Smart E-waste Management in China: A Review

To prevent the rapid increase in global e-waste generation from causing serious environmental pollution and adverse effects on human health, proper e-waste management is critical. In recent years, China has begun to pay more attention to e-waste management because the informal recycling and disposal by unauthorized collectors have brought serious environmental problems in some areas. However, it is an enormous challenge to achieve efficient management of waste electronic products in a developing country like China, which produces a large amount of e-waste every year but has a low recycling rate. The application of intellectual technologies has given new opportunities for more effective e-waste management. Many companies in China are developing smart e-waste collection and recycling systems by applying the Internet of Things (IoT), big data, cloud computing, and artificial intelligence (AI), but they also face challenges in various aspects. In this line, to promote of smart e-waste recycling in China, this study analyzes and summarizes the main obstacles and countermeasures for smart e-waste management.