Modelling a recovery network for WEEE: A case study in Portugal

• Published in: Waste management (Elmsford) Vol. 31; no. 7; pp. 1645 - 1660
• Main Authors: Gomes, Maria Isabel, Barbosa-Povoa, Ana Paula, Novais, Augusto Q.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Kidlington Elsevier Ltd 01.07.2011; Elsevier
• Subjects: Applied sciences; case studies; Collection; DEVELOPING COUNTRIES; ELECTRONIC EQUIPMENT; Electronic Waste; electronic wastes; Electronics; EUROPE; EUROPEAN UNION; European Union - organization & administration; Exact sciences and technology; INTERNATIONAL ORGANIZATIONS; laws and regulations; LEGISLATION; MANAGEMENT OF RADIOACTIVE WASTES, AND NON-RADIOACTIVE WASTES FROM NUCLEAR FACILITIES; Models, Biological; Networks; Organizational Case Studies; Other wastes and particular components of wastes; PLANNING; Pollution; PORTUGAL; Recovering; RECYCLING; Recycling - economics; Recycling - methods; Refuse Disposal - economics; Refuse Disposal - methods; SIMULATION; sorting; Waste management; WASTES; WESTERN EUROPE; Portugal; European Union; European Union; Legislation; Linear programming; Mixed integer programming; Recycling; Electronic scrap; Modeling
• ISSN: 0956-053X; 1879-2456; 1879-2456
• DOI: 10.1016/j.wasman.2011.02.023

The European Union directive for electric and electronic waste, published in 2003, enforced all European countries to meet some targets concerning the recycling and recovery of these products. This directive was transposed to the Portuguese legislation in 2004. Following this, a group of EEE producers set up an organization (Amb3e) whose mission was to design and manage a nationwide recovery network for WEEE, which will be the subject matter of this work. A generic MILP model is proposed to represent this network, which is applied to its design and planning, where the best locations for collection and sorting centres are chosen simultaneously with the definition of a tactical network planning. Several analyses are performed to provide further insights regarding the selection of these alternative locations. The results gave support to the company strategic expansion plans for a high number of centres to be opened and to their location near the major WEEE sources.