Thesis (M.S.)--West Virginia University, 2004. / Title from document title page. Document formatted into pages; contains viii, 147 p. : ill. (some col.). Includes abstract. Includes bibliographical references (p. 126-127).

Thesis (M.S.)--West Virginia University, 2004. / Title from document title page. Document formatted into pages; contains xi, 92 p. : ill. (some col.). Includes abstract. Includes bibliographical references (p. 74-76).

Thesis (Ph.D.)--Hong Kong Baptist University, 2006. / Adviser: Ming Hung Wong. Includes bibliographical references.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Hong Kong, 2009. / Includes bibliographical references (p. 167-180). Also available online.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Hong Kong, 2009. / Includes bibliographical references (p. 167-180). Also available in print.

This study compares the procedures of formal and informal e-waste recycling; and investigates the relationship between informal e-waste recycling and the health of residents living near the recycling facilities. The informal e-waste recycling facilities are mainly located in developing countries and are operated by illegally receiving e-waste from developed countries. In these informal recycling businesses, the procedures are raw and crude without any measures in pollution control and state-of-the-art technologies, suggesting the health of the workers and residents living nearby are at risk. By conducting human health risk assessment based on the data from Guiyu town located in China, the actual exposure level of PCDD/Fs for infants is estimated. The total exposure level of infants to PCDD/Fs in Guiyu is 61.5 pg WHO-TEQ 〖kg〗^(-1) 〖day〗^(-1); among the total exposure level, dietary route accounts for over 90%. The total exposure value has also exceeded the WHO standards by 61 times at most, which reflects a harmful level of local PCDD/Fs exposure to the infants and management measures are needed. Implication can be drawn that not only the infants, but also people living near the facilities of informal e-waste recycling, including the mothers and residents are under high level of exposure to PCDD/Fs and other hazardous chemicals presented in the recycling process. Management and regulations are the weaknesses of developing countries to handle the issues on e-waste. The study reviews the e-waste management and regulations in China, India and Nigeria; their common properties have been revealed, including the lack of enforcement and the misconceptions of e-waste. Regarding the national level of regulations and legislations, recommendations have been drawn. Measures in adopting licensing system for recycling business, adopting financial mechanism on top of the existing the Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) system to limit the use of hazardous chemicals, setting up special department for better regulating and enforcing e-waste related issues and enhancing the public education towards e-waste are of benefits. The study suggests an action plan using China as an example to illustrate how the country could act upon the existing regulations and legislations of e-waste issues. The plan could also be adopted by the other developing countries regarding their own conditions. / published_or_final_version / Environmental Management / Master / Master of Science in Environmental Management

Every day a vast number of electrical and electronic equipments (EEE) end up as waste (e-waste); some of them would be scrapped, others were just obsolete. Without adequate infrastructure to manage e-waste, developing countries are suffering severe environmental impacts induced from e-waste which is either internally generated or imported illegally and facing huge challenges in managing it properly. This study aims at evaluating environmental impacts at prominent primitive e-waste recycling domains in China and proposing integrated approaches to its e-waste management. To explore the severity of environmental impacts due to primitive e-waste recycling, polybrominated diphenyl ethers (PBDEs) were selected to be the contamination indicator in this study because of their high deployment in EEE as flame-retardants and high toxicity. The levels and distributions of PBDEs in air, soil, sediment, biota and human from the two most prominent informal e-waste processing domains in China, Guiyu and Taizhou, were evaluated and all resulted in several orders of magnitude higher than those international comparison values, suggesting a causal relationship between the release of PBDEs during e-waste recycling and the determined concentrations in environmental components, biota and humans. The findings clearly indicate an urgent need for better monitoring and control of the informal recycling sector in China. However, the distinct situations in China pose challenges in managing e-waste: (i) profitability of informal e-waste recycling; (ii) environmental undesirability of trial take-back scheme; (iii) lax governance and law enforcement; and (vi) problems of orphan waste and free riders. To address these challenges and effectively manage e-waste in China, a three-pronged practicable approach, consisting of global initiatives, regional initiatives, and voluntary private initiatives, is proposed. / published_or_final_version / Environmental Management / Master / Master of Science in Environmental Management

This study aims to find out the solution of electronic waste problem in Hong Kong. Through case study of developed countries, it is found that implementation of Extended Producer Responsibility is the most common way in electronic waste management. This dissertation then evaluates the current situation of Hong Kong and the result show that the local recycling rate is not more than 20% while the remains are exported for recycling. Conclusion is drawn that Hong Kong needs to build up an e-waste recycling system by legislation and implementation of EPR. The interviews to Legislative Council members were conducted to collect the major concern from Legislative Council members and the voters they represent. 13 interviews were conducted and all the interviewees agree e-waste is a problem and have to be solved as soon as it can be. However they hold different opinions on legislation as a measure of e-waste management. The limitation of this study is that the limitation of time makes it hard to reserve a time with Leg Co members to conduct the interview as they were busy to the work of Legislative Council. Education, providing economic incentives, banning of landfill and illegal dumping and storage, prohibit the uncontrolled recycling activities are the possible measures the government can take other than legislation and implementation of EPR in electronic waste management. / published_or_final_version / Environmental Management / Master / Master of Science in Environmental Management

Thesis (M.S.)--West Virginia University, 2004. / Title from document title page. Document formatted into pages; contains viii, 75 p. : ill. (some col.). Includes abstract. Includes bibliographical references (p. 71-73).

Electrical and electronic goods production is one of the fastest growing markets in the world. More new electronic goods appear every year. If the electronic waste cannot be managed and recycled properly, more and more electrical and electronic waste (WEEE) would be generated in the future. In fact, improper WEEE treatment causes tremendous harmful effect to the environment and finally affects our health. More effort was put in WEEE recycling worldwide. In recent years, the government, NGOs and other responsible parties worked very hard in Hong Kong WEEE recycling. However, Hong Kong is still lagging behind in terms of WEEE recycling compare with other countries. In Hong Kong, large quantities of WEEE are shipped to developing countries, which are non-ethical. Some of them would also go to landfills in Hong Kong, which causes serious land contamination. Even if the electronic waste is collected, the collectors may not follow the EPD guidelines to recycle the waste. Therefore, it is important to let people know the environmental impact of WEEE, the proper WEEE recycling channels and the importance of WEEE recycling so as to raise their awareness towards WEEE issues. There are few research findings about household WEEE recycling in Hong Kong, especially the household attitude and behavior towards WEEE recycling. The result in this dissertation can fill this knowledge gap. In this study, questionnaires will be used to find out the WEEE generation pattern and recycling frequency in households, the prefer disposal methods for household WEEE and the household attitudes and behavior towards WEEE recycling. Besides, some WEEE recycling facilities will be visited to identify difficulties in WEEE recycling. Finally, possible ways will be suggested to tackle the difficulties of WEEE recycling. / published_or_final_version / Environmental Management / Master / Master of Science in Environmental Management