Analysis of Material and Information Flows and Formulation of an ICT Waste Management Model

The generation and accumulation of waste of electrical and electronic equipment (WEEE) is growing fast, becoming one of the most complex waste streams the modern world faces. The effective and efficient management of this waste stream raises the interest of the global scientific and business community. The purpose of this paper is to analyze the flow in an e-waste management system, present the main processes included and detect the information procedures that affect the operation of the system. For its research, first a detailed literature review is presented and second the critical information flows are analyzed. The findings indicate five critical informational procedures of managerial concern: (a) defining the infrastructure, technological systems, and investments that are needed to optimize an e-waste management network, (b) minimizing the total cost of the e-waste management system, (c) estimating ICT waste quantities as precisely as possible, (d) selecting the appropriate strategy for ICT waste treatment, and (e) redesigning the IT and telecommunication products in order to improve their recycling characteristics. The study concludes with the formulation and presentation of a material and information flow diagram of ICT waste management system. Analysis of Material and Information Flows and Formulation of an ICT Waste Management Model