Introduction
E-waste is one of the more critical waste streams in Campania Region due to the fact that the Region generates a high amount of e-waste and on the other side has a low collection rate. Both the collection and treatment of the e-waste should be improved in order to achieve a better matching between the amount of e-waste generated and the amount that is recovered.
The Region has also been interested by the issues of illegal trade as well as by the phenomenon of e-waste cannibalisation by informal collectors or abusive collectors. All these phenomena are triply harmful because they have a serious environmental impact, weaken the entire regulated e-waste recycling system, cause the loss of many jobs and reduce further economic growth opportunities.
It is highly important for the region the design of a e-waste management system based on the principles of circular economy such as Recovery-Reuse-Remanufacture-Recycle activities. These circular practices are expected to be able to prolong the value of products and the contained precious materials avoiding the environmental impacts related to the extraction of natural resources.
E-waste represents a rich but potentially dangerous material flow feeding the urban mining metabolism of cities in both industrialised and developing countries.
Description
The case study entails the evaluation of the activities of many actors of the management system of e-waste in Campania Regions (companies involved in the collection of e-waste and their treatment, research centres, environmental organizations such as Legambiente, public administrations, schools, citizens and so on) and the overall performances of the entire management system, the main drivers and barriers to its improvement and the adoption of the principles of a just circular economy.
A key feature of the case study is the focus on a multiscale approach involving the evaluation of case studies of individual companies or other single actors (micro scale) as well as the entire regional management system of the e-waste (macro scale). Primary data will be collected by means of direct interviews. These will be useful for both understanding what are the strengths and weaknesses of the e-waste management systems for improving policy decision making as well as for performing environmental and social life cycle assessments.