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Chapter

Renovation and Reuse of

Waste Electrical and Electronic
Equipment in the Direction of
Eco-Design
Panagiotis Sinioros, Abas Amir Haidari, Nikolaos Manousakis,
Michael Lasithiotakis and Ourania Tzoraki

Abstract

Nowadays there is a higher need of strict and broader legislation in waste

electrical and electronic equipment (WEEE) recycling industry to reduce environ-
mental effects of WEEE. Environmental challenges include pollution, exhaustion
of natural resources, waste management and reduction of landfills. High speed in
technological development in many sectors puts many products in great challenge
of obsoleting almost immediately after their purchase. In particular, this is the fate
for electrical and electronic equipment (EEE). They are forever-improving and
incorporate state of the art innovations. This provide many benefits; however, at the
same time, its expansion results in rapidly growing waste stream of WEEE. WEEE
contains a combination of all these situations, including for example, batteries,
plastics of quality, precious metals and toxic soldering metals. The reuse and
renovation of WEEE are therefore very critical because of its significant ecological
environmental impacts. Sustainable development is not a static situation, but a
state of dynamic balance between human and environmental system. The current
chapter explores sustainability planning and strategies such as eco-design, and
design for dismantling and recycling, and what they mean for electronic products.
It examines the incentives, methods and tools for sustainable electronic product
design, with particular emphasis on reuse, recycling, selection of sustainable
materials and processes, and lack of resources.

Keywords: WEEE, eco-design, reuse, recycling, DFS, reconstruction, renovation,

repair, life cycle

1. Sustainable construction, planning and development and reuse

procedures: design for sustainability

WEEE production is growing every year [1]. However, the product life cycle
analysis demonstrates that disposal phase contributes substantially on the environ-
mental impacts of WEEE [2–4], especially in products containing toxic materials,
rare or valuable materials, or materials with high energy content. The world’s cur-
rent experience of financial crisis and climate is a major crisis nowadays that seems
to be linked. With implementation of improved regulatory and control mechanisms,

1
Product Design

avoiding future financial crisis is possible, while scientists predict no regulation will
save the planet from devastating consequences. Climate change further than envi-
ronmental issues has serious social implications, from displacing people from areas
they lived for generation to rising food prices. In addition, it will create economic
threats in many countries that are comparable in size to world wars [5].
There is a third serious crisis that we are already facing: the exhaustion of limited
natural resources. Finishing mineral oils is well known, but other natural resources
too, for example, rare earths and precious metals. Nowadays, the objectives of wars
and conflicts are land, water, food and mineral resources, and it is a proof that
production and consumption have reached saturation point that cannot be a model
of growth for a planet that will reach 9 billion in 2050. Despite efforts, industrial-
ized countries consume 70% of global resources and host only 20% of world’s
population. Three sectors of consumption are primarily responsible for this: food/
agriculture, transport/tourism, housing/energy consumption in buildings. These
sectors account for about 80% of environmental impact of EU countries [6].
Brundtland Commission formulated “Sustainable Development” model in
1987 [7] as a development that meets needs of present living generations, without
compressing the ability of future generations to meet their needs. In 1992, more
than 170 countries agreed to fight for sustainable development as set out in Agenda
21 [8], where specific work on production, consumption and policy is formulated,
and possible meters are proposed. Despite the breadth and complexity of the issue,
these six key principles describe how a viable community should interact with other
communities and nature:

• Protection of the environment: Protection of resources and life support

systems needed to maintain human well-being and life.

• Development: Improving “quality of life,” whose economic growth is a part of

it, not a single objective!

• Future: It takes into account the interests of future generations in relation to

what we leave behind.

• Equality: Fair distribution of resources, between developed, developing and

even least developing countries (as each has a role to play and a cost to pay) in
transition to sustainability. In particular, the most vulnerable (least developed
countries) should be top priorities.

• Diversity: Different environmental, social and economic systems are generally

more powerful and less vulnerable to irreversible or catastrophic damage. It is
also a choice to more sustainable choices.

• Participation: Sustainability is not imposable; it requires support and involve-

ment of all society’s sectors and communities. This requires ensuring opportu-
nities for participation in decision-making process.

1.1 Characteristics of sustainable development

• Conservation of resources

• Respect for the views of all interested parties

• Cooperation and partnership

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• Follow-up to the precautionary principle

• Encourage subsidiarity: make decisions at the lowest achievable level

• Promoting personal freedom: satisfying needs without harming the environ-

ment or people

• Esthetic treatment: protect and create beauty spots and items

The term “sustainability” has been introduced by Victor Papanek in his publica-
tions [9, 10]. Already significant networks, including the environmentally friendly-
designing international O2 network (www. o2.org), established as early as 1988
[11] and, even more lately, the biggest networks and design establishments, have
been effecting to introduce sustainability-design practices (DFS). Although there
is still a lot of surface debate and some initiatives, especially from big companies,
can be detected as green “laundering” (false or excessive green claims in advertising
without real action), the current trend with DFS is constantly increasing.
With small efforts in research, it is apparently lagging behind in current devel-
opment and market demands of DFS professions, and the few available programs
for the growing number of young and enthusiastic students who they want to
engage in DFS. Designers in broadest sense, including engineers and commercial
creators, are still very often part of the current sovereign economic system, aim-
ing at quantitative development as the sole objective of encouraging growing
consumerism and wastage due to disposable products. These cause massive flows
of resources from nature to waste disposal areas within a shockingly short period
of time and the sale, through advertising and communication, of “goods” that you
do not need but promote a modern useless lifestyle as the only desirable model of
world prosperity.
Furthermore, engineers and scientists are not often strategic decision-makers
and operate just at the bottom of the command structure. Sustainable development
managers need to sit at the decision-making desks to push a real change. They need
to be “loaded” with expertise of sustainability-based research and evidence, but also
methods for evaluating and directing development and evidence-based planning
decisions. They need to know about the history, problems and motivations of DFS
theory and practice, and should adopt a more participatory practical design by first
listening to stakeholders, understanding their problems and motivations, and then
trying to develop more sustainable solutions [12].

2. Sustainability and eco-design of EEE with reuse of parts and materials

2.1 Reuse of parts and materials

Generic reuse strategies (include recycling, repair, rehabilitation and rebuild-

ing) all are important strategies for sustainable production, because they help
reduce landfill and the need for new material to be used in production. Rebuild,
reconstruction and restoration (also referred to as recycling of products, com-
modity recuperation or resale market functions) are the various manufacturing
techniques that use elements from used materials and are advantageous for
recycling (recovery/reuse of content). Recycling defines the number of activities
that gather, identify, process and use recycled materials in the manufacture of
new products [13]. The advantages of restoration to recycling typically involve the
following [14]:

3
Product Design

• Reconstruction is a practice of “addition,” whereas recycling is just a method

of “lowering,” so restoration of the material increases the value to the waste
by converting it to functional condition. But at the other hand, recycling
decreases the commodity to its raw resources.

• Reduction (which was) used in the manufacturing of the original material

will be wasted after recycling it. The objective of this is to restore as complete
as feasible the consumer goods, thus keeping energy and incoming resources
of their first construction. However, recycling loses most of this energy and
resources through reduction in raw materials. And this loss is even greater if
energy used to extract raw materials and transport them is taken into account.

• Using the raw material recovery strategy, the waste of energy and assets to
extract a marketable product from the waste product is greater. This may be
because twice resources are expended on the processing of raw materials.
Essentially, the product is “reduced” to resources (e.g., pouring smelting) but
also, afterward, the resurrected materials are turned into goods.

• Engineers might be hesitant to using recycled materials since their perfor-

mance could be uncertain [15]. Reconstruction is typically much more efficient
in bulk material restoration than recycling, particularly for structural and
electromechanical massive and complex materials.

The decision to implement product recovery should be carefully considered,

as it may in some cases be counterproductive to sustainable development, for
example by helping ineffective products to remain in circulation longer than is
desirable. This is the case when a newer generation of products tends to be more
environmentally friendly and efficient in operation; for example, new technology
washing machines usually require less water, detergent and electricity. It is better
that ideal product recovery is being used when it is both profitable and beneficial
to the environment. Other issues to consider include creating new business models
that include an effective reverse logistics system and ensuring sufficient quantities
of used products (cores) to support product recovery processes. This is particularly
important as consumers will only buy recovered products if they are considerably
less expensive than other new products [16]. In the example of residential com-
modities, guaranteeing sufficient distribution of product is especially challenging,
as it cannot be defined when these consumer goods will complete their lifespan.
Optimally, commodity recuperation operations must be focused on eliminating
substantial greenhouse emissions from the conveyance, as sections of the cycle
actually occur at separate locations or, worse, when the waste material is shipped for
processing and afterward brought back for purchase into the home country. There
is a ranking predominantly centered on quality within a material recuperation
method. Restoration is at the peak of this ranking since it’s the only method of com-
modity recuperation that can return discarded goods in terms of quality, reliability
and consistency to a standard competitive to that of new alternative commodities.

2.2 Sustainability and eco-design of EEE

Sustainability and eco-design of electrical and electronic equipment can be

achieved by consumer awareness and the search for sustainable solutions, the
requirement for legislation that ensures greater producer responsibility and green-
sustainable programs, ensuring a competitive advantage for companies leading such
efforts, the development of social responsibility and the need for business owners

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and consumers to invest their money and whatever that is reasonable and useful for
people and the planet.
The EU’s most important legislative instruments on the design of electrical and
electronic equipment aim to save energy, manage the end of life and resource effi-
ciency as key issues. The key legislative acts are Directive 2002/96/ EC on WEEE and
Directive 2002/95/EC on the restriction of the use of certain hazardous substances
in electrical and electronic equipment (RoHS). The WEEE and RoHS Directives are
indicative of a policy strategy of boosting manufacturer accountability for recycling
and management funding, reduce the environmental impact of electrical and
electronic equipment and promote the recycling of valuable resources [17].
In conjunction with both the WEEE and RoHS Directives, Directive 2005/32/EC
[18] laying down a guideline for establishing environmentally friendly design require-
ments for EUP is also significant because it spans the entire life cycle of energy-based
products and the establishment of particular environmentally friendly design
requirements for specific product groups through stakeholders involved in consulta-
tion processes. After end-of-life issues have been addressed with the WEEE and RoHS
Directives, environmental significance of use phase due to energy consumption has
also become evident in relation to increase in climate change threats. Thus, EUP
Directive predicts energy efficiency of electrical and electronic products. However,
additional design requirements for certain products (e.g., dishwashers and washing
machines) that consume water and detergents during use phase are addressed in EUP
reports and documents [19] and items with an impact on power consumption namely
insulation, window frames, waterproof illumination, etc. The important regulatory
platform is the current waste class division implemented in the European Waste
Directive, which encourages waste reduction and preservation and whether products
and resources are circulated. This would also influence design specifications, such
as easy access to useful materials and competitive recycling capability, including
recycling technologies. That package of all these four guidelines may be regarded as
an attempt to achieve the European Integrated Policies Policy (IPP) goals.
Strong policy instruments to support sustainable planning activities also include
the so-called green public procurement (GPP) or sustainable contracts. The public
sector typically accounts for 10–20% of GDP, and annual investment from public
procurement alone in the EU amounts to 72 trillion or 17% of GDP [20]. The “green
procurement” has a growing importance in Europe. However, its pace of implemen-
tation varies considerably between various European countries. Current develop-
ments in EU policy and the EU 2020 strategy [21] further strengthen ambitions in
the field of green public procurement and their implementation in practice. Most
EU Member States have adopted national action plans for sustainable procure-
ment, including objectives and implementing measures. An important factor in
eco-design is ecological and communication labels, which remains a useful tool for
rapidly exchanging information along the supply chain and between consumers.
The most eco-labels for electronic products include the Nordic Swan, the Blue Angel
(Blaue Engel) and the American Energy Star Label, the EU eco-label or the vari-
ous energy efficiency labels defined in the EU Member States for specific product
categories, such as large household appliances [22].
Simultaneously, policymakers, manufacturing firms, customer groups, journal-
ists and also investors are increasingly seeking data from end-users, manufacturers
and retailers regarding environmental consequences and sustainable development.
Therefore, it is very significant to be able to track the products and their compo-
nents to the original source throughout the entire supply chain. It is compulsory for
those who import consumables into the EU market and their suppliers to provide
data on adherence to EUP specifications. Across the USA, government requires
corporations to use industry consultants to guarantee that their raw materials are

5
Product Design

not troublesome [23]. The problematic metals are widely used in electrical and
electronic equipment (e.g., tantalum, gold, tungsten and derivatives). This requires
the management of information along the supply chain, the standardization and
digitization of relevant information, and respect for the confidentiality and com-
petitive advantage of this information.
With regard to the standardization of EEE products, many national and
international standards relate to sustainable design. International Organization
for Standardization (ISO) published in 2002 a technical report ISO/TR 14062 [24].
This report refers to methods, tools and best practices for integrating environmen-
tal aspects into product design and development. It is currently being transported
to ISO 14006 for the implementation of eco-design in Environmental Management
Systems under the ISO 14000 series (ISO 14006 [25]). Although neither the
technical report nor the new standard is intended to be used as standards for
certification and recording purposes, certification bodies and companies have
already used them for labeling activities, for example, environmental statements
for cars, such as KIA [26] and Daimler [27]. As consumer demand for sustainable
products is constantly increasing, new research bodies with ecological and social
consciousness, for example, the Sinus Institute Heidelberg [28], describe con-
sumer behavior.

3. Comparing reuse options; reconstruction, renovation and repair,

including planning principles for sustainability

These three major recycling possibilities aren’t in fact equal, but rather
a ranking exists among them, with reconstruction at the highest level, then
restoration, and finally repair. Reconstruction is a practice of upgrading a used
commodity to a minimum to the new product quality requirements and provid-
ing the resulting product a warranty that would be at least on par with that of
the new produced alternative [29]. At present, reconstructing is typically profit-
able for large and complex mechanical and electromechanical products that
follow an extremely stable technological process and for materials and compo-
nents that are expensive to manufacture or can become expensive in the future.
The value of component reuse in relation to dismantling costs makes manually
dismantling these products worthwhile, allowing the reconstruction of profit-
able products. Reconstruction can be differentiated from repair and renovation,
at four key points:

• Reconstructed products have a guarantee equal to that of new alternatives,

while repaired and renovated have lower guarantees. Typically, with the
renovation, the warranty applies to all important parts that are damaged, and
the repair is only applicable to the repaired part.

• Reconstruction requires more effort than the other two methods, with the out-
come that the standard and efficiency of its commodities appear to be greater.

• Reproduced devices lose their identities when rebuilt and refurbished maintain
their own as all parts of a commodity are recycled in the reconstruction and
new ones are replaced by people who can no longer at minimum return to their
initial standards.

• Reconstructing may include upgrading the product used beyond its original
specifications, which is not the case for repair and renovation.

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Renovation and Reuse of Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment in the Direction…
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The main advantage of reconstruction is that it allows to combine the low price and
good quality of the products, especially when the reconstruction also involves increasing
the performance and quality of the products used beyond their original standards when
these were new. Xerox is a typical example of successful reconstruction since its copi-
ers are typically subjected to seven life cycles. This means that seven revenue streams
are generated from the construction of a single product, and materials are diverted
from landfill or recycling at least six times [30]. The disadvantage of reconstruction
with regard to smaller product recovery processes is its higher cost because of the more
resources used and most of the work required to get the reconstructed product.
Thus, there are many products where the reconstruction would have a prohibi-
tive cost given the current reconstruction technology and the basic knowledge
required. Major home appliance manufacturers, such as Lec Refrigeration and
Merloni, implicitly suggest that rebuilding of household appliances has a prohibi-
tive cost, at least within EU. The main reason is cost of manual labor involved in
reconstructing and additional costs, such as costs for testing with safety standards
that are accurate. Cost of these tests in new production can be limited by “run” per
batch, but in reconstruction, tests have to be done individually.

3.1 Planning principles for sustainability

Several basic rules of sustainability management can be enforced to all types of

commodities, including electrical and electronic equipment. These can be illus-
trated as follows:

• A real issue, originating from an actual problem and working on solutions that
are culturally, ecologically and financially advantageous

• Research, specifically, of processes and facilities, not commodities, such as not

beginning with the development of a washer and dryer, with the air to satisfy
consumers but finding environmentally friendly ways of cleaning clothes

• Participation of users, operators and various experts in design process as much

as possible

• Attempting to investigate all the different dimensions and criteria, as well as

prioritizing hierarchies according to the timing and scope of the project

3.2 Life cycle consideration

Considering that the lifespan is an integral and absolutely essential aspect of DFS,
this covers all aspects of the lifespan of a product, from resource extraction to the
phases of use and end of life. In this sense, policies for reuse and recycling including
biodegradation, incineration and final disposal are being introduced. DFS seeks to
continually improve the sustainability of the entire system at all levels of the lifespan
of the commodity, such as removing harmful chemicals, improving efficiency and
performance, promoting reuse and recycling. In addition, DFS analyzes the context
of use and the systems in which products and services are added to the life cycle with
the prospect of a sustainable product-service-system design [31]. When designing
sustainable product service system, the whole mentioned system will be considered.

3.3 EEE usage phase

The minimization of energy during the use of electronic products is the main
objective of the EUP Directive. The EUP criteria for the different product categories

7
Product Design

cover for example the energy consumption during the use of the appliances and the
standby power consumption. Although energy consumption thresholds are manda-
tory for all products covered by the Directive, no design strategies or additional
measures to encourage the so-called sustainable user behavior are defined.
Therefore, the use process consists of several phases, such as commodity acqui-
sition, start-up, utilization, maintenance restoration and recycling, and consumer
attitudes at any stage that is hard to anticipate. During the engineering process,
extra effort should be undertaken to influence customer behavior, for example,
to provide characteristics and data through the packaging in the commodity and
customer information to cultivate customer’s economically viable attitude.
Design strategies for optimizing the use phase include the following:

• Knowledge delivery, support infrastructure and possibilities for environmen-

tally responsible use and recovery after use

• Maintenance operations architecture

• Incorporation of functionalities to reduce power expenditure (e.g., the display

of vacuum cleaner effectiveness data—indication signal in case a filter change
is required)

• Inspiring and persuading buyers to reconsider their practices, such as not using
dryers and drying clothes outside, laundering only under maximum load and
at lower temperatures, etc., and additionally marketing them in an enjoyable
and pleasurable manner, or issuing customer and group rewards [32].

4. Repair of products in industry; tools and rules for sustainable design

4.1 Repair of products in industry

One of the most typical product repair applications, which will be discussed
in this section, is that of computers. The repair of computers and other office
products, such as printers, has been going on for over 20 years and is not guided
by the original manufacturers but by independent experts who have identified
a commercial opportunity. Most manufacturers do not yet have the repair as a
priority for serving their customers or the market, so demand is still met mainly by
independent providers. Reopenable computers and print products can generally be
categorized into three categories: repaired, renovated and reconstructed. There are
currently a growing number of manufacturers who have put in place procedures to
provide second-hand equipment to their customers, with some using “home-based”
services and others involving independent experts as service providers. In the
absence of legislation and standards, acceptable practices will be different among
all suppliers of second-hand equipment (whether manufacturers or specialists), but
the following descriptions provide a guide to product expectations within the three
categories and throughout the computer market.

4.2 Tools and rules for sustainable design

To facilitate sustainability planners, there is already a wealth of tools and

methods available to help integrate the environmental, social and economic aspects
of planning processes. The most complex tool is Life Cycle Assessment (LCA), and
the simplest are the rules of thumb that experts have formulated to give guidance

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Renovation and Reuse of Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment in the Direction…
DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.5772/intechopen.91376

to the design process. Through cumulative knowledge acquired for decades, various
thumb rules have been developed concerning the following:

• Longer-lived products that consume significant amounts of energy, fuel, water,

and other consumables that, during their lifetimes, very often, have significant
environmental impacts occurring during use phase (making the reduction in
consumption during use phase)

• Longer-lived moving products, for example, energy-consuming vehicles in

practice, where the weight and other effects on energy consumption in the
active/in-use phase are usually more important and consumables, for example,
products with a very short life span that are lost or dissolved during use, where
it is important to be non-toxic and biodegradable

5. Reusability and after that

5.1 Repair

Any fault or damage intervention, identification and correction is called repair.

A mechanical or electrical repair will return a commodity to a working state, while
a decorative repair can inflict cosmetic damage to the outside appearance and/
or spots (e.g., crack, stain, scratch or rupture). A certified technician or a service
center could restore a commodity regionally of the manufacturer or specialist.
The test is only performed to ensure that the repair has eliminated or corrected the
particular defect identified. Repairs are inherent activities in more extensive repair
or rebuild processes.

5.2 Renovation

Renovation is one of the two processes associated with most reused products.
It is carried out in a factory with functional specifications, involving a larger set of
tools, cleaning solutions, solvents, paints and other surface treatment options. The
upgrade is described as the return of a used product to a performance or quality
greater than it was when it was brand new. While the refurbishment process does
not seek to increase the original manufacturing capacity of the product, larger spare
parts may be added if genuine spare parts are no longer available, or later higher-
capacity components are of comparable cost. A refurbished product generally has a
limited warranty, depending on the supplier (original manufacturer or independent
specialist).

5.3 Reconstruction

Reconstruction is more complex than refurbishment and is a thorough, complete

dismantling and reassembly process that returns a used product at least to the
originally determined state. Depending on the processes of the remanufacturer
(either original manufacturer or independent specialist), the disassembly process
can either preserve the identity of the original product (through serial number)
or provide a completely new identification system (supported by a new serial
number).
Reconstruction includes detailed cleaning, testing and diagnosis of all dis-
mantled parts. Components, depending on their commercial viability, are either
repaired or replaced. Repairs to components or sub-assemblies are performed by

9
Product Design

the remanufacturer or shipped to a specialist on the product. Upgrades are also

provided for parts of the hardware when commercially available, and any other
changes to the software or logistics infrastructure should also be included in the
rebuilding process.
Restoration is conducted at a factory location with appropriate sets of equipment
and measurements similar to that used in initial production with guidance found
in the method of audit documentation. Due to the complete removal of the items,
the factory default configuration must be deleted or modified. Furthermore, new
additions and improvements can be introduced in order to provide commodities
with the latest available innovations compared to standard prototypes. Refurbished
commodities can, therefore, be identical to current production versions, checked
at the same standard, and commonly sold as “new” with a complete or revised
insurance.
It has to be mentioned that the standard engineering term of reconstruction in
the field of information technology is more like rebuilding, as very few are actu-
ally reconstructed in the same way a component was originally constructed. Most
computer and printer vendors will use specialized manufacturers to build key
components and subsystems (such as processors, memories, optical drives, and
hard drives), and the cost of replacing with a modern component is generally lower
than repairing older defective product.

5.4 Upgrading

Repair can be part of the renovation or rebuild process. Upgrades can be devel-
oped to meet customer-related issues, or programmed events in the product life
cycle, especially when the product is complex and designed for long service life.
Improvement tends to increase or boosts the efficiency of the device by upgrading
its capabilities or performance, along with changing or incorporating components
or modules to enhance the capabilities of the original model. Just like the repair, the
examination is minimal and then only to ensure proper implementation and opera-
tion of the improvement.
Several adjustments may improve the item’s capability further than the level
of initial manufacturing processes, and some may even push a commodity to the
latest model standards. It is dependent on an item’s evolutionary interoperability
that relies on the prototype technical adaptability and the ability to improve a model
throughout its lifespan.
Improvements could also emerge from the absence of the initial product, which
may result in improvements caused by a lack of option in repair and refurbishment.

5.5 The secondary product market

While the reconstruction of electrical equipment cannot mitigate ecological

advantages and competitiveness, it can be accepted regarding social aspects such
as addressing inequality, unemployment and absence of qualifications. The policy
choice to be decided throughout the context of second-hand trade functions for
some types of commodities such as home equipment should be whether or not
ecological issues and their decreased productivity can be overcome by their tre-
mendous social gains and re-operating ecological gains. Therefore, the ecological
risks are likely to overshadow the significant social benefits. Some socioeconomic
positive effects of resale business operations comprise employment advancement,
improving the overall professional career for the regional society and individuals
reselling second-hand consumer commodities, supplying basic goods to disadvan-
taged people who would otherwise be unable to access them, and providing with

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employment access to unqualified individuals. The socioeconomic consequences

of resale business procedures may be defined via the efforts of several associations
working with homeless people and several marginalized communities (https://
emmaus.org.uk/) [33]. Organizations get donated products that are re-running and
help the homeless to reopen them under their supervision. Their key advantages
include the following:

• The homeless benefit from having a roof above their heads, paid employment,
self-confidence and new skills that will help them start over.

• Organizations continue their various charitable goals.

• Jobs are created for the technical staff that oversees former homeless people.

• Poor people benefit because they can afford the purchase of goods.

• Jobs are being created.

5.6 Variability of standards and quality of renovation and reuse

Despite the fact that there is EU legislation for processing commodities that have
reached the end of the lifespan stage, EU legislation does not exist today. Neither
are other wealthy nations or areas motivated toward refurbishment or reconstruc-
tion to recycle IT commodities. Existing WEEE regulations include obligations and
standards for optimal material recycling after it has been marked as scrap, but still
there is very little to direct consumers as well as producers on reuse or prolonged
utilization.
Without the regulations, the system of manufacturing requirements is very
minimal and there are variations in the rate of re-operation and production qual-
ity with almost all of the construction in the control of autonomous professionals.
Autonomous dealers, motivated by market opportunities, may very well typically
try relatively cost-effective options to bring a device to function because then they
can take advantage of a secondary efficient lifespan, resulting in competitive and
dynamic business availability. Certain industry associations representing manufac-
turers and independent suppliers have tried to clarify the process, but are currently
not developed in recognized national or international standards that can be inde-
pendently controlled to provide recognized levels of accreditation.

5.7 Qualitative criteria for reuse and certification of reuse centers

As previously stated, in the sector of discarded IT appliances, there is little

legislation, so specifications and standard requirements differ for all vendors on the
sector of old IT hardware. The simpler present legal system applies to the purchase
of goods, acknowledging that a commodity should not be altered and needs to
be in line with the specific intent and characterization. Most of the items sold in
stores are therefore defined as being partly “used,” yet without more explanation.
By identifying their commodities as former-approved, certain vendors would only
further distinguish their offers formerly-declared, formerly-borrowed, etc. This is
generally the case for the newest used equipment below 12 months. Occasionally,
some manufacturers sell excess product or product inventory through their used
product channels and at lower prices, even if they are not open or new.
Some suppliers and broader individual distributors can mark their commodity
rebuild procedures with some other industry certifications, such as international

11
Product Design

standards ISO, CEN, or national standards such as BSI or DIN. In particular, in the
UK, BSI offers a protocol that includes descriptions and guidelines for the repair
and future sales of used IT appliances [34]. This template has the acronym MADE
(made for assembly, disassembly and end of life). This includes descriptions of
procedures for re-assembly levels and re-launch of the equipment back to the
market. At present, this standard serves as a voluntary industry guide without any
certification or accreditation procedure that will confirm the correct practice by the
supplier (be it manufacturer or independent).
Many of the suppliers of used equipment also have a waste permit for their
reprocessing facilities to ensure compliance with legislation and to properly dispose
of the waste generated in the re-operational processes. As with some repair work,
some suppliers of used equipment may outsource the recycling operations to third
parties.

6. Design issues in reconstruction and for reuse and recycling of EEE

6.1 Design issues in reconstruction

Improvement of refinancing and refurbishment would require changes in the

architecture of the product as the architecture is the lifespan characteristic of
the commodity that has the greatest influence on ecological burden [35] and also
defines the commodity’s capacity. That is, it will immediately raise the particular
product cost and it will initially be costly but it will lead to long-term sustainability,
bearing in mind the relative cost of waste management and many other environ-
mental requirements. One major problem at this point is the lack of know-how of
designers for designing products for reuse. A key issue in product design for reuse
is to avoid features that prevent the product or component from being returned at
least in its original state of operation. These include the following:

• Non-lasting component that may result in rupture during reconstruction

(construction, maintenance or upgrade) as well as a limitation during use to
the degree that the commodity is inadequate for “refurbishment”

• Involvement of techniques that prohibit element isolation or are likely to result

in element destruction during separation: epoxy resin welding, for example,
can be used to promote fast assembly but will prohibit disassembly without
harm, leading to an increase of even further innovation in recycling or reuse

• Characteristics involving banned elements or techniques of storage or anything

that might constitute the process costs unviable economically

Several of these main refurbishments and reuse considerations, though, bypass

the influence of the manufacturer. The most critical of these are the rules, demands
and restriction procedures of factories. Laws and regulations will have a significant
impact as they allow businesses to raise the value added of their commodities
and increase the cost of disposal. This can also motivate companies to produce
refurbished commodities. Furthermore, if laws prevent the use of a chemical, the
products that contain it cannot be re-imported into the marketplace and thus will
not be reused. Refurbishment and reuse are only acceptable if the revived item has
a demand. Fashion-affected goods are improper since consumers may choose the
latest offering irrespective of the refurbished’s price and quality. Many consumers
demand modern goods as fashion options, so goods are usually less attractive in

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terms of renovation and reuse, particularly those that require a fairly low prelimi-
nary cost or are in prestigious positions in residences. Manufacturers’ prohibitive
practices, such as patents, property rights and anti-competitive processing, also
prevent refurbishment and reuse. For example, some printer manufacturers have
designed the ink cartridges to self-destruct when they are empty, thus preventing
their rebuilding. However, if the old products do not exist to get rid of them or take
good aspects of existing second-hand products, then the technology to produce new
parts becomes obsolete, and therefore refurbishing the product will be impossible.

6.2 Design for reuse and recycling of EEE

According to the EU waste hierarchy, the mandatory priorities for EEE are
prevention, reuse, recycling and other forms of recovery and finally disposal, if
economically and environmentally feasible.
WEEE regulations also contain a strict requirement to promote consumer reuse
and recycling pursuant to Section 4: Product Design. Member states are obliged
to take action to stop manufacturers from the use of particular design character-
istics or particular production processes unless such characteristics or processes
are legally required or the actual advantages are immensely beneficial. In product
design, to consider whether any of these approaches is most effective, the options
for reuse of an item should be analyzed and correlated to raw recycling and disman-
tling policies.
The concept of reuse may include either individual components or the whole
of the product, depending on its age and condition. Reuse can take place for the
same purpose in the same system or to serve another purpose. During the design
of the concepts or possibilities for reuse, the following criteria must be taken into
account [36]:

• Technical criteria

• Quantitative criteria

• Economic criteria

• Time criteria

• Innovative criteria

• Delivery criteria

• Criteria for the compatibility of reusable devices with the standards of new EEE

• Other criteria, for example, market behavior, obligations, patents and property
rights. Design strategies that support reuse and recycling include:

• Structured design and standardization of components

• Longevity design

• Design for recycling. Selection of recyclable materials, low material diversity,

low toxicity, marking of materials and ease of dismantling:

• Recovery of valuable materials in electronic products

13
Product Design

• Disassembly of components containing dangerous substances

• Disassembling components that obstruct recycling technologies upgrade plan-

ning. It includes technical upgrade

• Design dismantling and assembly

• Design concepts that make wear and tear of parts detectable and visible.

• Provision of instructions and information on recyclers and disposal instruc-

tions for end users

• Design of product-service systems. Maintenance, recovery and repair, lease

upgrading, leasing, exchange, centralized services

All these strategies have as a common feature that they are very dependent on
the systems around them. Waste, waste management and logistics systems affect
recovery and reuse rates, while end-of-life design requires real planning elements
and communication with the end-of-life industry.
Recycling is usually the ecological goal as it preserves the assets (materials and
energy) expended in the commodity throughout production. This is accompanied
by the recovery cycle recycling of parts and components. Such techniques include
dismantling that is non-destructive. The most standard procedure at the moment,
however, is product recycling whereby resources are acquired and structural specif-
ics are destroyed. This technique makes catastrophic modification feasible and is a
standard procedure for retrieving precious materials, for example, platinum and
gold.
The life cycle reuse and recycling methods of a material can be applied as
follows:

• Improve consumer recycling alternatives, namely recycling and end-of-life

management, item recycle and recycling solutions (prolonged service life via
simple and rapid substitute of broken parts) and recyclable pieces; consumable
parts and materials throughout usage cycle.

• Improve after-life recycling involving recovery/exchange programs, second-

hand sales, non-destructive dismantlement and refurbishment recycling of the
item and minimizing the components used in the commodity.

Financial factors are important in the design and analysis of reuse and recycling
approaches, the market price of recycling versus the price of new products. Luckily,
increasing resource international market costs advantage reuse and recycling.
However, we must also be interested in the effects of reuse, for example, when
much better effective and eco-friendly new technologies and services become acces-
sible, the replacement of obsolete goods might be environmentally less harmful.

7. Effects on renovation and reuse

Traditionally, safety, performance and cost were the key factors in the decision
to build a product. However, globally changing business conditions force organiza-
tions to re-analyze their strategic decisions. Thus, additional factors such as raw
material costs and environmental legislation are taken into account in planning

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and construction decisions. This leads to a shift in factors that affect reuse and
refurbishment. Two key factors are the shift from the sale of the product to the sale
of capacity (shifting to ‘product-service’ systems [37]) and the shifting of some
companies away from production to the assembly or redemption of segments. As
for the first, traditionally, manufacturers sell the products to their customers, so
that there is a transfer of ownership from the manufacturer to the customer. Today,
some manufacturers choose to retain the ownership of their product and instead
sell the product’s capability to the customer. One such example is the “provision
with time” in the aerospace industry. The manufacturer acts as a service provider
and assumes any risks associated with the failure of the product. As the consumer
buys only the capacity guarantee, the interest is focused on customer satisfaction
with the provided capacity, and so the product age (number of life cycles) becomes
less important. Renovation and reuse reduce the costs of organizations that adopt
the business model of service, for example, maintenance costs are reduced through
the use of refurbished and reused components, and whole remanufactured or
refurbished machines can be used instead of more expensive new ones. In the latter
case, some producers, in order to reduce costs, buy components from countries with
lower labor costs and simply assemble these parts. This however, leads to the loss of
the required engineering skills for the reconstruction.

8. Availability of information on components, materials and methods

of repairing products (including influence of scarce resources on
sustainable EEE design)

There is a clear difference between the position of the original manufacturer and
the independent specialist. The original manufacturer will have access to all original
manufacturing information as well as subsequent mechanical changes throughout
the product’s production path. Most manufacturers provide a dedicated production
line to keep their interest in producing new products, but some companies such as
Ricoh are running re-operational products on the same lines as new products.
The required detailed info usually provided by the company would assign
the opening to an associated operator who can work on-site at the location of the
producer or at one’s own venue. The producer could also have links to authentic
products of spare parts and distributors, and perhaps provide new and existing
parts to update the re-launched devices.
Autonomous repair professionals are far more constrained to restart because
they work without the initial producer license. They have no links to method or
item suppliers’ information and therefore need to gain substantial technological
capabilities in other manners. Necessary parts are bought from the open market,
whether new or even used, and often specifically from licensed and autonomous
service suppliers, or from the distribution channel of the supplier or its associate.
In certain situations, full systems for parts acquisition should be acquired to allow
components to be replaced for products to be re-operated. Product knowledge and
experience may be acquired through the recruitment of staff previously employed
by the original manufacturer or their authorized sales and repair partners.
Depending on the size of independent experts, resumption capabilities vary
with the size and depth of the process, but even larger independent companies
cannot invest in full reproduction of the original maker’s production or restart
environment. Repair and restoration methods will generally be similar between
the manufacturer, the authorized representative or the independent specialist, to
test the product, re-operate at the required level and prepare for use. Independent
experts may generally have the most efficient line to bring a used product back into

15
Product Design

a repaired or refurbished mode, while the manufacturer may choose to invest more
in time and cost of re-operation to provide a good quality of used product with a
similar warranty.
All participants are responsible through decision-making phases, which assess
the product’s re-launch at different stages to guarantee an environmentally friendly
degree of re-operation is selected that facilitates second-hand market at a gain
rather than a loss. Many producers will not pursue the high secondary market
revenue of used appliances since they are willing to give independent companies
the first and most favorable deal to provide as much customer service as feasibly
possible.

8.1 Selection of sustainable materials and processes

The choice of materials and processes is another important element of

DFS. There are eight key criteria for these purposes: (1) consumption of resources,
(2) energy consumption, (3) dangerous substances emissions, (4) origin and trans-
port, (5) aspects of life span, (6) waste generation, (7) biodiversity and protection
of natural areas, and (8) social aspects.

9. Conclusions

Currently, in the sector of recycling of waste electrical and electronic equip-

ment, there is a growing need for rigorous and comprehensive policies to reduce
the ecological effects of WEEE. Challenges and opportunities involve ecological
pollution, mineral resources scarcity, waste treatment, and landfill deterioration.
Thus, WEEE’s regeneration and reconstruction are rather essential owing to its
huge environmental consequences. Sustainability is not a stationary condition, but
a system of dynamic equilibrium between the human environment and the ecosys-
tem. Cofactors that play an influential role is sustainability strategy and environ-
mentally friendly design techniques, dismantlement and reuse architecture, and
what they indicate for home appliances. Policies and regulations as well as standards
should be identified in the light of opportunities, techniques and equipment for
environmentally friendly architecture of consumer electronics, with specific focus
on reuse, recycling, choice of environmentally friendly new materials, and finally
limited resources.

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DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.5772/intechopen.91376

Author details

Panagiotis Sinioros1, Abas Amir Haidari2, Nikolaos Manousakis1,

Michael Lasithiotakis3* and Ourania Tzoraki2

1 Department of Electrical Engineering, Technological Educational Institute of

Piraeus (TEIPIR), Greece

2 Marine Science Department, University of the Aegean, University Hill,

Mytilene, Greece

3 Environmental Radioactivity Monitoring Department, Greek Atomic Energy

Commission (EEAE), Athens, Greece

*Address all correspondence to: michalis.lasithiotakis@eeae.gr

© 2020 The Author(s). Licensee IntechOpen. This chapter is distributed under the terms
of the Creative Commons Attribution License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/
by/3.0), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium,
provided the original work is properly cited.

17
Product Design

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