Isabel Gomes

Citation:

Gomes-Salema, M. I., A. Barbosa-Povoa, and A. Q. Novais. "An Eco-Efficiency Study for a WEEE Recovery Network: The Portuguese Case." In 10th International Symposium on Process Systems Engineering, edited by RMB Alves, C. A. O. Nascimento and E. C. Biscaia Jr., 2073-2078. Vol. 27. Elsevier, 2009.

Abstract:

The rapid growth of electric and electronic equipment waste (WEEE) transformed this waste stream into a worldwide problem. The Directive 2002/96/EC on electrical and electronic waste aims at the reduction of the environmental impact of WEEE, encouraging end-of-life management, eco design, life cycle analyses and extended producer responsibility. However, this legislation may not produce the results the legislator aimed for. In this work we analyse the environmental impact of a WEEE recovery network in the Portuguese context. With this aim, a model, previously developed by the authors for the optimal design of this network using economic indicators (Salema, 2007), was now adapted to design the network subjected to the minimization of environmental performance indices. The original mathematical formulation was found to be flexible and easily adapted to the two types of indices and the major differences between the optimal network configurations obtained, were identified and discussed.

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