Tackling Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment (WEEE) in the UK

愿景-该奖学金旨在从根本上改变线性废弃电子电气设备(WEEE)系统，为英国的电子电气设备(EEE)开发低碳循环经济(CE)。该奖学金结合了一个研究方案，该方案建立了一种创新的WEEE整体系统设计方法，整合了系统工程、工程设计和产品服务系统设计方法。该奖学金将领导必要的学术工作，通过有效的减少、再利用、维修、再制造、回收和回收，支持英国电子电气设备的全面CE，目的是使英国成为世界上第一个消除电子电气设备的国家。废旧电器和电子设备(WEEE)现在是英国和全球增长最快的废品流。英国每年人均产生高达24.9公斤的废旧电子产品，并将15.5万吨垃圾扔进家庭垃圾箱。2013年，英国制定了WEEE法规，以鼓励安全和负责任的收集、回收和回收。然而，WEEE收集率表明，英国未能实现其目标。投放市场的电子电气设备中，只有不到35%被回收，这意味着绝大多数被送往垃圾填埋场、焚烧或在其寿命结束时非法出口到其他国家。发展电子电器的循环经济(CE)有望为英国带来广泛的经济、环境和社会效益。在英国未回收的废电子电器中发现的贵金属价值每年超过3.7亿GB。WEEE还包括许多对英国具有高供应链风险和重要性的关键原材料(例如镁、钴和钨)。例如，中国提供了欧盟98%的稀土元素供应，南非提供了欧盟71%的铂金。因此，增加从WEEE中回收此类关键原材料是英国缓解供应链风险的战略优先事项。此外，WEEE的有效回收对于实现英国的净零目标至关重要。每收集和回收一吨电子垃圾，就可以避免1.44吨二氧化碳排放。最后，没有得到妥善管理并泄漏到环境中的WEEE可能对自然和人类健康造成极大的破坏。电子电气设备工程师还将消除对高污染采矿和材料提取行业的依赖。学术贡献-现有研究解决了废物电子电气设备部门不同生命周期阶段的问题，包括：材料提取(例如，技术金属循环)、制造(例如，增加废电子电气产品中的消费后塑料)、分销(例如，循环商业模式)、使用(例如，情感耐久性、修复)和生命周期结束(例如，新的回收技术)。然而，目前缺乏全面的视角，这是过渡到电子电气设备完全CE所必需的。该奖学金将解决这些限制，并建立在现有研究机构的基础上，为英国的低碳CE开发新的解决方案。它在学术上是优秀的，因为它将：(1)产生关于英国WEEE系统的科学知识和数据，其中包括材料流动分析和相关碳排放的数据。这些数据可用于为决策、政策和研究提供信息；(2)为英国EEE的CE开发新的(技术支持的)解决方案。这些解决方案可以通过循环产品设计和循环商业模式框架在其他环境中复制；(3)建立创新的整体系统设计方法方法，可应用于其他物料流(如塑料、纺织品)的研究，以实现低碳、资源高效的CE。

Vision - The fellowship seeks to radically transform the linear Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment (WEEE) system to develop a low-carbon, Circular Economy (CE) for Electrical and Electronic Equipment (EEE) in the UK. This fellowship incorporates a programme of research that establishes an innovative whole systems design approach to WEEE, integrating systems engineering, engineering design and product-service system design methodologies. The fellowship will to lead the academic work necessary to support a fully CE for EEE in the UK, through effective reduce, reuse, repair, remanufacturing, recycling and recovery, with the aim of making the UK the first country in the world to eliminate WEEE.Rationale and strategic importance - The rapid development of digitalisation has brought disruptive changes to the economy and life, as well as a growth in the consumption of Electrical and Electronic Equipment (EEE). Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment (WEEE) is now the fastest growing waste stream in the UK and globally. The UK generates up to 24.9kg per head and throws 155,000 tonnes of WEEE in household bins every year. In 2013, the UK set out WEEE Regulations, to encourage safe and responsible collection, recycling and recovery. However, WEEE collection rates show that the UK is failing to meet its targets. Less that 35% of EEE placed on the market is recovered, meaning that the vast majority is sent to landfill, incinerated or illegally exported to other countries at its end of life. Developing a Circular Economy (CE) for EEE is expected to result in widespread economic, environmental and societal benefits for the UK. The value of precious metals found within UK's unrecovered WEEE is over £370 million annually. WEEE also includes many critical raw materials (e.g. magnesium, cobalt and tungsten) which are of high supply chain risk and importance to the UK. For example, China provides 98% of the EU's supply of rare earth elements, and South Africa provides 71% of the EU's platinum. Increasing the recovery of such critical raw materials from WEEE is therefore a strategic priority for the UK to mitigate supply chain risks. In addition, the effective recovery of WEEE is critical to achieving the UK's net zero targets. For every tonne of e-waste collected and recycled, 1.44 tonnes of CO2 emissions are avoided. Finally, WEEE that is not properly managed and leaks into the environment can be extremely damaging to nature and human health. A CE for EEE will also eliminate reliance on highly-polluting mining and material extraction industries.Academic contribution - Existing research has addressed problems in the WEEE sector across different life-cycle phases including: material extraction (e.g. technology metals circularity), manufacturing (e.g. increasing post-consumer plastic in WEEE), distribution (e.g. circular business models), use (e.g. emotional durability, repair), and, end of life (e.g. novel recycling technologies). However, a holistic perspective is currently lacking, which is needed to transition to a fully CE for EEE. This fellowship will address these limitations and build on an established body of research to develop novel solutions for a low-carbon, CE for EEE in the UK. It is academically excellent in that it will: (1) generate scientific knowledge and data on the WEEE system in the UK, which includes material flow analysis and data on related carbon emissions. This data can be used to inform decision-making, policy and research; (2) develop novel (technology-enabled) solutions for a CE for EEE in the UK. These solutions can be replicated in other contexts via circular product design and circular business model frameworks; (3) establish an innovative whole systems design methodological approach, which can be applied to study other material streams (e.g. plastics, textiles), to enable a low-carbon, resource-efficient CE.