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Journal Article•DOI•

A Smart Cloud-Based System for the WEEE Recovery/Recycling

Xi Vincent Wang1, Brenda N. Lopez N2, Winifred Ijomah3, Lihui Wang1, Jinhui Li2 •
Royal Institute of Technology1, Tsinghua University2, University of Strathclyde3
09 Jun 2014-Journal of Manufacturing Science and Engineering-transactions of The Asme (American Society of Mechanical Engineers)-Vol. 137, Iss: 6, pp 061010
TL;DR: A Cloud-based WEEE recovery system is developed to provide modularized recovery services on the Cloud and a product tracking mechanism is also proposed with the help of the Quick Respond code method.
Abstract: Waste electrical and electronic equipment (WEEE) is both valuable and harmful since it contains a large number of profitable and hazardous materials and elements at the same time. At component level, many parts of the discarded equipment are still functional and recoverable. Thus, it is necessary to develop a distributed and intelligent system to support WEEE component recovery and recycling. In recent years, the Cloud concept has gained increasing popularity since it provides a service-oriented architecture (SOA) that integrates various resources over the network. Cloud manufacturing systems are proposed worldwide to support operational manufacturing processes. In this research, Cloud manufacturing is further extended to the WEEE recovery and recycling context. The Cloud services are applied in WEEE recovery and recycling processes by tracking and management services. These services include all the stakeholders from the beginning to the end of life of the electric and electronic equipment. A Cloud-based WEEE recovery system is developed to provide modularized recovery services on the Cloud. A data management system is developed as well, which maintains the knowledge throughout the product lifecycle. A product tracking mechanism is also proposed with the help of the Quick Respond code method.

Summary (3 min read)

Jump to: [INTRODUCTION] – [SYSTEM FRAMEWORK] – [SYSTEM REQUIREMENTS AND ROLES] – [WR2CLOUD: SYSTEM FRAMEWORK] – [DEVELOPMENT: CLOUD, STANDARDS AND PRODUCT TRACKING MECHANISM] – [WR2CLOUD Standards: APIs for Service Packages, Service Providers and Service Consumers] – [IMPLEMENTATIONS AND CASE STUDIES] – [Case Study 1: Cloud WEEE Management at Product level] and [CONCLUSIONS AND PERSPECTIVES]

INTRODUCTION

  • The amount of Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment (WEEE) has grown significantly in recent years, due to increased Electrical and Electronic Equipment (EEE) and its shorter lifecycle.
  • The toxicity of these substances is related to the presence of heavy metals and halogenated flame retardants.
  • The EOL processes include the secondary market processing and component recovery (repair, reconditioning, and remanufacturing) or material recovery [14].
  • WEEE are handled not only as a waste, but also as a special category of product that can be re-used through an extended lifecycle [13].
  • A Cloud-based system is developed to support the WEEE recycling and component recovery processes, including remanufacturing, reconditioning and repairing.

SYSTEM FRAMEWORK

  • As mentioned above, an intelligent recovery and recycling system is required to support the management of WEEE at both material and functionality level.
  • The Cloud concept was initially proposed to describe the large number of computers that are connected via runtime communications over a network [17].
  • Then the Cloud was extended to other areas supporting flexible and customized services, e.g. manufacturing.
  • Cloud manufacturing can be understood as the manufacturing model that enables scalable, ondemand access to manufacturing services, both digitally and physically [18].
  • As a specific category of manufacturing, the re-production based on WEEE, especially UEEE can be also supported by Cloud via its integrated manufacturing solutions, high-level data management/control and flexible service models.

SYSTEM REQUIREMENTS AND ROLES

  • In the manufacturing paradigm, raw material is treated as the input for the start of a physical flow.
  • With the help of Cloud, all the data of individual WEEE can be maintained in an integrated and shared information pool.
  • Such information management needs support from manufacturers, retailers and end users.
  • Firstly, from the stakeholder’s perspective, in traditional web-based recovery and recycling systems [19, 20] the users of the system or platform are mainly recyclers or remanufacturers.
  • Service requests and results are transferred by the coordinator mechanism between users and Cloud.

WR2CLOUD: SYSTEM FRAMEWORK

  • To meet the requirements mentioned above, a three layer system is developed to support WEEE recovery/recycling activities .
  • In the WR2Cloud component recovery and recycling facilities and capabilities are provided as Cloud service packages in the Cloud layer.
  • The outlines and specifications of these services are maintained in the Cloud database and published at the Cloud service coordinator layer.
  • The service ASME © 11 coordinator acts as the neutral supervisor or orchestrator of the Cloud system.
  • At the user layer, the end-users are able to access the system from their local web browsers over the network.

DEVELOPMENT: CLOUD, STANDARDS AND PRODUCT TRACKING MECHANISM

  • Comparison of different treatments of WEEE is important for evaluating related environmental impacts.
  • A wide variety and large quantities of products exists in the EEE context (Table 1), and their internal composition is also complex.
  • In the case of small appliances, there are individual components such as cartridges, batteries, cables, printed circuit boards, ferrous and nonferrous fractions thus a wider range of materials is present and typically in smaller quantities.
  • Environmental impacts of WEEE need to be evaluated before decision making.
  • In the recycling (material recovery) cases, when the products are reversed back to their raw materials, the energy and resources used for its original manufacture are lost.

WR2CLOUD Standards: APIs for Service Packages, Service Providers and Service Consumers

  • In the WR2Cloud, the information management and data sharing is supported by a standardized environment.
  • In practice, the WR2Cloud not only takes care of the WEEE process at the EOL phase, it also supports the EEE maintenance throughout the lifecycle of the product.
  • Customized maintenance solutions can be quickly organized based on the existing product specifications in the Cloud database, e.g. warranty status, model, customer location, etc. ASME © 16 Preventive maintenance is often referred to as use-based maintenance.
  • Related recovery and recycling services can be organized according to the information at both material level and component level.
  • Compared with traditional barcode methods, more pollution and recovery data can be stored in the QR code tag, and additionally, for example, specifications compliant with the Restriction of the Hazardous Substances Directive.

IMPLEMENTATIONS AND CASE STUDIES

  • To evaluate the methods mentioned above, a Cloud-based remanufacturing system is implemented.
  • At the preliminary phase, the virtual environment is built in the Cloud environment which contains 32 computing cores and more than 132GB memories in total.
  • With the help of extendable Cloud resources, the customers are able to access and maintain the WEEE Cloud without installing or configuring any local applications.
  • The working environment of Cloud is capable of virtualizing multiple operation environments, i.e. Linux, MS Windows, and UNIX family.
  • Thanks to the platform independency of JAVA, the developments can be deployed across different environments to suite the different needs or requirements of the users.

Case Study 1: Cloud WEEE Management at Product level

  • In the QR code management module, the remanufacturing stakeholders are able to generate the code tag and attach it on the product .
  • These countries represent more than 75% of the global lead metal production in 2011.
  • At the international level there are two data sessions maintained in the Cloud domain : one corresponds to import/export refined lead as raw material, while the other refers ASME © 22 to LAB as a product.
  • In this case WR2Cloud is to monitor and documents these trades.
  • Additionally, it also provides an opportunity to modify the production strategy by considering the financial and environmental impacts.

CONCLUSIONS AND PERSPECTIVES

  • During the development of WR2Cloud, interviews were taken with different experts in the fields of component recovery and material recycling within the UK.
  • This volatility of EEE products’ technology makes it more difficult to find customers for the recovered EEE. for Design considering Component Recovery or Recycling aspects Rapid Obsolescence.
  • In many countries Incentives to the OEM for Design considering Component Recovery or Recycling aspects Incentives for the consumers.
  • The Cloud environment provides a distributed platform to highlight, broadcast and share the advantage of WEEE recovery throughout the EEE supply and resupply chain.

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1
A Smart Cloud-based System for the WEEE
Recovery/Recycling
Xi Vincent Wang
Department of Production Engineering, KTH Royal Institute of Technology, Sweden
Brinellvägen 68, 114 28 Stockholm, Sweden
wangxi@kth.se
Brenda N. Lopez N
State Key Joint Laboratory of Environment Simulation and Pollution Control (SKLESPC),
Room 813, School of the Environment, Tsinghua University,
Haidian District, Beijing, China, 100084
loujl10@mails.tsinghua.edu.cn
Winifred Ijomah
Design, Manufacture and Engineering Management, Faculty of Engineering, (DMEM)
University of Strathclyde, UK
131 Rotten Row, Glasgow G4 0NG, United Kingdom
w.l.ijomah@strath.ac.uk
Lihui Wang
Department of Production Engineering, KTH Royal Institute of Technology, Sweden
Brinellvägen 68, 114 28 Stockholm, Sweden
lihuiw@kth.se
Jinhui Li
State Key Joint Laboratory of Environment Simulation and Pollution Control (SKLESPC),
Room 804, School of the Environment, Tsinghua University
Haidian District, Beijing, China, 100084
jinhui@tsinghua.edu.cn
ASME ©
2
ABSTRACT
Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment (WEEE) is both valuable and harmful since it contains a large
number of profitable and hazardous materials and elements at the same time. At component level, many
parts of the discarded equipment are still functional and recoverable. Thus it is necessary to develop a
distributed and intelligent system to support WEEE component recovery and recycling. In recent years, the
Cloud concept has gained increasing popularity since it provides a service-oriented architecture that
integrates various resources over the network. Cloud Manufacturing systems are proposed world-wide to
support operational manufacturing processes. In this research, Cloud Manufacturing is further extended to
the WEEE recovery and recycling context. A Cloud-based WEEE Recovery system is developed to provide
modularized recovery services on the Cloud. A data management system is developed as well, which
maintains the knowledge throughout the product lifecycle. A product tracking mechanism is also proposed
with the help of the Quick Respond code method.
INTRODUCTION
The amount of Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment (WEEE) has grown
significantly in recent years, due to increased Electrical and Electronic Equipment (EEE)
and its shorter lifecycle. Different types of EEE are principally classified as shown in Table
1. The replacements of these devices (e.g. televisions, computers, cell phones, etc.) are
more frequent than ever before because of the fast-changing market demand and
planned obsolescence. New products offer attractive functionalities and convenience to
the consumer, but also push the in-service products from Middle-Of-Life (MOL) to End-
Of-Life (EOL) phase. From the Manufacturers’ perspectives, shorter lifecycle brings
greater profits and keeps their positions on the competitive market. However, it also
ASME ©
3
creates huge volume of WEEE that leads to global environment issues on many scales.
According to the statistics of the US Environmental Protection Agency [1], 438 million
new electronic devices were sold in 2009 in America, which represented a doubling of
sales from 1997. 2.37 million tons of them reached EOL in 2009, but only 25% of them
were collected for recycling. Among different kinds of electrical and electronic products,
the recycling rate of mobile devices (cell phones, smart phones, PDAs) was lowest, even
less than 9%.
Table 1. Principal EEE Categories
Category
Examples
Information and Communication
Computer, tablet, mobile phone
Large household appliances
Refrigerator, air conditioner, washing
machine
Small household appliances
Iron, dryer, rice cooker
Lighting equipment
Electric light bulb, household luminary
Electrical and electronic tools
Volt-Ohm-Millimetre, soldering iron
Toys, leisure and sports equipment
Coin slot machines, car racing set
Automatic dispensers
Water dispenser, coffee machine
Medical equipment
Ultrasound machine, heart-lung machine
Thus it is important to manage and control WEEE with practical strategies. In the
EU, handling WEEE is a high priority for all member states. Countries such as
Switzerland, Denmark, Netherlands, Norway, Belgium, Sweden, and Germany already
have an established Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) for WEEE. In the case of
WEEE facilities, many developed countries including the USA, Europe and Japan have
mature technologies for the treatment of this waste stream [2]. However, in developing
countries primitive activities predominate , as in the case of the largest e-waste recycling
place in Guiyu, China where the practices include: manually classification and
ASME ©
4
dismantling of e-waste, manual separation and solder recovery for mounted printed
circuit board, precious metal extraction by acid, among others [3]. Also the informal
sector has a predominant presence in these activities, as in the case of Nigeria, Ghana
and Thailand [2]. Traditionally, the recycling of WEEE mainly stays at material level. The
target of recycling is either separating hazardous elements from resources, e.g. mercury
and brominated flame retardant or extracting valuable materials that can be utilized
again, e.g. gold, silver, plastics, steel and aluminium. The risk in WEEE treatment is
largely due to its toxicity. During WEEE recycling, three groups of substances may be
released: the constituents of the EEE, the substances used in the recycling techniques,
and the by-products formed during transformation of the original constituents [4, 5].
The toxicity of these substances is related to the presence of heavy metals and
halogenated flame retardants. When treated by poorly controlled processes, it leads to
damage and risk in multiple scales: soil and sediment pollution [6, 7], water [8], air [9],
and human health [10, 11]. Additionally, the pollution may also infiltrate into the
environment directly through municipal solid waste disposal [12].
The traditional path of WEEE is limited to recycling, for the sake of obtaining
raw materials. In practice, it is possible to treat WEEE as used products, before it is
considered as a discharged waste [13]. The EOL processes include the secondary market
processing and component recovery (repair, reconditioning, and remanufacturing) or
material recovery (recycling) [14]. According to the EU WEEE directive, after electronics
reach the end phase of their lifecycle, they should be filtered based on their status based
on their economic and functional potentials. Then the WEEE is processed via different
ASME ©
5
paths after proper treatment, but principally WEEE is recycled. In practice, it is also
important to consider other EOL processing routes, for example the BS 8887 standard
serials give six EOL routes as follows, along with the likely change at warranty level
compared with the original product [15], including reuse, remanufacture, recondition,
repurpose, recycle, and dispose. In this roadmap, WEEE are handled not only as a waste,
but also as a special category of product that can be re-used through an extended
lifecycle [13]. Although the term WEEE indicates the equipment as a waste, a huge
proportion of the equipment can be defined as Used Electrical and Electronic Equipment
(UEEE), which plays an important role for component recovery or extended usage. These
activities are at a higher level than recycling in the environmental hierarchy of EOL
strategies [14]. Considering this, such understanding can be included in the new
perception of the EEE lifecycle. It is possible to put UEEE back to the market via proper
recovery processes and treatments (Figure 1.).
EEE
WEEE
Recycling UEEE
Raw material
(plastic, non-ferrous
and ferrous metals)
Hazardous material Ordinary Waste
Recovery
Remanufacture
Recondition
Repare
Re-used EEE
BOL
MOL
EOL
Figure 1. WEEE Physical Flow and UEEE
Recovery activities aim to get usage of the components from UEEE, before they
are disposed as waste, i.e. repair, reconditioning and remanufacturing. The assessment
ASME ©
Citations
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Digital twin-based WEEE recycling, recovery and remanufacturing in the background of Industry 4.0

[...]

Xi Vincent Wang1, Lihui Wang1•
Royal Institute of Technology1
18 Jun 2019-International Journal of Production Research
TL;DR: The main contribution presented in this paper is the novel digital twin-based system for the WEEE recovery to support the manufacturing/remanufacturing operations throughout the product’s life cycle, from design to recovery.
Abstract: The waste electrical and electronic equipment (WEEE) recovery can be categorised into two types, i.e. recycling at the material level and remanufacturing at the component level. However, the WEEE r...

187 citations

Journal Article•DOI•
Internet of things and Big Data as potential solutions to the problems in waste electrical and electronic equipment management: An exploratory study.

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Fu Gu1, Buqing Ma2, Jianfeng Guo3, Peter A. Summers1, Philip Hall1 •
University of Nottingham1, Zhejiang University2, Chinese Academy of Sciences3
01 Oct 2017-Waste Management
TL;DR: This paper investigates the potential of applying Internet of Things (IoT) and Big Data as the solutions to the WEEE management problems and proposes a framework of implementing the IoT and the Big Data technologies.
Abstract: Management of Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment (WEEE) is a vital part in solid waste management, there are still some difficult issues require attentionss. This paper investigates the potential of applying Internet of Things (IoT) and Big Data as the solutions to the WEEE management problems. The massive data generated during the production, consumption and disposal of Electrical and Electronic Equipment (EEE) fits the characteristics of Big Data. Through using the state-of-the-art communication technologies, the IoT derives the WEEE “Big Data” from the life cycle of EEE, and the Big Data technologies process the WEEE “Big Data” for supporting decision making in WEEE management. The framework of implementing the IoT and the Big Data technologies is proposed, with its multiple layers are illustrated. Case studies with the potential application scenarios of the framework are presented and discussed. As an unprecedented exploration, the combined application of the IoT and the Big Data technologies in WEEE management brings a series of opportunities as well as new challenges. This study provides insights and visions for stakeholders in solving the WEEE management problems under the context of IoT and Big Data.

137 citations

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Enablers, levers and benefits of Circular Economy in the Electrical and Electronic Equipment supply chain: a literature review

[...]

Gianmarco Bressanelli1, Daniela Cristina Antelmi Pigosso2, Nicola Saccani1, Marco Perona1•
University of Brescia1, Technical University of Denmark2
20 May 2021-Journal of Cleaner Production
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors systematically review the knowledge emerging from the literature at the intersection between Circular Economy and the EEE supply chain, with a special focus on enablers, levers, and their potential environmental, economic and social benefits.
Abstract: Circular Economy in the Electrical and Electronic Equipment (EEE) supply chain has a significant (and still unexploited) potential. This paper aims to systematically review the knowledge emerging from the literature at the intersection between Circular Economy and the EEE supply chain, with a special focus on enablers, levers, and their potential environmental, economic and social benefits. An original framework is developed to categorise Circular Economy enablers, levers and potential benefits. Companies in the EEE industry aiming to implement Circular Economy can exploit several enablers (grouped into digitalization, government intervention, and users’ active role) and levers (grouped into circular product design, servitised business models, and supply chain management) to generate economic, environmental and social benefits. Based on the framework, 115 articles were scrutinised. The analysis led to the definition of a research agenda, with policy and industry implications. To advance Circular Economy research in the EEE supply chain, future studies should address: (i) the enabling role of digitalization, particularly within blockchain, 3D Printing, augmented and virtual reality; (ii) design strategies focused on ‘reduce’; (iii) servitised business models based on result-oriented offerings; (iv) collaboration in the EEE supply chain; (v) the assessment of social and economic benefits to users. Future research should also investigate the systemic interrelations between enablers, levers and benefits.

81 citations

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A cloud-based production system for information and service integration: an internet of things case study on waste electronics

[...]

Xi Vincent Wang1, Lihui Wang1•
Royal Institute of Technology1
01 Aug 2017-Enterprise Information Systems
TL;DR: A function block-based integration mechanism is developed to connect various types of production resources and a Cloud-based architecture is also deployed to offer a service pool which maintains these resources as production services.
Abstract: Cloud computing is the new enabling technology that offers centralised computing, flexible data storage and scalable services. In the manufacturing context, it is possible to utilise the Cloud technology to integrate and provide industrial resources and capabilities in terms of Cloud services. In this paper, a function block-based integration mechanism is developed to connect various types of production resources. A Cloud-based architecture is also deployed to offer a service pool which maintains these resources as production services. The proposed system provides a flexible and integrated information environment for the Cloud-based production system. As a specific type of manufacturing, Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment WEEE remanufacturing experiences difficulties in system integration, information exchange and resource management. In this research, WEEE is selected as the example of Internet of Things to demonstrate how the obstacles and bottlenecks are overcome with the help of Cloud-based informatics approach. In the case studies, the WEEE recycle/recovery capabilities are also integrated and deployed as flexible Cloud services. Supporting mechanisms and technologies are presented and evaluated towards the end of the paper.

68 citations

Journal Article•DOI•
A Cloud-Based Framework for Lean Maintenance, Repair, and Overhaul of Complex Equipment

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Zhinan Zhang1, Gang Liu, Zhichao Jiang, Yong Chen1•
Shanghai Jiao Tong University1
01 Aug 2015-Journal of Manufacturing Science and Engineering-transactions of The Asme
TL;DR: A case of aLean MRO for continuous casting equipment demonstrates that the proposed cloud-based framework can achieve the goal of lean MRO of complex equipment.
Abstract: Large, complex, expensive, and long-lived equipment often operate in harsh environments, which leads to the requirements of lifecycle maintenance, repair, and overhaul (MRO). To support the continuous improvement of productivity and to reduce the cost of MRO, this paper developed a cloud-based framework for lean MRO of the equipment with the aforementioned characteristics. A concept and a model of lean MRO are proposed. Taking advantage of cloud-based design and manufacturing (CBDM) into account, an architectural framework of cloud-based MRO is proposed. A case of a lean MRO for continuous casting equipment demonstrates that the proposed cloud-based framework can achieve the goal of lean MRO of complex equipment.

32 citations

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Alejandra Sepúlveda1, Mathias Schluep2, Fabrice G. Renaud1, Martin Streicher2, Ruediger Kuehr1, Christian Hagelüken3, Andreas C. Gerecke4 •
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Abstract: With the increasing global legal and illegal trade of waste electrical and electronic equipment (WEEE) comes an equally increasing concern that poor WEEE recycling techniques, particularly in developing countries, are generating more and more environmental pollution that affects both ecosystems and the people living within or near the main recycling areas. This review presents data found in the scientific and grey literature about concentrations of lead (Pb), polybrominated diphenylethers (PBDEs), polychlorinated dioxins and furans as well as polybrominated dioxins and furans (PCDD/Fs and PBDD/Fs) monitored in various environmental compartments in China and India, two countries where informal WEEE recycling plays an important economic role. The data are compared with known concentration thresholds and other pollution level standards to provide an indication of the seriousness of the pollution levels in the study sites selected and further to indicate the potential negative impact of these pollutants on the ecosystems and humans affected. The review highlights very high levels of Pb, PBDEs, PCDD/Fs and PBDD/Fs in air, bottom ash, dust, soil, water and sediments in WEEE recycling areas of the two countries. The concentration levels found sometimes exceed the reference values for the sites under investigation and pollution observed in other industrial or urban areas by several orders of magnitude. These observations suggest a serious environmental and human health threat, which is backed up by other studies that have examined the impact of concentrations of these compounds in humans and other organisms. The risk to the population treating WEEE and to the surrounding environment increases with the lack of health and safety guidelines and improper recycling techniques such as dumping, dismantling, inappropriate shredding, burning and acid leaching. At a regional scale, the influence of pollutants generated by WEEE recycling sites is important due to the long-distance transport potential of some chemicals. Although the data presented are alarming, the situation could be improved relatively rapidly by the implementation of more benign recycling techniques and the development and enforcement of WEEE-related legislation at the national level, including prevention of unregulated WEEE exports from industrialised countries.

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Abstract: Cloud-based design manufacturing (CBDM) refers to a service-oriented networked product development model in which service consumers are enabled to configure, select, and utilize customized product realization resources and services ranging from computer-aided engineering software to reconfigurable manufacturing systems. An ongoing debate on CBDM in the research community revolves around several aspects such as definitions, key characteristics, computing architectures, communication and collaboration processes, crowdsourcing processes, information and communication infrastructure, programming models, data storage, and new business models pertaining to CBDM. One question, in particular, has often been raised: is cloud-based design and manufacturing actually a new paradigm, or is it just "old wine in new bottles"? To answer this question, we discuss and compare the existing definitions for CBDM, identify the essential characteristics of CBDM, define a systematic requirements checklist that an idealized CBDM system should satisfy, and compare CBDM to other relevant but more traditional collaborative design and distributed manufacturing systems such as web- and agent-based design and manufacturing systems. To justify the conclusion that CBDM can be considered as a new paradigm that is anticipated to drive digital manufacturing and design innovation, we present the development of a smart delivery drone as an idealized CBDM example scenario and propose a corresponding CBDM system architecture that incorporates CBDM-based design processes, integrated manufacturing services, information and supply chain management in a holistic sense. We present a new paradigm in digital manufacturing and design innovation, namely cloud-based design and manufacturing (CBDM).We identify the common key characteristics of CBDM.We define a requirement checklist that any idealized CBDM system should satisfy.We compare CBDM with other relevant but more traditional collaborative design and distributed manufacturing systems.We describe an idealized CBDM application example scenario.

513 citations

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