Author(s)

M. Menegaki & D. Kaliampakos

Abstract

Electronic wastes (e-wastes) pose a significant threat to human health and the ecosystem, due to both the volume of wastes produced and the hazardous materials contained. Discarded electronic equipment is one of the fastest growing waste streams worldwide, due to the increasing growth rate of the Information Technology (IT) market and the rapid obsolescence of the equipment. The European Union has characterized the Waste from Electrical and Electronic Equipment (WEEE), in general, as one of the key waste streams and has already developed the framework for their management. Although a lot of EU countries have already launched their electronic wastes policy, Greece started the efforts quite recently. Granted that the Greek IT market is expected to grow significantly in the near future, it is obvious that the need for immediate action is more urgent than ever, so as to be able to deal with the problems that will occur due to the accumulation of significant quantities of e-wastes. The paper presents the process so far of a project, funded by European Regional Development Fund, which aims to develop an integrated management system for electronic wastes in the Attica Region. Keywords: electronic waste management. 1 Introduction The Waste from Electric and Electronic Equipment (WEEE) constitutes one of the most rapidly developing waste streams. The WEEE annual production in EU is estimated at 6 million tons, while the WEEE annual growth rate is about 3 to

Keywords

electronic waste management.