A decision-making model for materials management of end-of-life electronicproducts

Currently, there is increasing attention to the environmental impact of the recycling scenarios used for end-of-life electric and electronic (E&E) pro ducts. in anticipation of future disposal and recycling concerns due to the increasing consumption of E&E equipment, a systematic management tool is e ssential to effectively maximize the recyclability of end-of-life products and minimize the environmental impact of recycling and disposal. In this pa per, a generic decision-making methodology is developed for material recycl ing and disposition of E&E products. The research results in an optimal rec ycling scenario for general end-of-life E&E products based on the combinati on of environmental impact, recycling feasibility, and intensity of resourc e recovery. Three major factors are considered during decision making: envi ronmental impact, related cost, and recoverable materials. These three fact ors are integrated through a fuzzy membership function and Analytic Hierarc hy Process (AHP). The research is based on a project supported by the Amari llo National Resource Center for Plutonium. A computerized prototype decisi on-making model is developed based on the proposed methodology. The researc h result can be extended to the recycling process of all kinds of electrome chanical scraps. Potentially, the proposed methodology can be adopted for a ssessing various recycling alternatives to provide environmentally friendly solutions.