Improving E-waste Recovery with Energy Efficiency Information

of Products
Ng, Yen Ting*1, 2, Lee, Hui Mien1, Lu, Wen Feng2, Jonathan Low, Sze Choong1, 2
1
2

Singapore Institute of Manufacturing Technology, A*STAR, Singapore

National University of Singapore, Singapore

* Corresponding Author, ytng@SIMTech.a-star.edu.sg, +6590047328

Abstract
Energy efficiency is one of the critical parameters to determine e-waste recovery feasibility in order to improve
resource efficiency and sustainable consumption and production. Thus, a proper assessment of product
efficiency is necessary to achieve optimal end-of-life (EoL) product recovery strategy. This paper proposes a
generic method to assess the product efficiency based on energy efficiency analysis and reliability analysis. The
assessment leads to identifying residual value of EoL product before any recovery decision is made. A near
perfect efficient product or component could be reused, on the other hand, recovery option for inefficient part
would be decided based on its efficiency, residual value and reliability. With the accurate EoL product status
assessment, e-waste recovery could be enhanced by retaining the materials and energy embedded in EoL
product. The proposed e-waste recovery methodology is prime important to industry. It aids product designer,
manufacturer and policy maker work toward a better environmental decision making for resource efficiency and
a sustainable economic growth.

1 Introduction
E-waste refers to item of electrical and electronic
equipment (EEE) that is discarded by the holder into
any waste collection system [1], which is also called
waste electrical and electronic equipment (WEEE).
According to UNEP, 20 to 50 million tons of e-waste
have been generated each year. The amount is
estimated to be double in next decade. Moreover,
generation of e-waste is growing 3 times faster than
any other type of municipal waste on global level.
The rapid growth of e-waste in last few decades is
mainly because of prosperous growth in electronic
and electrical industries and the fast advancement of
technologies. Consequently, the quick growing
development affects consumption habits. Life cycle
of products gets shorter and resulting in escalating ewaste. This has resulted in replacing EEE products
which still have a long life span. Furthermore,
majority of the e-waste are ended up in landfills or
incinerators. In US, about 75-80% of e-waste ready
for EoL management ended up in landfills [2]. It has
now become one of the fastest growing waste
components in municipal solid waste stream, and it
could be a source of hazardous waste that adding to
environmental burden and human health risk [3-8].
To make things worse, we are extracting 50% more
resources than our planet can replenish today [9, 10].
E-waste covers from large and small household
appliances, IT and telecommunications equipment,
consumer and lighting equipment, electrical and
electronic tools, toys, leisure and sports equipment,

medical devices, monitoring and control instruments

and automatic dispensers. In this article, solution to
improve e-waste recovery refers to household
appliances (Category 1 and 2 in WEEE Directive
[11]), particularly in electromechanical product.
Due to the prime environmental advantages,
appropriate management for EoL products is essential
[2-4, 7, 8, 12-15]. A novel method for
electromechanical goods recovery based on
knowledge of product energy efficiency is presented
in this paper. Energy efficiency is one of the key
performance indicators in high energy consumption
appliances. For instance, the use of air conditioner in
residential home consumes significant energy
resources and produce greenhouse gas (GHG)
emissions largely. By replacing a newer, more
efficient unit will use less power, accordingly, less
GHG emissions at power plant and consumers
energy cost will be reduced. However, production of
new unit requires more energy, which in turn
generates more GHG emissions. This research
explores how the decision making to recover the
embedded energy and material from EoL product.
Section 2 presents the outline of product life cycle
framework for electromechanical goods and the
methodology. Section 3 covers the role of energy
efficiency and section 4 explains the reliability in
EoL strategy. Solution to solve electromechanical
waste will be discussed and followed by conclusion.

2 The Methodology
Distributor

Use

EoL

Collection
Sorting

Manufacturing

Reassembly
Product / component reliability

Design
Residual value
Good
Bad

Reuse

Dismantling
Mechanical

Remanufacture

Reuse

Electrical

Recycle

Hazardous material

Disposal

Energy efficiency assessment

Information flow

Figure 1 Product life cycle framework for electromechanical product

Figure 1 shows the product life cycle framework for
electromechanical product. In the framework, it
shows that each stage has effects on the total
environmental performance of a product. For
example, extraction of material, production,
transportation, EoL collection and so on use up
energy, and emit certain amount of GHG to the
environment. Due to the fact that design stage has the
strongest influence on environmental impact, it
should consider of all the environmental
consequences in whole product life cycle before any
commitment in manufacturing [16]. This paper
proposed a closed-loop system by connecting the
knowledge learned from product recovery (as shaded
in Figure 1) to the design stage as common sharing
platform. Often, the life cycle for most products is

primarily linear, which starts from design process,

material extraction, manufacturing, packaging,
distribution, use, and end with disposal in landfill or
incinerator. And commonly, product information lost
after distribution phase. Hence, the novelty for this
framework is able to feedback the knowledge from
product recovery process to design process. With the
knowledge of EoL consequences in mind, designer
could enhance total environmental performances of a
product in the next product design cycle. On top of
that, the closed-loop system is feasible to restrain
valuable materials and energy by bringing used
product or component back to the secondary market.
Thereby, it improves the environment and economic
performances of electromechanical product.

Design Phase

EoL Phase
Collection
Sorting

Identify product
configuration

Verify product
configuration

Accelerated life testing

Assess product status

Identify critical
breakdown component

Identify critical
breakdown component

Determine
relationship/ severity

Determine
relationship/ severity
Residual value

Generate product/
component
characteristics:
-cost
-time
-technology
-labor
-equipment

Dismantle
Mechanical
Moderate
Remanufacture

Electrical

Good

Poor

Reuse

Recycle

Figure 2 Product assessment flow

Hazardous material
Very poor
Disposal

Figure 2 shows the assessment flow of new product

(in the left column) and EoL product (in the right
column). During the design stage, product features
will be configured. For instance, an electromechanical
product consists of electronics, optics, software,
mechanical components and other sub-systems. In this
study, accelerated life testing (ALT) will be carried
out on a new product until it fails, with various
sensors attach on the critical parts at different
locations. During the experiment, piezoelectric
accelerometer sensor will measure the vibration,
microphone will measure the unwanted noise and
temperature sensor will measure the dissipated heat.
The study also includes data analysis and
development of Mathematical model for waste energy
of the product. With the known input electrical
energy, output energy and modeled waste energy,
product efficiency could be identified. After the
statistical analysis, product failure mode would be
determined based on the criticality of component
breakdown, and also the severity effects of other
components. Finally, product or component
characteristics based on recovery time, cost, available
technology, labor and equipment could be generated
and stored as database. This new-to-fail profile would
guide manufacturers benchmark the product status
when the product returns.
The EoL product will be going through same
assessment flow, starting from verification of the
product configuration, followed by product status
assessment with the same experiment set up in design
stage. The collected data will be compared to the
database to evaluate product performances and its
severity. Then the residual value in terms of
remaining useful life [17, 18] and efficiency could be
determined. The high residual value returned product
is fit for reuse in the secondary market (refer to Figure
1). On the other hand, low residual value returned
product will be further dismantled for salvaging the
components and materials. For electromechanical
product case, it will be categorized into mechanical,
electrical and material. The grade for each recovery
path is based on the component characteristics
generate in design stage. A good condition part could
be reused, moderate condition part could be
remanufactured, part in the poor state could be
recycled and the very poor one should be disposed.
The assessment flow is valid for both functional and
non-functional EoL products.

energy efficiency are the primary metrics used to

quantify product performance. To get a direct
relationship for energy efficiency corresponding to
performance, it is defined as ratio of useful work to
energy consumed.

(1)
In order to figure out the performance of an
electromechanical product, waste energy from the
product operation will be captured. Particularly for
electromechanical product, waste energies are the
unwanted heat, noise and vibration. Therefore,
condition monitoring will be executed for data
collection in order to evaluate the operating history of
components. Multiple sensors will be attached to the
critical parts for data capturing. The data will be
analyzed and Mathematical model will be generated.

(2)

4 Reliability analysis
In order to ensure market acceptance and economic
feasibility of used product, confirmation of product
quality and reliability is pressing need [19-21]. A
generic methodology is proposed to evaluate quality
and reliability of used product, as shown in Figure 3.
Life data such as purchase date and returning date, as
well as operation data are required to identify energy
efficiency and reliability via vibration analysis, sound
analysis and thermal analysis. The quality and
reliability assessment are based on the trend of energy
losses (ie. unwanted vibration, noise and heat) when
the machine is in operation. The higher the losses, the
more energy utilized, thereby more inefficient a
product is. On top of that, study on the trend of energy
loss could be beneficial for defining the criticality of
component breakdown and the relationship with the
rest of the components. Accelerated life testing will
be executed for data collection. It is a test method for
shortening the lifetime of a product or hastening the
degradation of product performance [22]. With the
collected data, the quality and reliability in terms of
efficiency and residual value of particular component
or product can be determined.

3 The Role of Energy Efficiency

With the increasing and volatile oil prices, energy
saving of electrical driven products and improved
reliability of products are the major concern for
consumer and industry. Power consumption and

Figure 3 Steps for reliability analysis

4.1 Vibration analysis

Vibration analysis is used as a tool to determine
product status, such as specific fault and precise
location of the problem. This expedites product repair
and analysis, and saves costs. For the
electromechanical product, vibration is one of the key
indicators of product performance status. The
vibration is contributed by different sources, which
directly or indirectly impact products lifespan.
Therefore, condition monitoring is required to record
products vibration history. Monitoring vibration
levels over time allows the engineer to review overall
trend of product performance and to predict problem
occurrence.
Accelerometers are used for machinery vibration
monitoring in this paper. It produces an electrical
output signal that is proportional to applied vibration.
As shown in Figure 4, analog form of electrical signal
is received from accelerometer. The signal will be
filtered to eliminate the unwanted frequencies and
then converted into digital form. For further signal
processing, the most common analysis of is known as
Fast Fourier Transform. This method takes realworld, time-varying signal and split into components,
such as amplitude, phase and frequency. By
correlating
with
the
frequencies
and
electromechanical product characteristics, and
referring at the amplitudes, it is possible to locate the
problem accurately. The spectrum diagram will be
displayed and collected data will be stored on a
recording instrument.
Piezoelectric type of accelerometer sensor is the most
appropriate sensor for electromechanical product
monitoring. It provides wide frequency range and
suitable to accurately measure most of the machinery
vibrations. The two main parameters of a
piezoelectric sensor are sensitivity and frequency
range. Higher frequency range has less sensitivity,
and vice versa. Hence, it is necessary to compromise
between sensitivity and frequency range when
choosing the sensor for an application.
Analog
signal

Input

Anti-aliasing
signal

Fast Fourier
Transform

Averaging

Analog
to digital
converter

Display &
storage

Figure 4 Steps for vibration signal analysis

4.2 Sound analysis

Vibration in machinery is always coupled with
impulsive sounds caused by impacting components

and is commonly associated with faults. Therefore, it

has been recognized that sound signal can be
beneficially used for product status assessment.
Microphone will be utilized to measure the presence
of abnormal sound signal under operating condition.
However, recognition of these signals can be
obstructed by the presence of normal machine running
background signals, which makes the analysis
difficult. Figure 5 shows the steps for sound
processing. To detect the abnormal sound signal,
suppressing of background noise should be carried out
in order to get large signal to noise ratio (SNR) prior
to further processing. Removal of some potential
disturbing noise could be done through filtering
process. Next, Fourier transform is introduced to
transform the filtered signal into another domain so
that class discriminative parameters can be more
easily extracted. Then, the interested features can be
selected and optimized. Finally, particular sound
pattern could be recognized to identify the product
status.
Input

Signal
Signal
pre-processing projection

Sound signal

Filters

Fourier
Transform

Feature
Output
extractions
Wanted
features

Sound
recognition

Figure 5 Steps for sound analysis

4.3 Thermal analysis

Thermal analysis is the most critical type of
monitoring technique in product assessment. It is the
measurement of some physical parameter of a system
as a function of temperature. With better performance
and increased complexity in todays product, heat had
been build-up in electronics and mechanical parts.
The excessive build-up heat affects product structural
integrity hence deteriorates its reliability. In this
study, infrared thermal imaging which is an
instrument that able to map heat pattern will be used
for thermal analysis. It is able to find heat leaks in a
system and detect hot spots as a result of degrading
material dressing after product used for some time.
Without the use of thermal imaging, it would have
been nearly impossible to identify the failure
mechanism location. Then, multiple discrete
temperature sensors will be placed at the hot spots to
get a detailed visibility of site temperature. Knowing
both general and detail temperatures could give us
overall picture of the product performance to identify
critical components.

5 Discussion
5.1 Resource efficiency
Energy efficiency study and reliability analysis are
helpful to product manufacturer, especially when
Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) legislation is
in place for addressing e-waste problem. However,
manufacturers might have concerns on increase in
cost of production by adding EoL treatment cost.
Also, if the e-waste is not properly managed,
secondary pollution may occur and additional cost
could incur to the manufacturer.
To assist the manufacturers, the proposed method is
compensating the production cost by recovering
valuable product, parts or materials. The method
provides a systematic assessment for EoL product
before it goes to landfill. In other words, it retains the
resources and embodied energy from making new
product.
Current energy assessment method does not include
the product in EoL phase. For example, the energy
efficiency of room air conditioner is commonly
expressed as Energy Efficiency Ratio (EER).
However, the rating only tells its cooling performance
in general.

(3)
On the other hand, analysis on waste energy presented
in this article would give an insight on product failure
mode and its consequences. Moreover, statistical
study on the collected data would be able to predict
remaining lifetime of the product. Thus, warranty for
particular part or product could be designed.
One of the prime advantages of the proposed
methodology is where the reliability and efficiency
information of a new product could be saved in
database and used as reference when EoL product
returns. It saves time and cost to look for the suitable
recycler. Besides, this solves the problems for the
external recycler, such as lack of product information,
identify proper treatment technology, and select
treatment facilities.

opportunity to estimate the remaining lifetime of used

part or product. An efficient and reliable product
could be brought back to the market or export to
developing country. In addition, the analysis provides
the insight of consumable parts that could be salvaged
from inefficient product. Given the appropriate
analysis outcome, it gives informed decision to
prolong product lifespan. Hence, less waste will be
generated and less production for making new part or
product will be taking place.
This study facilitates comprehensive foundation for
further research and decision making on value
recovery through different recovery path. A case
study on air conditioner for prove of concept will be
carried out.

6 Conclusion
The methodology mentioned consists of energy
efficiency and reliability analysis for EoL product
assessment, residual value estimation, component
classification and EoL decision making. This
methodology can be applied to the sorting process for
many types of electromechanical products. It closes
the product life cycle loop by sharing the information
in product design phase and EoL phase. However,
such approach can be implemented only when the
product is returned. A lot of usage information is not
known, and cost incurred to the transportation and
waste collection for a usable product. Thereby,
manufacturer needs to work closely with distributor
and customer in order to close the product usage
information loop.
For further e-waste recovery improvement, product
service system (PSS) could be combined with the
proposed method. PSS involves product regularly
take-back for upgrades or replacement [23, 24]. This
allows company to benefit from continuous and
predictable source of materials and components. In
addition, environmental improvements are viable via
dematerialization, and regular upgrades leading to
more environmentally benign technology. Overall,
EoL management can be enhanced by improving the
reliability of used product for optimal utilization.

7 Literature
5.2 Sustainable consumption and
production
An accurate prediction of the product or component
residual value has become increasingly important in
order to improve productivity and generate less waste.
For instance, when the worldwide trend has
increasing shortage of resources and problem in
environmental impact, used parts or products could be
the promising option for replacement. Energy
efficiency study and reliability analysis offer the

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