현대 사회는 4차 산업혁명의 시대로 넘어가면서 그에 따른 전기전자 산업의 급속한 발전이 이루어지고 있다. 이에 따라 다양한 전기전자 기기의 생산/사용의 급증 및 소비자들의 소비 패턴의 변화가 발생하였고, 이로 인하여 수많은 전기전자제품이 중고로 전락하여 재사용 목적으로 수출되거나, 폐기물로 취급되어 재활용 목적으로 수출입 되는 현상이 국제적으로 증가하고 있다. 사용이 끝난 전기전자기기를 폐기물로써 재활용 목적으로 수출하는 경우에는 그 안에 함유된 유해특성 및 유해물질을 규제하는 국제협약에 따라 승인을 받을 필요가 있으나, 재사용 목적으로 중고품을 수출하는 경우는 국제협약에 근거한 수출승인을 얻을 필요가 없다. 문제는 폐기물이 중고품으로 둔갑되어 국제협약에 따른 수출승인을 받지 않고 수출될 경우, 이 수출품은 운송 도중에 사고가 발생할 가능성이 있고, 상대국에 반입된 폐기물이 상대국의 환경에 위해를 줄 가능성이 있으며, 협약 상 불법수출로 간주되어 수출품이 반출되는 등 국제적인 문제로 발전될 수 있다. 따라서 재사용에 적합하지 않은 전기전자기기가 재사용 목적으로 수출되는 일이 없도록 객관적으로 판단할 수 있는 지침 마련 및 이행이 중요하지만, 국내에서는 사용이 끝난 전기전자제품에 대해서 중고품 또는 폐기물로써 판단할 수 있는 구체적인 기준이 마련되어 있지 않다. 따라서 본 연구에서는 중고제품과 폐기물 간의 판단에 대해 국제 협약 및 해외 국가에서 마련되어 있거나 시행하고 있는 지침서를 면밀히 검토하는 한편, 국내 전기전자폐기물의 실태 및 정세를 파악하여, 국제 협약을 올바르게 이행하면서도 우리나라 현실에 맞는 지침(안)을 작성하고자 하였다.

Environmental regulations on the management of waste electrical and electronic equipments (WEEE) have been strengthened in many developed countries. Improper management and disposal of such waste, especially in informal sectors, may pose serious threats to the environment and human health. In Korea, there are very few available statistical data regarding distribution flow and treatment of WEEE in informal sectors (i.e., unreported private collection and recycling facilities). In order to provide additional measures related to proper management of WEEE, there is an urgent need for a quantitative material flow study on the amount of the waste found in the sectors. This can be achieved by conducting a statistical analysis of the flow of WEEE in the sectors and by drawing significant results and implications of such analysis. In this study, the relevant data were collected from literature review and a number of field site visits to informal private collection and recycling sites with survey in Daejoen Metropolitan City. Statistical analysis of the survey related to the distribution of WEEE in informal sectors was conducted to determine the quantitative flow of WEEE in the sectors. According to the results of this study, 3.38 kg/person/year were introduced into informal sectors in 2013, while 2.48 kg/ person/year was recycled in formal sectors in 2012. This study implies that there are significant amounts of WEEE that are present and processed in the sectors, which are not regulated by government. Small private collectors of WEEE in informal sectors received approximately 60.6 unit/month on average. The results of this statistical study indicate that there are no significant differences among the factors such as the amount of treatment, the number of employee, and the degree of dismantle process. However, there is significant difference among the WEEE category large home appliance, small-sized home appliance, and audio-video equipment. Further study may be warranted to focus the flow of WEEE in informal sectors in more large scale in order to accurately determine the final destination and disposal of such waste in the environment.

Global increase in the demand for the new Electrical and Electronic Equipment (EEE) results in the rapid increase of waste electrical and electronic equipment (WEEE) (or electronic waste). Significant efforts on developing diverse WEEE recycling policy and programs such as extended producer responsibility (EPR), WEEE directive, and the restriction of the use of hazardous substances (RoHS) directive are being made by many developed nations. This study focuses on determining priority among proposed WEEE recycling policy research projects by a number of experts from academia, institutions and recycling industry using quality function deployment (QFD) method to better manage and recycle WEEE in Korea. In order to develop effective WEEE recycling policy, a total of 12 different WEEE recycling policy research projects were proposed by a total of 11 experts related WEEE recycling. Reliability and validity evaluation of the proposed projects were conducted, along with SPSS statistical software. By using the QFD method, a survey regarding potential problems, suggestions, and difficulties at several WEEE recycling facilities were conducted and evaluated. Evaluation of the proposed projects was made by house of quality (HOQ). In this study, proposed research projects with higher importance index include WEEE collection system, development of WEEE recycling guideline, and establishment of WEEE generation/collection/recycling national database. The QFD method employed in this study can be effectively used as a decision-making process tool in WEEE recycling policy and road map.

There are many stringent environmental regulations on the management of waste electrical and electronic equipments(WEEE) in most developed countries. WEEE directive aims at increasing collection and recycling rate of WEEE whereas,while the restriction of the use of certain hazardous substances (RoHS) aims at restricting hazardous materials duringthe production of electrical and electronic equipment (EEE). TV housing rear covers consist of small portion of brominatedflame retardants (BFRs). Improper management and disposal of such waste can pose impacts on the environment andhuman health. In Korea, there are very few available statistical data regarding BFRs levels in TVs housing rear covers.In order to provide additional measures related to management of BFRs, there is a need for a quantitative material flowstudy on the amount of BFR found in TVs. This can be achieved by the aid of material flow analysis of the TV setsand by studying the Deca-BDE components present in the TV housing read covers. In this study, the relevant data werecollected from the statistical reports and through field site visits to the WEEE recycling facilities with surveys. Staticand dynamic material flow analysis (MFA) was conducted to determine material flow of BFRs (Deca-BDE) in themanagement of waste TVs. According to this study, in 2011, households in Korea use 73,821ton of TV sets of which23,592ton of waste TV sets were collected and recycled by municipalities and producers. Extended ProducerResponsibility (EPR) played a major role in recycling of WEEE. In this study, it was predicted that Deca-BDE in usestage would reach down to 51.73ton by 2016. In addition, the amount of Deca-BDE present at the disposal and recyclingstage is estimated to be approximately 2.45ton by 2018.

The development of recycling technology and process of waste electrical and electronic equipment (WEEE), also called electronic waste is becoming a growing interest in the world from the perspective of material recovery and resource conservation. In this study we examined the recycling technology levels of WEEE by both group category and recycling process using expert surveys. Based on the results of the expert surveys conducted, the level of large home appliances was found to be approximately 81.1% (± 6.2% std) when compared with that of the advanced countries, while small home appliances and IT equipment and audio/video equipment were 73.5% (± 6.2% std) and 76.2% (± 6.2% std), respectively. In case of recycling pre-treatment process (e.g., disassembly, size reduction, and separation), the technological levels was found to be approximately 82.2%, while the material recovery process followed by the pretreatment process was estimated to be approximately 68.5%. The results of reliability test for the expert survey showed that the values of coefficient of variation (CV) for the pre-treatment process and material recovery process by group category and recycling process are less than 0.5, which is a guidance limit for the coefficient. Based on the statistical tests (ANOVA and t-test), there is no significant difference of the recycling technological levels among the group category (large home appliances, small home appliances, IT equipment, and audio/video equipment. However, the statistical difference between the pre-treatment process and material recovery process within the group category existed (p-value < 0.05) using t-test. In this study, the results imply that there is still a need for developing a variety of more advanced recycling technologies of WEEE to effectively recover valuable metals and materials from it, especially in the fields of metal recovery and extraction processes.