Title: Current practice and policy for transforming e-waste into urban mining: case study in Taiwan

Authors: Wen-Tien Tsai

Addresses: Graduate Institute of Bioresources, National Pingtung University of Science and Technology, Pingtung, 91201, Taiwan

Abstract: In Taiwan, the amount of e-waste, mainly generated from the information technology (IT) products, home electrical appliances and lightings, is increasing most rapidly because this country is one of the most important suppliers for electrical and electronic products in the world. The objective of this overview paper was to study the regulatory promotion of e-waste recycling under the 4-in-1 Program and also update its current status during the period of 2001-2015. Furthermore, this paper also presented a successful case of the waste fluorescent tube processing, which gave a demonstration through its innovative design technology for mercury recovery. Although the annual quantity of e-waste recycling through the implementing agencies seemed to significantly increase from 7,321 tons in 2001 to 74,421 tons in 2015, the recycling market in Taiwan indicated a mature trend in recent years due to the aging population and slow economic growth.

Keywords: e-waste; electric and electronic equipment; recycling; material resources; regulatory promotion; mercury recovery; Taiwan.

DOI: 10.1504/IJEWM.2019.096540

International Journal of Environment and Waste Management, 2019 Vol.23 No.1, pp.1 - 15

Received: 15 Mar 2017
Accepted: 04 Apr 2018
Published online: 05 Dec 2018 *

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