Research On Resources Potential And Critical Factors Of Urban Mining Of Waste Electrical And Electric Equipment Development

Mining resource is a significant resource for human society and economic development.Although China has rich mining resources,its average possession seems small considering its large population.Therefore,China’s mining resources are highly dependent on oversea imports,which is a critical barrier to further economic and social progress.Thus the exploration of urban mining becomes an important political strategy to relieve resources pressure and achieve a circular economy.China initiated its construction of urban mining demonstration sites in 2010,aiming at a nationwide promotion of urban mining.As a vital category of urban mining,waste electrical and electronic equipment(WEEE)contains various types of metal elements.There are precious metals like Ag and Au,common metals like Cu and Al,and toxic metals like Pb,Hg,and Cr.Moreover,its global generation increases by 3% to 5% every year.Consequently,its development and utilization enjoy profound resources and economic and environmental benefits.As the biggest producer of electrical and electronic equipment(EEE)and its waste,China urgently needs to develop urban mining of WEEE.However,some fundamental questions must be answered for better planning and management of WEEE.How much is the urban mining potential of WEEE there in China? Which kind of EEE has the greatest generation amount and potential for urban mining? What is the amount of significant metal resources in WEEE? What are the critical factors in the urban mining development of WEEE in China? What strategies and policies in western countries could China learn regarding WEEE development?In order to address the above questions,this dissertation aims first to build a material flow analysis model to estimate the product flows and substance flows of WEEE and their metals from 2000 to 2040 to quantify the mining potential of WEEE.Then it will identify the critical factors of urban mining WEEE development and utilization and offers political suggestions for its further progress.This dissertation focuses on the following aspects:(1)Establish a prediction model of WEEE generation potential based on material flow analysis.It selects six representative WEEE products(air conditioner,refrigerator,washer,television,personal computer,and mobile phones)and their significant metal resources(Cu,Al,Au,and Ag)as the research subjects and attempts to monitor and predict their flows in the system of sales,in-stock use,obsolescence,and recycling.And then,scenario analysis is applied to determine the impact of different political strategies on the urban mining potential of WEEE.(2)Identify critical factors of urban mining of WEEE development.DEMATEL model will analyze the cause-and-effect relationship between those factors and determine the most critical ones during the process.(3)Provide political implications for Chinese urban mining of WEEE development and utilization.Based on the previous research of WEEE generation potential and critical factors analysis,compared with developed countries’ policies in WEEE management,the dissertation attempts to find out the strengths and weaknesses of Chinese urban mining of WEEE development,proposes more specific measures and practices,and offer political support for future strategies making.There are three major contributions and innovations of the dissertation:First,a comparative study between urban and rural WEEE possession and their future prediction has been carried out so that urban and rural WEEE potential differences can be determined.Second,the EEE products are analyzed in terms of different product models so that their specific metal content and market share can be included in the discussion to evaluate their influence on the generation potential of WEEE and its metals.In comparison,the previous studies tend to take those EEE products as a whole without further discrimination.Third,the DEMATEL model has been applied to identify the critical factors in Chinese urban mining of WEEE development and utilization.Previous studies are primarily concerned with qualitative description and analysis of critical factors instead of quantitative study.Therefore,based on the stakeholder theory and planning behavior theory,together with literature study and experts’ suggestions,the dissertation summarizes the six major factors and 22 subfactors,and the DEMATEL model is used to analyze the key factors and their relationships.