in July, 2007 in the country and was subsequently enforced on January 1, 2008. This paper highlights the present status of recycling of waste electric and electronic equipment such as refrigerator, washing machine, TV, air conditioner, PC, and mobile phone etc. in Korea. The volume of obsolete electric and electronic equipment has been by taking into account the estimated average service life of them. The commercial processes in vogue and new technologies under development for the recycling of WEEE are described briefly.