A decision-support tool for the take-back of plastics from end-of-life electronics

This paper introduces the take-back planning advisor, a decision-support tool for the environmental and economic planning of take-back systems for plastic components from end-of-life electronics. The take-back planning advisor is based on a comprehensive unit process modeling approach that characterizes the energy consumption, energy-related air emissions, solid waste generation, material state transformation, and processing costs of the discrete process steps in a take-back system design space. The systems modeling approach quantifies the linkage between product design attributes and the environmental and economic behavior of unit processes and therefore adds critical "scenario playing" capabilities to plastics take-back system planning efforts. Potential applications of the decision-support tool in recycling process planning, "design for take-back" and policy analysis are discussed.