Empowering the Circular Economy and E-waste Management: A Business Intelligence Solution to support E-waste Management in Portugal

i

Empowering the Circular Economy and E-waste Management

Ann-Kathrin Heinrich – M20201078

A Business Intelligence Solution to Support E-Waste Management in Portugal

Project work presented as partial requirement for obtaining

the Master’s degree in Information Management

i NOVA Information Management School

Instituto Superior de Estatística e Gestão de Informação Universidade Nova de Lisboa

EMPOWERING THE CIRCULAR ECONOMY AND E-WASTE MANAGEMENT

by

Ann-Kathrin Heinrich

Project Work presented as partial requirement for obtaining the Master’s degree in Information Management, with a specialization in System and Technology Management.

Co-advisor: Miguel de Castro Neto Co-advisor: Fátima Trindade Neves

November 2022

A Business Intelligence Solution to support E-waste Management in Portugal

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ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

Conducting this study would not have been possible without the endless support of numerous people who guided me through the process and shared their expertise and stood all my questions. I would like to thank my two co-advisors, Miguel de Castro Neto and Fátima Trindade Neves and in extension, the NOVA Cidade Urban Analytics Lab, for supporting me along the way and connecting me to experts in the field of e-waste management that helped to enrich my knowledge and this study.

I also could not have undertaken this journey without the trust of Pedro Nazareth, CEO of Electrão, and his entire team, who generously provided me with the data that allowed this research topic to come to life. My deepest gratitude goes to Susana Ferreira, Claudia Caetano, Sandra Oliveira, Cristiana Goncalves and Tomás Froes who spent hours in meetings sharing their experience and answering all my questions.

A special thanks goes as well to Luís Almeida Capão, CEO of Cascais Ambiente, Carla Macedo, Vera de Sá e Melo, and Patricia Outeiro who gave me the opportunity to learn from a project hands-on and shared their learnings about the implementation of smart waste management in the municipality of Cascais here in Portugal. I would like to extend my thanks as well to Eduardo Santos, associate partner of 3drivers, who also shared his knowledge and years of research on producer responsibility organizations with me.

Lastly, I’d like to thank my partner and data scientist Rui Soromenho who gave advice and feedback on many challenges I had to overcome. His belief in me and his emotional support kept my motivation high during this project.

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ABSTRACT

Given society’s “take-make-waste” philosophy and fast consumption pattern with very short product longevity, e-waste has become the world’s fastest growing waste stream that, with current (mis-) management practices, puts great threats to biodiversity, climate change goals, and the future supply of scarce resources. At the same time, most of the e-waste that is generated globally remains undocumented. Portugal, like most other EU members, has failed to reach the EU collection and recycling targets over the last years. The reports published by the three organizations entitled to manage e-waste in Portugal are scattered and very static and do not present evidence of the current pitfalls and limitations. The proposed BI solution uses current e-waste data from the e-waste management company Electrão to create visualizations in Power-BI that can support and increase the quality of the decision-making process. A review of the complexities of e-waste management and EU legislation are crucial to understanding the underlying criteria for such a tool. The final artifact is evaluated regarding its utility and current (data) limitations. Finally, an outlook assesses the tool within the CE (Circular Economy) Smart framework and discusses the future of e-waste management concerning potential data collection.

KEYWORDS

Business Intelligence; Business Analytics Capacilities; E-waste Management; Circular Economy;

Microsoft Power-BI.

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INDEX

1 Introduction ... 1

2 Literature Review ... 4

2.1 The Complexities of E-waste Management ... 4

2.1.1 The Future of E-waste? ... 4

2.1.2 What are EEE and E-waste? ... 5

2.1.3 Batteries and Accumulators ... 7

2.1.4 The Many Ways of E-waste ... 8

2.1.5 E-waste Monitoring & Statistics ... 11

2.1.6 E-waste Management in Portugal ... 13

2.2 The Zero E-Waste Circular Economy ... 18

2.2.1 Smart Circular Economy ... 20

2.2.2 Smart Waste Management in Cascais ... 21

3 Methodological Approach ... 23

3.1 Company Profile Electrão ... 25

3.2 Dataset ... 27

3.2.1 POM ... 28

3.2.2 Operations ... 28

3.2.3 Treatment ... 28

3.3 Objectives & Design Mock-ups ... 28

3.4 Data Transformation Process ... 34

3.4.1 Dimensional Model ... 35

4 Results... 47

4.1 Hierarchical Organization ... 47

4.2 Navigation & Page Structure ... 48

4.2.1 Management Cockpits (Level 0) ... 48

4.2.2 POM Evolution ... 51

4.2.3 POM by Category ... 51

4.2.4 POM by Producer ... 52

4.2.5 Electrão’s Operations Network ... 53

4.2.6 WEEE & BA Collected Quantities ... 54

4.2.7 WEEE Quantities Sent to Treatment ... 55

4.2.8 General Rates ... 56

4.2.9 Mandatory Removal of Fractions ... 57

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4.2.10 Material Destinations ... 58

5 Discussion ... 59

5.1.1 POM Producers ... 59

5.1.2 POM Quantities ... 60

5.1.3 Operations Collection Network ... 61

5.1.4 Operations Collected Quantities ... 62

5.1.5 Operations WEEE Collected & Sent to Treatment ... 63

5.1.6 General Rates ... 63

5.1.7 Mandatory Removal of Fractions ... 64

5.1.8 Material Destinations ... 65

6 Conclusions ... 67

Bibliography... 70

Appendix A. E-waste Definitions as per EU Directive 2008/98/EC Art. 4 ... 78

Appendix B. Definitions of Digital Technologies ... 79

Appendix C. Measurement Framework for E-waste Statistics ... 80

Appendix D. Calculated Measures of the Dimensional Modal ... 82

Appendix E. Power-BI Dashboard Pages ... 84

Appendix F. Non-exhaustive List of 6 Data Quality Dimensions ... 91

Annex A. Indicative List of 6 and 10 EEE Categories as per EU Directive ... 94

Annex B. Integrated Management System of WEEE (pt. SIGREEE)... 97

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LIST OF FIGURES

Figure 1 - Estimated growth of e-waste from 2018 to 2050 (Source: WEF, 2019) ... 4

Figure 2 - E-waste management value chain (Source: Khetriwal & Jain, 2021) ... 10

Figure 3 - Measurement framework for e-waste statistics (Source: Forti et al., 2018) ... 12

Figure 4 - Evolution of WEEE quantities POM, collected & recovered in tons (2010-2019) ... 17

Figure 5 - Evolution of the WEEE quantities collected in SIGREEE by each collection channel, in thousands of tons (2005-2019) (Source: 3drivers, 2020) ... 18

Figure 6 - Simplified model of circular economy for electronics (Adapted from: De Schoenmakere et al., 2017, p. 8; WEF, 2019, p. 16) ... 19

Figure 7 - The smart CE framework (Source: Kristoffersen et al., 2021) ... 21

Figure 8 - DSRM process model (Source: Peffers et al., 2007) ... 23

Figure 9 - Electrão's integrated WEEE & BA management system (Source: Electrão, 2020) .. 25

Figure 10 - Electrão's system landscape & data flows ... 26

Figure 11 - Design mockup POM cockpit ... 30

Figure 12 - Design mockup operations cockpit ... 30

Figure 13 - Design mockup treatment cockpit ... 31

Figure 14 - Design mockup POM evolution ... 31

Figure 15 - Design mockup POM categories ... 31

Figure 16 - Design mockup POM producers ... 32

Figure 17 - Design mockup operation's collection network ... 32

Figure 18 - Design mockup operations WEEE collection ... 32

Figure 19 - Design mockup operations WEEE destination ... 33

Figure 20 - Design mockup treatment recycling & recovery rates ... 33

Figure 21 - Design mockup treatment fractions ... 33

Figure 22 - Design mockup treatment material destination ... 34

Figure 23 - Data transformation process ... 35

Figure 24 – Overview galaxy schema ... 42

Figure 25 – Fact table POM EEE with dimensions ... 43

Figure 26 - Fact table POM BA with dimensions ... 43

Figure 27 - Fact table WEEE collection quantities with dimensions ... 44

Figure 28 – Fact table BA collection quantities with dimensions ... 44

Figure 29 - Tables Electrão's network WEEE & BA ... 44

Figure 30 - Fact table WEEE collected & sent to treatment with dimensions ... 45

Figure 31 - Fact table general rates with dimensions ... 45

Figure 32 - Fact table material destinations with dimensions ... 45

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Figure 33 - Fact table fractions with dimensions ... 46

Figure 34 - Fact table treatment with dimensions ... 46

Figure 35 - Power BI-Dashboard hierarchy ... 47

Figure 36 - POM cockpit ... 49

Figure 37 - Operations cockpit ... 49

Figure 38 - Treatment cockpit ... 50

Figure 39 - POM overall evolution ... 51

Figure 40 - POM by category ... 52

Figure 41 - POM producer portfolio ... 53

Figure 42 - Electrão's operations’ collection network ... 53

Figure 43 - Overview of WEEE collection operations ... 54

Figure 44 - Overview BA collection operations ... 55

Figure 45 - WEEE collected & sent to treatment ... 56

Figure 46 - Overview treatment rates ... 56

Figure 47 - Treatment removal of mandatory fractions ... 57

Figure 48 - Material by destination ... 58

Figure 49 - Insights POM producers ... 59

Figure 50 - Percentage share of Top 10 producers per category ... 60

Figure 51 - POM quantities vs. number of producers ... 60

Figure 52 - Business questions for POM quantities ... 60

Figure 53 - Insights POM evolution ... 61

Figure 54 - Business questions operations’ collection network ... 61

Figure 55 - Insights collection point network ... 61

Figure 56 - Insights WEEE & BA quantities ... 62

Figure 57 - Insight collected WEEE for category 1 (2021) ... 62

Figure 58 - Insights WEEE collected & sent to treatment ... 63

Figure 59 - Insights overall rates ... 63

Figure 60 - Recycling rates per category (2021) & evolution ... 64

Figure 61 - Insights fractions ... 65

Figure 62 - Insights material composition per destination ... 65

Figure 63 - Insights material destinations ... 66

Figure 64 - Power-BI landing page ... 84

Figure 65 - POM EEE individual producer ... 84

Figure 66 - POM EEE individual producer ... 85

Figure 67 - POM BA overview evolution ... 85

Figure 68 - POM BA typologies ... 85

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Figure 69 - POM BA producer overview ... 86

Figure 70 - POM BA individual producer overview ... 86

Figure 71 - POM BA individual producer typologies ... 86

Figure 72 - WEEE collection network evolution ... 87

Figure 73 - WEEE quantities category evolution ... 87

Figure 74 - WEEE quantities per district ... 87

Figure 75 - WEEE quantities sent to treatment ... 88

Figure 76 - BA collection network ... 88

Figure 77 - BA collection network evolution ... 88

Figure 78 - BA quantities evolution ... 89

Figure 79 - BA quantities per district... 89

Figure 80 - General rates evolution ... 89

Figure 81 - Fractions' evolution ... 90

Figure 82 - Material destinations' evolution ... 90

Figure 83 - Integrated management system of WEEE (pt. SIGREEE) with potential leakage into parallel circuits (Source: 3drivers, 2020, pp. 68, 78-81) ... 97

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LIST OF TABLES

Table 1 - EEE categories until August 2018 as per EU Directive (Source: Directive 2012/19/EU,

2012) ... 5

Table 2 - EEE categories from August 2018 onwards as per EU Directive (Source: Directive 2012/19/EU, 2012) ... 6

Table 3 - Collection targets for batteries and accumulators as per EU Directive ... 7

Table 4 - Treatment & recycling requirements for BA as per EU Directive 91/157/EEC ... 7

Table 5 - Key stakeholders, roles, and responsibilities in e-waste management ... 8

Table 6 - EU WEEE collection targets 2016 to today (Source: Directive 2012/19/EU, 2012) .. 11

Table 7 - EU targets by WEEE categories (Source: Directive 2012/19/EU, 2012) ... 12

Table 8 - Portugal's e-waste management system factsheet ... 14

Table 9 - Overview datasets ... 27

Table 10 - Business needs per area of activity ... 29

Table 11 - Granularity assessment for a dimensional model ... 35

Table 12 - Business questions POM producers ... 59

Table 13 - Business question for WEEE & BA quantities ... 62

Table 14 - Business questions WEEE sent to treatement ... 63

Table 15 - Business questions for general rates... 64

Table 16 - Business questions mandatory fractions ... 64

Table 17 - Business questions material destinations ... 65

Table 18 - Definitions used in this project (Adapted from: European Commission Directive, 2008) ... 78

Table 19 - Definitions of technologies used in this work ... 79

Table 20 – Mathematical equations of the measurement framework of e-waste statistics (shortened) (Adapted from Forti et al., 2018) ... 80

Table 21 - Calculated measures of the dimensional modal ... 82

Table 22 - Non-exhaustive list of the 6 data quality dimensions from DAMA UK Working Group (2013), as cited in de Castro (2021) ... 91

Table 23 - Indicative list of EEE of 10 categories (Source: Directive 2012/19/EU, 2012) ... 94

Table 24 - Indicative list of EEE of 6 categories (Source: Directive 2012/19/EU, 2012) ... 95

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LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS AND ACRONYMS

AGEFE Associação Empresarial dos Setores Elétrico, Eletrodoméstico, Eletrónico e das Tecnologias da Informação e Comunicação

ANREEE Associação Nacional para o Registo de Equipamentos Elétricos e Eletrónicos APA Agência Portuguesa do Ambiente

BA Batteries & Accumulators BA Business Analytics

BAC Business Analytics Capability BDA Big Data Analytics

BI Business Intelligence CE Circular Economy

DGAE Direção-Geral da Administração Escolar EEE Electrical and Electronic Equipment EOL End-of-life

EPR Extended Producer Responsibility ERP European Recycling Platform

ICT Information Communication Technology IoT Internet of Things

ISWA International Solid Waste Association KPI Key Performance Indicator

LoW European List of Waste

LVT “Lisboa e Vale do Tejo” (Geographical area of Lisbon Metropolitan Area and Tejo Valley) NGO Non-Governmental Organization

OECD Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development OGR Operadores de Gestão de Resíduos

OTR Operadores de Tratamento PA Pilhas e Acumuladores

xi POM Put on Market

PRO Producer Responsibility Organization RGGR Regime Geral da Gestão de Resíduos

RoHS Restriction of Hazardous Substances in Electrical and Electronic Equipment SCYCLE Sustainable Cycles Program

SDG Sustainable Development Goals

SIGREEE Sistema Integrado de Gestão de Resíduos de Equipamentos Elétricos e Eletrónicos SIRER Sistema Integrado do Registo Electrónico de Resíduos

UEEE Used Electrical and Electronic Equipment UN United Nations

UNU United Nations University

REEE Resíduos de Equipamentos Elétricos e Eletrónicos WEEE Waste from Electrical and Electronic Equipment

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1 INTRODUCTION

In our current global economic model, the take-make-waste philosophy has been the dominating model (also known as linear economy) that entails the loss of resources along the value chain: Goods are produced, sold, used, and discharged as waste. This wasteful resource management has a detrimental impact on our society and environment: Loss of biodiversity and natural capital, land degradation, and ocean pollution, amongst others (Maloni et al., 2018; WEF, 2019). The fastest growing waste stream is e-waste which is generating 52 million tons worldwide and is supposed to reach 120 million tons by 2050 (WEF, 2019; United Nations University, 2017). The alarming reality is that only 20% of the global e-waste is recycled, and even in countries with proper e-waste management infrastructure and systems, the collection rates and documented e-waste flows are relatively low (Forti et al., 2020). However, if e-waste is properly collected and recycled, precious elements such as iron, copper, and gold can be used as secondary materials, and the exploitation of these scarce raw materials can be minimized (Forti et al., 2020; Khetriwal & Jain, 2021)

Apart from struggling with WEEE collection rates, out of the 80% of global e-waste that is not properly collected, 76% is not documented and its end-of-life unknown (Forti et al., 2020). To fix the system, national and local governments need to understand what is currently happening with the undocumented e-waste. Especially informal waste disposal practices put an even higher threat to the environment, the climate change goals set by the Paris agreement as well as worker’s health. At the same time the scarcity of precious elements that are required to produce electronic goods put pressure on the industry and raise concerns about the availability and supply of these materials in the near future (WEF, 2019). This shows how imperative a move to a less wasteful resource management is.

The concept of circular economy addresses these losses of resources along the value chain by focusing on more closed and efficient loops of material cycles (Geissdoerfer et al., 2017; Wilts & Berg, 2017;

Zeiss et al., 2021). Governments and global organizations like the United Nations have put the topic high on the political agenda to transform society’s production and consumption patterns: As part of the EU Green Deal the European Commission introduced the “New Circular Economy Action Plan”

(European Commission, 2020) and the UN is promoting CE principles with the SDG 12 “Ensure sustainable consumption and production patterns” (United Nations Assembly, 2005). Over the last decades the term Digital and Smart Circular Economy has emerged amongst scholars to highlight how digitalization can be an enabler of circular economy and how new technologies like IoT, Big Data, BA, online sharing platforms can be solutions to a more circular economy and the problem of waste and e-waste in specifics (Antikainen et al., 2018b; Gu et al., 2017; Kristoffersen et al., 2020; Pagoropoulos et al., 2017; Schwanholz & Leipold, 2020) .

2 Companies alike have understood the urge to rethink their business models and to move towards a more circular economy (Fernandez de Arroyabe et al., 2021; EMF, 2013). However, one of the primary challenges to implement a CE successfully is the problem of effective information disposal. As pointed out by Wilts & Berg: “A key challenge in this process lies in effectively generating, collecting, processing, and making available the volume of information (…)” (2017, p. 4). The complexity lies in the coordination of material flows and information flows across a complex social system that is not only composed by traditional actors like households, manufacturers, retailers etc. but also less obvious stakeholder like repairers, refurbishers, remanufacturers, waste collectors or recyclers (Wilts & Berg, 2017; Zeiss et al., 2021).

Portugal, together with most other EU members, has failed to reach the EU targets for the last couple of years (“Confirmado alerta da ZERO,” 2020). Electrão, one of the three PRO’s¹ in Portugal, that is licensed by the Portuguese government to manage e-waste on behalf of the producers, needs to coordinate a complex network of stakeholders and also manage the volume of data and information that is generated. As a PRO they are obliged to publish their results on personal collection targets, recovery, and recycling rates of e-waste and need to report to governmental authorities. Given their pivotal role within the national e-waste system, they have an urge to understand and compare progress on collection, recovery, and recycling of e-waste over time to make more informed decisions about potential pitfalls.

One of the most recent studies from 2021 argues how positively BI & Analytics (and BDA) are related to the performance of circular economy. In addition, it highlights how BI & Analytics are enablers of data driven insights and increase the quality of decision making (Awan et al., 2021). Specifically Salminen et al. (2017) points out how data standardization and warehousing in waste management activities supports the decision making process (2017, pp. 1055–1067). This scientific evidence and the urge for an organization like Electrão to enhance their BI & Analytics capabilities demonstrates the motif in this work to create a BI solution.

The proposed project solution intends to collect, prepare, and consolidate data on e-waste management from Electrão to create data visualization with Microsoft Power-BI that allow to interact dynamically with the data, set benchmarks and incorporate key performance indicators towards personal and national targets. The insights from the data analysis are shared and discussed and current (data) limitations highlighted.

1 The other two PRO’s that manage e-waste in Portugal are ERP Portugal and WEEECYCLE.

3 For this project it is imperative to understand the complexities of e-waste management and e-waste flows. This also requires a review of the principles of circular economy given its regenerative system which intends to reduce losses of resources by minimizing gaps in material cycles and by involving all stakeholders along the value chain. Especially the role of technology to enhance circularity plays a vital role. To understand better Portugal’s e-waste management system and statistics (how data is collected, calculated/estimated and reported), EU legislation on WEEE needs to be incorporated. In addition, interviews with various team members of the different departments will help to understand the current challenges Electrão faces in their daily business activities and in collaboration with their partners. A short summary of the visit to the municipality of Cascais (Portugal) also enriches the topic of “Smart Circular Economy” and highlights the municipality’s achievements by introducing state of the art technology in urban waste management, not only a showpiece on national level but has gained a lot of attention on international level.

This study is structured into 6 main chapters (excluding the introduction in the following): the next section provides the theoretical background on the complexities of e-waste management and the Zero E-waste Circular Economy. In section 3, the proposal for the BI dashboards is presented, consisting of the methodological approach, the description of the datasets, the dashboard design mock-ups with the outlined objectives and lastly, the detailed data transformation process with the dimensional modeling. Chapter 4 presents the results, including the hierarchical organization of the dashboards and a description of the individual pages. The results are discussed in chapter 5, highlighting major insights discovered. The final chapter presents the conclusion with main contributions and implications for both research and practice and a proposal for future work.

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2 LITERATURE REVIEW

2.1 T

C

E-

M

In the following chapters a foundation is built to understand the complexities around e-waste management that play an important role in the design of the database and reporting tool. The major sources are the several EU Directives by the European Commission that have built the legislative framework for all European member states over the last years. The chapter is divided into a general introduction, definitions around e-waste and their categories, and a description of e-waste streams and the e-waste management value chain. The final chapter covers the methodology and framework around e-waste statistics. A glossary of definitions around e-waste that are prerequisite for understanding the underlying legislation can be found in Appendix A.

2.1.1 The Future of E-waste?

The rate at which e-waste is growing is alarming. Whereas Asia is the continent that generates the highest amount of e-waste in tons, Europe remains the winner in e-waste consumption per capita (Forti et al., 2020). The reasons for its growth are manifold. The increase in wealth and living standards have also increased the number of electronic goods in businesses and households. Industrialization and Urbanization have contributed to this effect significantly. Through the invention of wearable devices, IoT, ICT, smart homes and smart cities the consumption of electronics has increased dramatically (2020).

At the same time, some electronic products have very short longevity (Rees, 2017). Especially mobile phones are on average only used for two years as they are becoming physically and psychologically obsolete, meaning the replacement is driven by outdated software and the consumer’s need to be up- to-date with the latest technology (Wilson et al., 2017). The other error in the system is that products

Figure 1 - Estimated growth of e-waste from 2018 to 2050 (Source: WEF, 2019)

5 are not designed to last long, and end-consumers (even if desired) are unable to repair devices themselves. In fact, Microsoft, Apple & Co’s strategy is to put electronics together in a way that makes self-repair impossible. Hence, the power remains with the manufacturers alone (The Daily Show, 2021).

2.1.2 What are EEE and E-waste?

E-waste is defined as a waste of electrical and electronic equipment (WEEE) according to the European Directive 2012/19/EU, which describes a range of products that are “dependent on electric currents or electromagnetic fields in order to work properly”. This also includes products or equipment that are used to generate, transfer, or measure such currents or fields (Directive 2012/19/EU, 2012). This will also be the definition that is used throughout this work. Given the variety of products that are covered by this definition further classification is required that takes functionality, comparable material composition, and average weight but also similar characteristics for end-of-life scenarios into account.

The tables below represent two types of classifications also used for statistical reporting purposes (Directive 2012/19/EU, 2012). The first table corresponds to the categories established for the transitional period from August 2012 until August 2018 as per article 2 (1)(a) of the Directive. The second table applies to EEE as referred to from August 2019 onwards and is more representative of the e-waste collection streams in practice. An exhaustive list of what type of appliances fall under each category can be found in Annex A.

Table 1 - EEE categories until August 2018 as per EU Directive (Source: Directive 2012/19/EU, 2012) Categories

1 Large household appliances 2 Small household appliances

3 IT and telecommunications equipment 4 Consumer equipment and photovoltaic panels 5 Lightning equipment

6 Electrical and electronic tools (with the exception of large-scale stationary industrial tools

7 Toys, leisure, and sports equipment

8 Medical devices (with the exception of all implanted and infected products) 9 Monitoring and control instruments

10 Automatic Dispensers

6 Table 2 - EEE categories from August 2018 onwards as per EU Directive (Source: Directive

2012/19/EU, 2012) Categories

1 Temperature exchange equipment

2 Screens, monitors, and equipment containing screens having a surface greater than 100cm² 3 Lamps

4 Large equipment (any external dimension more than 50cm) 5 Small equipment (no external dimension more than 50cm)

6 Small IT and telecommunication equipment (no external dimension more than 50cm)

In addition, the UNU together with the Sustainable Cycles Program (SCYCLE) developed a WEEE calculation tool that (amongst others) classifies e-waste by its function, environmental relevance, weight and size, and material composition and groups them based on those criteria into 54 homogeneous product types, also called the UNU-Keys (Baldé et al., 2015). These 54 categories can also be grouped into the 6 or 10 categories established by the EU Directive listed above. A third waste classification is the European List of Wastes (LoW) which is used for more administrative purposes (permits & waste management activities) in the EU but also serves as a framework for waste statistics in some Central Asian and Caucasian countries. The LoW includes 839 waste types, out of which 13 refer to e-waste that is also subdivided into hazardous and non-hazardous waste (Forti et al., 2018).

Important to note is that WEEE systems and schemes do not cover any kind of batteries, accumulators, or electrical components of vehicles (Forti et al., 2020). Hence, these types of WEEE are not included in the WEEE statistics and are, like in the case of Portugal, separated from the annual public reports.

Given the high number of elements that can be contained in e-waste (up to a 1000), the collection, logistical processes, and recycling technology that is involved can be different for each category and is also the reason why the disposal for consumers may vary (Needhidasan et al., 2014). The material design of e-waste is not only complex because it covers 69 elements from the periodic table. Some elements that are contained are critical to extract due to the hazardous substances, whereas others are extremely precious (C. Baldé et al., 2017). Especially the precious elements like gold that are present in high concentrations e.g., in mobile phones and PCs, make recycling more economically viable compared to other electronic goods with low(er) quantities (Forti et al., 2020). According to the Global E-waste Monitor 2017, approx. $55 billion were lost in the form of raw materials in e-waste in 2016 (2017).

In 1989 the so-called “Basel Convention on the Control of Transboundary Movements of Hazardous Wastes and Their Disposal” was signed which controls and approves the process for all movements of

7 hazardous waste across borders (Basel Convention, 1989) and hence, plays an important role in the trading of e-waste. Portugal joined the treaty in 1994, and since then, 194 countries have signed.

However, there is still a lack of consensus on the definition of electrical and electronic waste versus used electrical and electronic equipment (UEEE), and what might be waste to one country might not be for the other (Forti et al., 2020). Additionally, the reporting of the Basel convention does not capture the trading of UEEE or illegal shipments, and the various methods used to calculate estimates have a high degree of inaccuracy and uncertainty, given the lack of data (Forti et al., 2018).

2.1.3 Batteries and Accumulators

As mentioned previously, batteries and accumulators form their own waste type and stream and follow their own categorization and targets. According to Article 3 of the EU Directive 2006/66/EC a battery or accumulator means “any source of electrical energy generated by direct conversion of chemical energy and consisting of one or more primary battery cells (non-rechargeable) or consisting of one or more secondary battery cells (rechargeable)”. Usually, there are two kinds of batteries:

portable batteries² and industrial batteries. The latter one is exclusively designed for industrial or professional usage. Automotive batteries are excluded from this definition. Whenever batteries are collected with WEEE, they must be removed and treated separately (Directive 91/157/EEC, 2006, art.

3). The two tables below show the collection targets and treatment and recycling requirements according to the directive.

Table 3 - Collection targets for batteries and accumulators as per EU Directive

Collection Targets

by 26 September 2012 by 26 September 2016

25% 45%

Table 4 - Treatment & recycling requirements for BA as per EU Directive 91/157/EEC

Treatment Recycling

As a minimum should include the removal of all

fluids and acids

Recycling of 65% by avg. Weight of lead-acid batteries and accumulators, including recycling the lead content to the highest degree that is technically feasible while avoiding high costs.

recycling of 75 % by the average weight of nickel-cadmium batteries and accumulators, including recycling of the cadmium content to the highest degree that is technically feasible while avoiding high costs; and recycling of 50 % by the average weight of other waste batteries and accumulators.

2 Whenever the word battery is used throughout this work, accumulators are covered by this term.

8 Whenever the term “e-waste” is used in this work, it encompasses Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment as well as Batteries and Accumulators. Otherwise, the terms WEEE or BA are used specifically to highlight the different waste types or streams.

2.1.4 The Many Ways of E-waste

A big difference between other waste and e-waste is the diverse number of stakeholders that are involved along the value chain of e-waste generation, e-waste collection, and aggregation, and treatment, recovery, and disposal. Especially the downstream actors that come into play after the first dismantling of e-waste are of utmost importance (Khetriwal & Jain, 2021). The table below was taken from the report of Sustainable Recycling Industries (2021) that gives an overview of the key stakeholders that are involved including a brief generic description of their role within the e-waste cycle. Their role might slightly change depending on the country’s infrastructure, legislation, and economy, amongst others, as can be seen in chapter 2.1.5 where Portugal’s e-waste management system is described in more detail.

Table 5 - Key stakeholders, roles, and responsibilities in e-waste management

Stakeholder Roles/ Responsibility

Government:

national and regional

Regulatory authorities lay the e-waste management regulatory framework for countries/regions. They may choose to play additional roles: in its implementation or choose to use voluntary mechanisms over legislative measures.

Municipalities Municipalities carry out overall waste management at the local level, incl.

e-waste. They may choose to have specific systems in place to handle e- waste (e.g., municipality of Cascais, see chapter 2.2.2)

Producers,

Manufacturers Under EPR³-based legislation, they organize, finance, and operate e-waste take-back systems, either individually or collectively, through PROs⁴.

3 EPR stands for extended producer responsibility and as a policy was first introduced in Germany when a packaging take-back law was passed in the 1990s. The way the ERP system and policies are implemented across countries may vary (Walls, 2006). The principle in e-waste management is to give responsibility for the EOL of products to the producer. This could be done by creating financial resources (that also are passed over to the end-consumer who pays for it when purchasing electronic goods) or by committing to operational and organizational responsibilities (OECD, 2016).

4PROs stand for Producer Responsibility Organizations who take on responsibility for the operational logistics of collection, transportation, recycling, and disposal of EOL products (Khetriwal & Jain, 2021). Electrão, ERP, and WEEECycle in Portugal represent PROs that exist as non-profit organizations and on behalf of the producers meet the ERP obligations.

9

Stakeholder Roles/ Responsibility

PROs Operate e-waste take-back systems on behalf of producers and ensure collected e-waste is transported to appropriate treatment centers and properly treated.

Retailers As the consumer touchpoint for producers, retailers are often also their collection centers or take-back points. However, this varies by country and product–where they might offer take-back for some products but not others.

Waste collectors and aggregators

Responsible for collection; in many Asian and African countries, this is done largely by small and medium collectors (door-to-door, municipal dumpsite), with small informal collectors dominating the collection.

Consumers

Household and business consumers are often considered the weakest link in the chain, as convenience is often the determining factor in their e-waste disposal behavior - the main determining factor in the fate and route of e-waste management. Disposal behavior is widely dependent on the level of awareness and availability of infrastructure and systems to the consumers – factors that vary greatly across countries.

E-waste processors

Material recovery, recycling, or disposal; second-hand markets, scrap dealers, dismantlers, processors, recyclers, and downstream partners are all responsible for proper management of e-waste - material recovery or disposal and thus play an important role in sound waste management.

Recyclers

Recycling and recovery of fractions; Industrial Recyclers are often capital intensive, operating mechanized shredding and sorting or largescale material recovery facilities. The number and capacity of facilities vary by country, linked to the volume of e-waste generated, as well as the legislative landscape and the presence of an informal recycling sector. Informal Recyclers: play a dominant role in e-waste management systems, specifically in developing countries.

NGO's

International and local NGOs play an important role in bringing awareness about the e-waste issue. International organizations have launched various programs and initiatives to encourage the various key stakeholders, particularly

governments, regulators, producers, and recyclers, to identify and address the gaps in e-waste management systems.

Generally, there are four ways e-waste can take into the system. In reality, there can be many more steps that e-waste can take in the value chain, as Figure 2 demonstrates. However, to simplify, these four scenarios are taken from the Global E-waste Monitor (2020) and Forti et al. (2018).

 Scenario 1 - E-waste is formally collected: Formal collection is usually executed under national e-waste legislation and by designated organizations with official licenses from the national government. The collection occurs via retailers, municipal collection points, or pick-up services. The collected e-waste will be treated in a specialized facility that recovers valuable or hazardous components. Any residuals might go to controlled landfills, incineration, or be exported.

10

 Scenario 2 – E-waste is disposed in normal household trash: In this scenario is treated as normal waste and is not treated specifically depending on the waste management infrastructure of the country. This can negatively impact the environment and lead to the loss of valuable resources.

 Scenario 3 – E-waste is collected outside of formal systems: This applies to countries with developed (e-)waste management infrastructure where individual waste dealers or companies trade e-waste. Metals or plastic might be recycled.

However, dangerous substances are not extracted and not treated in special facilities.

In this scenario, e-waste might also be exported.

 Scenario 4 – E-waste is collected outside of formal systems without any (e-) waste management infrastructure: This applies to most developing countries where people are engaged in informal collection and recycling activities of e-waste. This type of activity referred to as “backyard recycling” puts great danger to the environment and human health.

Figure 2 - E-waste management value chain (Source: Khetriwal & Jain, 2021)

The truth is, as can be seen in the case of Portugal and other European members, that even in countries where e-waste policies, legislation, and infrastructure is in place if laws are not enforced adequately targets are not met and sometimes far from being reached. The importance of traditional stakeholders like households is still underestimated (Reike et al., 2018), and as this chapter has shown, e-waste is complex, and electronic goods often end up in normal household waste (WEF, 2019).

11 2.1.5 E-waste Monitoring & Statistics

In 2019 more than 80% of generated global e-waste is not documented, and its disposal is unknown (Forti et al., 2020). The lack of data is one reason why it is difficult to combat the amount of e-waste effectively and stimulate collection and recycling rates with the right action. But the ability to monitor e-waste flows is essential for evaluating progress over time and setting and assessing targets. Without (better) e-waste data, the right policies and tools cannot be developed, and there is no basis for proper decision-making around e-waste management activities. Apart from agreeing on common e-waste classification frameworks on an international and global level, it is also imperative to use the same methodology when measuring e-waste quantities and flows. Lacking consensus and differences in legislation leads in the end to e-waste statistics that are difficult to compare among countries (Forti et al., 2020). In 2015, several organizations (SCYCLE, UNU, ISWA, amongst others) founded the Global e- waste Statistics Partnership (GESP) with the objective of improving and collecting worldwide e-waste statistics in an internationally standardized way (Global E-Waste Statistics Partnership, 2017).

Since Portugal is a member of the European Union, the country needs to put into place EU legislation and report on e-waste statistics accordingly. In the following, EU targets and suggested methodologies to calculate e-waste streams are introduced that are further relevant throughout this work.

The two tables below summarize the different targets according to the EU Directive from 2012 Art.

7(1) and Annex V (Directive 2012/19/EU, 2012). The targets listed below will be important to establish KPIs in the reporting tools.

Table 6 - EU WEEE collection targets 2016 to today (Source: Directive 2012/19/EU, 2012)

Calculation of collection rate From 2016 From 2019 until today

Total weight of WEEE collected as % of the avg. weight of EEE POM in

the 3 preceding years 45% 65% or

% Of WEEE generated on the territory of the member state n/a 85%

12 Table 7 - EU targets by WEEE categories (Source: Directive 2012/19/EU, 2012)

Categories

Min. Targets from Aug 2012 until Aug 2015 with reference to categories listed in table 1 of this document

Min. Targets from Aug 2015 until Aug 2018 with reference to categories listed in table 1 of this document

Categories

Min. Targets from Aug 2018 onwards with reference to categories listed in table 2 of this document 1 or 10 80% shall be recovered 85% shall be recovered

1 or 4 85% shall be recovered 75% shall be recycled 80% shall be prepared for re-

use and recycled 80% shall be prepared for

re-use and recycled 3 or 4 75% shall be recovered 80% shall be recovered

2 80% shall be recovered 65% shall be recycled 70% shall be prepared for re-

use and recycled

70% shall be prepared for re-use and recycled 2, 5, 6, 7, 8

or 9

70% shall be recovered 75% shall be recovered

5 or 6 75% shall be recovered 50% shall be recycled 55% shall be prepared for re-

use and recycled 55% shall be prepared for

re-use and recycled Gas

discharge

lamps 80% shall be recycled 80% shall be recycled 3 80% shall be recycled

To understand better e-waste statistics and calculations, a few other concepts need to be explained.

One of them is the measurement framework developed during a global consulting process in 2015 and formed part of the efforts to harmonize measurement frameworks and indicators. This framework (see figure below adapted from the 2^nd edition by Forti et al. (2018)) is based on flows and stocks of electronic goods and e-waste, and is also used as a common methodology to calculate collection targets of the EU WEEE Directive 2012/19/EU.

Figure 3 - Measurement framework for e-waste statistics (Source: Forti et al., 2018)

The measurement framework starts with the production and trade of EEE. This results in the EEE Put on Market (POM) that takes domestic production, imports, and exports of electronic goods into account. Once the equipment is purchased, it starts its life-time and stays in businesses or households for some time until it eventually becomes e-waste and the so-called “urban mine”. The life-time of EEE

13 also includes the electronic goods that hibernate in households or are exchanged as second-hand equipment within the country. The total equipment that can be found in households, businesses, and the public sector is referred to as stock. At the end of its lifetime, e-waste is generated and can take different ways, as described by the e-waste flow scenarios above. Again, e-waste or used electronic and electrical goods can also be exported to other countries where they can get another life-time until it becomes e-waste again (Forti et al., 2018).

The measurement framework also includes a methodology to calculate the generated e-waste that takes the before-mentioned components (production, trade, POM, stock & lifetime) into account. The table can be found in Appendix C. It summarizes the key concepts of e-waste statistics and the underlying mathematical equations adapted from the 2^nd edition of E-waste Statistics by Forti et al.

(2018). Additionally, it mentions potential data sources to obtain the relevant quality of data which can vary a lot across countries.

Based on these statistics, the EU member states have an obligation to report to the commission within 18 months of the referenced year and present WEEE targets on the collection, re-use, recycling and/

or recovery based on the commission‘s decision 2005/369/EC that was later replaced by the EU Directive in 2012.

2.1.6 E-waste Management in Portugal

Under chapter 2.1.3. the general stakeholders of the EEE ecosystem and their roles were already introduced. In this chapter, Portugal and its e-waste management system and its underlying national legislation is presented. The following factsheet (see table 6) consolidates the information on Portugal’s e-waste management system and is carried out through desk-based research by reviewing EU and national legislation as well as documentation that is provided by the APA that implements and monitors the national environmental policies by the Portuguese government. The structure of this factsheet was adapted from SRI (Sustainable Recycling Industries) which created a short-list of 12 factsheets of developed and developing countries with existing e-waste legislation in place (2021). The factsheet has a dashboard at the top that provides a short summary of the information at hand. It is important to note that this factsheet represents a simplification and overview of the complex e-waste legislation and is supposed to create a general understanding of the SIGREEE in Portugal. A visual representation of the SIGREEE can be found in Annex C of this document, which also highlights the potential leakage of e-waste into parallel circuits.

14 Table 8 - Portugal's e-waste management system factsheet

Portugal

E-Waste Dashboard⁵

Legislation The European Directive 2012/19/EU, of the European Parliament and of the Council, of 4 July 2012 was transposed into the national Decree-Law No. 67/2014, which was later revoked by Law Decree No. 152-D/2017 (Unilex). The law unifies the efforts to manage specific waste streams subject to the principle of extended producer responsibility (EPR) and approves the legal system for the management of Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment (WEEE) (APA, 2021c).

The application of measures and actions established in national legislation took place through licensing the following entities of collective WEEE management systems (in April 2006): AMB3E – Portuguese Waste Management Association (the name of the Management Entity was changed to Electrão in 2019); ERP Portugal Waste Management Association; and more recently in May 2018, a new management entity, WEEECYCLE, was granted a license (APA, 2021c).

Legal definition of e-

waste “Waste electrical and electronic equipment” means electrical or electronic equipment which is waste within the meaning of Article 3(1) of the EU Waste Directive, including all components, subassemblies, and consumables that are part of the product at the time of discarding (EU Commission Directive, 2012).

Producer Obligations The legislation that regulates the flow of WEEE is based on the principle of extended producer responsibility (EPR), with the EEE producer being given the responsibility for waste management when it reaches the end of its life, which can be assumed individually or transferred to an integrated system. The producers of EEE need to provide funding for the management of WEEE. They can do so by an individual system or transfer their responsibility through a contract with a management entity. They pay a fee "eco-valor" (ecoREEE) to the managing entities that are charged to the end-consumer when purchasing EEE goods (APA, 2021c)

According to the Law Decree No. 152-D/2017 Art. 19(6)(c), the following entities are subject to registration and reporting (through the platform SIliAmb):

Producers of EEE products; Distributors and traders; Waste treatment operators;

SGRU; Entities that carry out actions or campaigns to collect WEEE; other natural

5The product scope is important as it establishes what type of products are included under the legal framework and what is considered waste versus none-waste. There are countries that have very specific products like India and have only a partial product scope opposed to the European categorization that defines WEEE more holistically by product characterization. At the same time targets are also not part of all legislations like in case of Switzerland which, at the same time, is the country that is supposed to have one of the best e-waste recycling systems in the world and was one of the earliest adopters of an e-waste management system long before the EU put legislation in place (Khetriwal & Jain, 2021).

Legislation in force √

Product Scope Full

Targets present √

WEEE management principle EPR Ratfified Basel Convention √ (1994)

15 or legal persons who collect WEEE. The ANREEE helps companies comply with the legal obligation to register (Decreto-Lei n.^o 152-D, 2017)

Product Scope The six EEE categories mentioned under article 1.2.1 of this document are defined as per EU Directive valid since August 2018 (EU Commission Directive, 2012).

Collection System The three managing entities are subject to the management principles and objectives established in Law Decree no.152-D/2017, which includes the structuring of a selective collection network, the financing of costs for sorting, storing, transporting, treating, recovering and disposing of WEEE, and compliance with collection targets and minimum recovery objectives (APA, 2021c)

The three managing entities need to provide free-of-charge collection facilities (reception centers and WEEE collection points, SGRU). The locations of those can be consulted through the websites of the managing entities Electrão, ERP- Portugal, and Weeecycle (APA, 2021c).

In addition to licensed operators, the following institutions are authorized to carry out the collection of WEEE:

a) Municipalities, associations of municipalities and systems management companies, multi-municipal and inter-municipal agencies (SGRU), with competence in the urban waste collection;

b) Distributors, who ensure the collection of WEEE, by legal obligation

c) Other take-back points or WEEE collection points integrated into the network of managing entities of collective systems;

d) Other entities that carry out the collection within the scope of campaigns or actions (Decreto-Lei n.^o 152-D, 2017, art. 13(4))

The amounts collected outside the network of managing entities are also counted towards the national collection target, but there is no obligation to send WEEE through these entities. Such amounts are calculated in the Integrated Waste Registration Map (MIRR) that is managed by the Portuguese Environment Agency.

Recycling System Producers, through individual or integrated management systems, must implement systems that use the best available techniques for the treatment of WEEE. The WEEE treatment activity, including recovery, recycling, and preparation for reuse, is subject to licensing under the RGGR (Decreto-Lei n.^o 152-

D, 2017, art. 60(3)).

Financing

Mechanism EcoWEEE is a mandatory financial benefit charged to producers for each EEE placed on the market to cover the costs of selective collection and treatment of WEEE. The EcoWEEE value is determined according to the category/sub-category and corresponds to the contribution paid to the managing entity (APA, 2021b) Targets a) From 2016: 45% of the average weight of EEE placed on the market in

the previous three years, considering the total weight of WEEE collected from private and non-private users;

b) From 2019: 65% of the average weight of EEE placed on the market in the previous three years or, alternatively, 85% of WEEE generated in Portugal, considering the total weight of WEEE collected from private and non-private users.

In the period between 2016 and 2019, a gradual evolution of the amount of WEEE collected annually must be ensured, unless the collection target provided for in subparagraph b) of the previous

16 number has already been reached (APA, 2021c). The targets per EEE

category are listed under article 57, Annex X of the Unilex.

Reporting System Producers must report data periodically (every 30 days) to the APA through SIRER, incl. the type and quantity of products or the material placed on the national market, as well as the management system chosen in relation to each type of waste. Those involved in the selective collection must keep chronological records of the amount, by weight, of WEEE collected, as well as its origin and destination.

The records must be stored for min. five years and be made available whenever requested by competent authorities (Decreto-Lei 152-D, 2017, Art. 19;20) Standards/Audits The APA does not have any powers of inspection or inspection in the context of

waste. The CCDRs (Comissão de Coordenação e Desenvolvimento Regional) must verify compliance with the requirements established with the OTRs that are licensed for the treatment of WEEE and also carry out any technical visits to prove the compliance (APA, 2018).

Monitoring System The three managing entities have to publish the reports on WEEE collection rates by April 15th of the following year for the results of the preceding year. The APA and DGAE validate the published data (Decreto-Lei 152-D, 2017, Art. 12(e)(j)). The APA implements and monitors the national environmental policies by the Portuguese government.

Transboundary movement of Used EEE

Export of hazardous WEEE or UEEE is not allowed to countries outside of OECD and is allowed with notification within OECD countries.

UEEE export may be allowed if it is characterized as non-hazardous as per Basel Convention and OECD and the proper notifications/ permissions are obtained as per the EU Waste Shipment Regulations (WSR) and the national legislation of the importing non-OECD countries (Basel Convention, 1989; OECD, 2001; European Commission, 2006; Decreto-Lei 102, 2020).

RoHS consideration EEE must comply with RoHS Directive requirements at the time of placement of a finished product on the market (by the manufacturer or importer). Components that are included in the definition of EEE that are placed on the market as autonomous functional units are considered EEE. Hence the respective importers are subject to the obligations under the RoHS Directive. However, only the EEE as a whole needs to have the CE marking and a declaration of conformity and not the individual components (APA, 2021a).

Whenever there is an EEE that is not compliant with the requirements of the RoHS Directive, the DGAE must be informed (APA, 2021a).

Decree-Law no. 79/2013 transposed Directive no. 2011/65/EU of the European Parliament and of the Council into national law and the regulation of the use of hazardous substances in electrical equipment.

In the latest report from APA, published in October 2021 (see figure 4), that summarizes the data that was collected from the managing entities and WEEE operators, including data from waste movements across boarders from 2010 to 2019, the total amount of WEEE collected in 2019 (52.772 tons) has been as low as in 2014 whilst the total amount of EEE POM has been estimated to be as high as never before with over 200.000 tons (APA, 2021c, p. 3). Since the EU and national collection targets are weighted

17 against the total of EEE POM, this represents a collection rate of only 25%. These numbers look similar in 2020, according to an article from ZERO⁶ from October 2020, where collection rates are estimated

between 26% and 31% for 2019 and 2020 (“Confirmado alerta da ZERO,” 2020).

Apart from the report published by APA, no other public sources give a more detailed holistic overview of the WEEE collection rates on a national level. The website of the Eurostat office, which is run by the European Commission and explains different EU statistics, periodically publishes trends on the amount of EEE that is put on the market and WEEE that is collected, treated, recovered, recycled, and prepared for reuse in the EU. However, the data currently only covers the years up to 2018 and in the case of Portugal only provides data up to 2017 (Eurostat, 2021).

Given Portugal’s low collection rates, the three managing entities, Electrão, ERP Portugal, and WEEECycle hired the consulting firm 3drivers which specializes in projects in waste management and circular economy. In the report from December 2020, 3drivers assesses the current performance of the SIGREEE to uncover the huge difference between the quantities of waste that is generated and the quantities of waste collected by the SIGREEE. According to their analysis, the collection channels associated with Portugal’s e-waste management system have a similar performance to the international scenario on the European level. In addition, they state that if only the period prior to 2019’s new collection target is considered, the targets were actually achieved thanks to the collection

6 ZERO stands for “Associação Sistema Terrestre Sustentável” and was founded in 2015 with the interest to have an active role in creating and developing a more sustainable Portuguese society by reducing consumption, promoting renewable energies and the circular economy with the goal to balance out economic, social, and environmental interests (https://zero.ong/).

Figure 4 - Evolution of WEEE quantities POM, collected & recovered in tons (2010-2019)

18 of e-waste in undifferentiated waste by the OGR. However, with the new targets since 2019, the results that were achieved by the SIGREEE are very far from the objective (3drivers, 2020). In fact, figure 5 highlights how around 100 thousand tons of WEEE were not collected and treated properly but ended up in informal collection and recycling markets (3drivers, 2020, p. 70). According to an investigation done by the Portuguese TV program Essencial that was published one year later in December 2021, APA states that in 2019 about 20.000 tons of e-waste’s origin and destiny is unknown (Essencial, 2021, 17:02). Whether it is the report from APA or the three managing entities Electrão, ERP, WEEECycle, the Eurostats or the report from 3drivers that also makes use of all of these sources (in addition to data that is not publicly available, e.g., ANREEE, AGEFE), it shows how data is scattered with systematic gaps. None of them represent the important “single source of truth”.

2.2 T

Z

E-W

C

E

To move the electronics industry from the take-make-waste model to more circularity, there is still much to be done. The concept of circular economy has gained much attention from scientists and practitioners over the last years (Kirchherr et al., 2017; Maloni et al., 2018; WEF, 2019). The topic is high on the political agenda, and the European Union has launched several initiatives over the last years with an ambitious action plan for a circular economy highlighting the benefits of new jobs, millions of savings for businesses, and the reduction of CO₂ emissions that is vital to reach the established EU targets by 2050 (European Commission, 2015, 2020). Especially with regards to electronic goods and e-waste management, the adaption is imperative as the system needs to establish more closed loops of material cycles. The definition by Geissdoerfer et al., which represents the result of literature synthesis, seems to be the most holistic as it defines CE as a “regenerative system in which resource input and waste, emission, and energy leakage are minimized by slowing, closing, and narrowing material and energy loops. This can be achieved through long-lasting design, maintenance, repair, reuse, remanufacturing, refurbishing, and recycling” (2017, p. 759).

Figure 5 - Evolution of the WEEE quantities collected in SIGREEE by each collection channel, in thousands of tons (2005-2019) (Source: 3drivers, 2020)

19 The figure below attempts to capture how product and material values could be better retained in a more circular economy than in today‘s linear economy. The model combines two graphs in one that was adapted from the World Economic Forum report (2019, p. 16) and the European Environment Agency (EEA) report (2017, p. 8). However, implementing the concept of CE remains difficult given that its practices go beyond the traditional actors and rather represent a “complex social system” (Zeiss et al., 2021, p. 165) that needs to involve all stakeholders.

Figure 6 - Simplified model of circular economy for electronics (Adapted from: De Schoenmakere et al., 2017, p. 8; WEF, 2019, p. 16)

Another reason why the implementation remains difficult is due to “the problem of information” as the Wuppertal Institute points out (Wilts & Berg, 2017, p. 4). Based on a study, they divide the problem of information deficit into four major areas: [1] Underdeveloped availability of information, [2] An increase in transaction and search costs, [3] Distorted perception of customers, [4] Technological barriers. The essence of this classification is that firms acquire mostly primary materials as there is no adequate information on available quantities of recycled raw materials and their quality which is critical for potential reuse. That lack of information increases on the other side the “burden on users to find and use [the] data” (Wilts & Berg, 2017, p. 4). The challenge remains in the generation and collection of this data, including its accessibility to the right stakeholders. E-waste management companies play a crucial role within this network of information and material flows as they are the ones collecting and sorting the material, as the figure below highlights (Circular Berlin, 2021, p. 14).

The next chapters provide a short overview of how digitalization can provide the right tools to facilitate the way toward CE, including best practices around so-called smart waste management.

20 2.2.1 Smart Circular Economy

Digital technologies such as IoT, Big Data, Data Analytics, AI, among others, are considered to be essential in enabling a circular economy and catalyzing innovative business models that not only focus on economic benefits but also incorporate social and environmental benefits (Antikainen et al., 2018b;

Kristoffersen et al., 2021; Pagoropoulos et al., 2017; Schwanholz & Leipold, 2020; Wilts & Berg, 2017).

This process and the need to digitalize CE is also referred to by scholars as “Smart Circular Economy”

(Kristoffersen et al., 2019, 2020). These technologies⁷ enable and facilitate the collection of information on product components and material conditions, their location in different use cycles and systems as well as their availability (Antikainen et al., 2018). They are fundamental support to sharing information among a diverse number of stakeholders (Pellegrini et al., 2018) and play an indispensable role in transitioning to a digital supply chain (de Camargo Fiorini & Jabbour, 2017).

The use of these technologies is manifold: As a key element of IoT, Wireless Sensor Networks (WSN), for instance, can be implemented in many different environments and can be extensively used in WEEE management, given its network of sensors that distribute data among the connected devices through wireless communication technology (Hashem et al., 2016). Cloud computing could help move away from hardware capabilities to remote data centers and hence minimize waste in the system by increasing product use cycles (WEF, 2019). The technology of blockchain could be used to encrypt and anonymize the information, so product data and the company‘s intellectual property remain confidential when being shared along the chain (Wilts & Berg, 2017; Zeiss et al., 2021). Some even see an opportunity in the concept of “Platform as a Service” (PaaS) but for electronic goods: “Electronic as a Service” would give consumers access to the latest technologies over rental business models that tend to have a very short lifetime but usually high up-front costs (WEF, 2019).

In a study by Kristoffersen et al. (2021) that combined a literature review and semi-structured interviews about the importance of business analytics capabilities (BAC) for the circular economy, there were two major findings: Firstly, all respondents highlighted the critical role of BA towards a successful transition of their company to a more circular economy. In addition, respondents mentioned the need to broaden the definition of business analytics capabilities and include social and ecological impact and value to meet the new demands for a company‘s BAC (Kristoffersen et al., 2021).

Another result of the study is the importance of data as a “key building block” that was mentioned in conjunction with the topics of a single source of truth, data quality and availability, and the preservation of meta data (2021, p. 6). Even though there is consensus that these technologies are

7 Definitions of these technologies can be found in the appendix. Even if none of them are deployed in this project solution, it is important to establish a common reference when these terms are used to showcase examples of usage.

21 essential enablers in transitioning to a circular economy, scholars point out that there is little schematic guidance for companies on how to operationalize these technologies in their business to address the full potential of circular strategies and align activities (Kristoffersen et al., 2019; Ranta et al., 2021; Uçar et al., 2020). To close the gap for the BAC‘s that are required in order to accomplish a successful transition to CE, the following framework was created as an attempt to create a toolkit that

“[identifies] the gap in between the current and entailed BA requirements and (…) strategic initiatives needed to close it” (Kristoffersen et al., 2020, p. 241). The framework was specifically designed to support manufacturing companies in their circular strategies, given their importance in reducing structural waste and their strong linkage to several SDG goals. The framework comprises three elements: first, data transformation levels (blue triangle) and, second, resource optimization capabilities (green triangle). The third element, the data flow processes (grey area), links the two other elements together. This model distinguishes itself from other frameworks as a fifth level was added to the data transformation levels “connected resources” that enable data collection. The data flow processes are structured hierarchically (as the blue and green pyramid). However, all three processes of data collection, data integration, and data analysis could be used to simply perform a descriptive analysis of what has happened. The authors emphasize that the underlying logic is to highlight where the different technologies usually interconnect and more technologies could be added (Kristoffersen et al., 2020).

This framework will also assess the readiness and Electrão’s business analytics capabilities based on their data transformation processes.

2.2.2 Smart Waste Management in Cascais

The municipality of Cascais, Portugal, which invested in smart waste management, is a great example of how state-of-the-art technology can be used to manage waste collection more efficiently and uncover further weaknesses. The project is not only a showpiece on a national level but has gained

Figure 7 - The smart CE framework (Source: Kristoffersen et al., 2021)