## 3 New Recycling Systems for Used Small Electronic Devices

As stated above, in Japan, large home appliances are actively recycled under the Law for the Recycling of Specified Kinds of Home Appliances or by voluntary collection by manufacturers to recycle useful metals.

However, useful metals (including rare metals) are also contained in used small electronic appliances, which are not reliably recycled.

Statistics for used small electronic appliances have yet to be established. However, the Ministry of the Environment estimates that the quantity of small electronic appliances that reach the end of their product life and are disposed of is 651,000 tons per year, and the useful metals contained within them are estimated at 279,000 tons (equivalent to 84.4 billion yen). Figure 4-3-5 shows a comparison between the estimated quantities of metals contained in small electronic appliances that will reach the end of their product life per year and the level of domestic demand for metals to be used in production per year. The data show that a constant benefit can be expected by collecting used small electronic appliances and recycling metals in terms of lowering the volume needed for new manufacturing. The target metals are: tantalum (ratio against domestic demand: 9.4%); gold (ratio against domestic demand: 6.4%); and silver (ratio against domestic demand: 3.7%).

For example, an average cell phone (140 grams) contains 48 milligrams of gold (equivalent to 200 yen). This is equal to the volume of material that can be obtained from 52.8 kilograms of earth and sand excavated in mines (Figure 4-3-6). There are currently several technical obstacles to collecting resources from substrates. If gold were collected from all 40 million used cell phones disposed of during 2011, about 2 tons (equivalent to 8 billion yen) could be reused as a resource.

Countries like EU member states have already started systematic recycling in consideration of the fact that used small electronic appliances contain a large amount of useful metals.

In Japan as well, starting in FY 2008, the Ministry of the Environment and the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry jointly implemented a model project for collecting useful metals, focusing attention on used small electronic appliances. The local governments participating in the model project made a proposal to boost profitability: since the small electronic appliances had to be collected and disposed of over a widespread area, the central government should work to loosen regulations to remove the requirement for permission to collect and transport this waste under the Waste Disposal and Public Cleansing Law.

Transaction prices for the useful metals collected from small electronic appliances may vary widely depending on supply and demand conditions for the metal resources and market rates for the natural resources. In spite of the fact that local governments bear the expense of collecting small electronic appliances, if recyclers can easily refuse to accept the products because of changes in market conditions, thus a significant portion of local governments may hesitate to participate in the program.

In consideration of the above, the central government submitted a new law to the Diet on March 9, 2012: the Act on the Promotion of Recycling of Used Small Electronic Devices (Small Electronic Appliances Recycling draft act).

Figure 4-3-7 shows the flow of recycling based on the Small Electronic Appliances Recycling Act. According to the prevailing conditions, local governments voluntarily choose

Figure 4-3-5 Comparison Between Useful Metal Contained in Used Small Electric/Electronic Devices and Domestic Demand

Domestic demand (tons)	Compact electrical and electronic devices
Cell phones	Personal computers
Volume (tons)	Ratio against domestic demand	Volume (tons)	Ratio against domestic demand	Volume (tons)	Ratio against domestic demand
Base metals	Iron (Fe)	94,291,000	230,105	0.2%	418	0.0%	16,845	0.0%
Aluminum (Al)	4,002,000	24,708	0.6%	50	0.0%	3,914	0.1%
Copper (Cu)	1,763,000	22,789	1.3%	1,001	0.1%	2,730	0.2%
Lead (Pb)	251,000	740	0.3%	19	0.0%	220	0.1%
Zinc (Zn)	489,000	649	0.1%	44	0.0%	70	0.0%
Precious metals	Silver (Ag)	1,870	68.9	3.7%	10.5	0.6%	21.1	1.1%
Gold (Au)	166	10.6	6.4%	1.9	1.2%	4.5	2.7%
Rare metals	Antimony (Sb)	7,666	117.5	1.5%	2.3	0.0%	43.5	0.6%
Tantalum (Ta)	360	33.8	9.4%	3.2	0.9%	14.9	4.1%
Tungsten (W)	4,000	33.0	0.8%	27.1	0.7%	1.1	0.0%
Neodymium (Nd)	7,000	26.4	0.4%	18.9	0.3%	—	—
Cobalt (Co)	16,260	7.5	0.0%	2.2	0.0%	—	—
Bismuth (Bi)	682	6.0	0.9%	0.7	0.1%	0.8	0.1%
Palladium (Pd)	131	4.0	3.1%	0.5	0.4%	2.1	1.6%

Note: Cells marked “-” indicate that the calculation were not performed because no data was available (this does not mean that the product contains no target substance). The personal computers category includes desktop and laptop computers.

Source: Ministry of the Environment

a method for collecting used small electronic devices from the following options: box collection; station collection; and pick-up collection. Used small electronic devices collected by the local government are delivered to business operators authorized by the Minister for the Environment and the Minister of Economy, Trade and Industry for collection and recycling of the useful metals (authorized business operators). To ensure stable recycling, authorized business operators may not refuse to accept such requests from the local government to accept the devices unless there is justifiable reason.

When authorized business operators collect or deliver the used small electronic devices based on the Small Electronic Appliances Recycling Act, they are exempted from obtaining permission based on the Waste Disposal and Public Cleansing Law. Also, when the business operators procure the necessary funds for improving facilities, they are entitled to have a guaranty of liabilities from the Japan Industrial Waste Management Enterprise Development Foundation.

Figure 4-3-7 Outline of Small Electronic Appliance Recycling Act

As stated above, the Small Electronic Appliances Recycling Act is a system that encourages people to participate in the world of recycling rather than imposing an obligation. Therefore, active cooperation between parties (e.g., local residents, local governments, and recyclers in local communities) is absolutely necessary. To further ensure effective recycling in communities, it is strongly hoped that a high level of environmental awareness will develop for each party and coalesce into a kind of community strength.

Reference: Ministry of the Environment