Strategies and economics in the disassembly of personal computers-a case study

In this paper we report on the use of our WebVDM tool to analyze a personal computer from a disassembly perspective. Personal computers are an ideal product for disassembly due to the high volumes at which they are disposed, the short life cycles, and the inherent part and material content. Using WebVDM we generate several different disassembly process plans. For the case study computer two alternative plans with different disassembly strategies were studied. Plan #1 is based on a lower degree of disassembly strategy, while Plan #2 has a higher level of disassembly. We evaluate and document the economics of each plan and discuss its part disposal report. The profitability of each plan is derived from an economic analysis of the associated inputs and outputs. We show that for personal computers a higher level of disassembly is more profitable and can lead to significant increase in the net profitability with only a limited increase in the disassembly labor cost. This strategy works bests when prices of the retrieved parts are assured. Further, it indicates that recycling of consumer PCs, with higher collection costs, can also be profitable.