Material flow analysis and life cycle assessment of WEEE dismantling into recycled materials in Thailand

WEEE has become waste management and resource scarcity issues in Thailand because of its high generation and materials inside. Formulation of an appropriate WEEE sustainable management policy is a challenge. This study aims to use material flow analysis (MFA) and life cycle assessment (LCA) in environmental assessment of WEEE manual dismantling in Thailand. Refrigerator (RF), personal computer (PC), cathode ray tube TV (CRT TV), liquid crystal display TV (LCD TV), air conditioner (indoor (AC in) and outdoor (AC out)), feature phone (FP), and smartphone (SP) were studied. Dominant recovered materials were iron (26%), compressor (17%), and plastics (17%). CRT TV and SP had disposal parts higher than recyclable parts. WEEE generation was 311,843.39 ± 42,722.54 tons/year with 30% of the generated amount was estimated as total stock. Recyclable and discarded materials were 78.80% and 21.20%, respectively. LCA showed that impacts regarding ecotoxicity and human toxicity were the most potential impact categories that were affected by WEEE dismantling. For accumulative impacts, RF, PC, CRT TV, AC in, and AC out provided positive, but LCD TV, FP, and SP indicated negative. Increasing recyclable parts will be reducing negative impacts. These findings can help policy makers to transform into more sustainable WEEE management.