Environmental standards framework for household WEEE dismantling industry in China

With rapid economic growth and huge consumption demand for electronic products, the environmental-friendly treatment of household WEEE has become a serious issue in China. This article argues that the household WEEE dismantling is an independent industry in China, which mainly involves manual disassembly and simple mechanical shredding/separation, separated from the end-process industry. Therefore, a dismantling-specific environmental standard is needed in China, to better supplement the newly issued environmental standard regulating the entire recycling chain of WEEE. The relevant laws, policies and environmental standards, as well as the environmental and technical characteristics of the household WEEE dismantling in China, are reviewed, to investigate the technical requirements regarding the household WEEE dismantling. Recommendations on the framework of the standard are proposed, including scope of application, structure of the standard and some key points on technical requirements.