Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment (WEEE): global and contemporary challenge to production chains and the urban environment

Abstract

In recent years, Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment (WEEE) has grown three times faster than the world's population and 13% more than the world’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP). Only 17.4% of this waste is properly treated and uncertain disposal poses risks to the environment and human health. The objective of this study is to present an alignment with regard to the generation, management and legislation of WEEE and its interface with eco-design, cleaner production and reverse logistics. The methodology uses a qualitative approach based on bibliographic and documentary research aligned with the Prisma protocol. The results indicate that industrialization and higher income levels of the population in increasing urbanization have led to an increase in the consumption of electrical and electronic equipment, which, together with the short life cycles of this equipment, recycling difficulties and physical and legal infrastructure, has generated an exponential increase in WEEE. In this scenario, the precepts of the circular economy emerge as a solution to this global problem.