Using New Spare Parts for Repair of Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment? The Material Footprint of Individual Components

The growing production of waste electrical and electronic equipment (WEEE) requires close loop management to protect the environment save resources. Repair reuse can extend product’s life span. However, debates on differences seen in resource consumption linked different ways repairing devices have received a limited amount attention. This article demonstrates quantification (cradle-to-gate) five types appliances component level based life-cycle assessment within framework product-material-footprint. data for this is dismantling these products, weighing their components, determining material composition. results show that relevance all dominated by few individual components. For example, flat-screen monitors, 5 out 17 components per device account more than 90% (abiotic total requirement). Hence, while using new spare parts not always most resource-efficient way handling WEEE. investigation suggest repairs should be taken into at levels, e.g., regulatory, with regard eco-design requirements, or informational purposes view consideration repair practices.