(In-)Formal Collection of e-Waste – The Central

Europe Project ‚TransWaste‘

Markus Rothensteiner, Bernd Kopacek, Gudrun Obersteiner
Project Info

• Duration: January 1, 2009 – December 31, 2012

• Financed through the CENTRAL EUROPE Programme & ERDF
• 7 Partners from 5 countries

Austria

Germany Hungary

Poland Slovakia

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Project Background

• Cause: • Effect:
– WEEE, bulky wastes, – Financial
clothes collected by • Negative for waste collection and
fiscal authorities
non authorised
• Positive to waste pickers
(informal) people
– Social:
– Transport into countries
• Negative conditions for waste
with less developed pickers (deteriorate due to EU
waste management directives)
and lower GDP – Ecological:
• Negative: Littering, no guarantee
for adequate waste processing
• Positive: Re-Use

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Structure of Informal Waste Collection

© ABF-BOKU

© ABF-BOKU

© ABF-BOKU

© ABF-BOKU
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Data Background

• Observations at waste collection centres (WCCs)

118 WCCs visited, 76 WCCs with informal collection activities

• Interviews with the staff of WCCs

Staff of 76 WCCs interviewed

• In-depth interviews with relevant stakeholders

waste management associations (63), representatives of municipalities (8),
representatives of provincial governments (5), informal waste collectors (83 of 266)

• Traffic counting at the eastern border of

Austria
5 counting days → 4371 vehicles counted

• Analysing formal waste statistics

© ABF-BOKU
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Data Background

Parameters obtained from the interviews and traffic counting

• Type of means of transport used for the items

• Capacity of loadings on the transport vehicle
• Regularity of carrying out collection activities
in Austria
• Density of the collected items
• Volume which fits in the transport vehicle
• Number of affected municipalities in Austria

© ABF-BOKU

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Data Background
Informal collected amount per year

Triangulation Qmin (125kg/m³) Qmed (150kg/m³) Qmax (175kg/m³)

Qualitative method 88.258 t 105.910 t 123.562 t

Traffic counting 79.112 t 101.535 t 125.466 t

Unknown
11% WEEE
23%
Preferred Items
Relating to the medium triangulated value
about 25.000 t of WEEE are brought
over the Austrian border every year informally!
Metals
17%
Furniture and
others
49%
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 Collection per inhabitant in kg
Per capita
collection
Data Background Per compared to
Region Collection Inhabitants capita average AUT

Burgenland 1.994.167 275.956 7,23 -20,54 %

Niederösterreich 14.400.433 1.539.416 9,35 2,86 %

8,25
Wien 9.782.003 1.553.956 6,29 kg/inh -30,78 %

Steiermark 11.318.721 1.182.441 9,57 5,25 %

Kärnten 4.665.246 559.571 8,34 -8,33 %

Oberösterreich 14.903.072 1.373.134 10,85 19,34 %

Salzburg 5.287.841 514.851 10,27 10,58 12,93 %

kg/inh
Tirol 7.090.321 671.492 10,56 16,10 %

Vorarlberg 3.504.645 350.129 10,01 10,06 %

Total 72.946.449 8.020.946 9,09 0,00 %

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Data from „EAK Tätigkeitsbericht 2010“
Affected Regions

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Data Background

Sold and collected electr(on)ic amounts, all categories, 2006-2010

2006 2007 2008 2009 2010

Put on market (t) 149.281 158.058 154.787 153.747 158.440

collected (t) 61.379 61.582 64.631 74.785 72.946

Difference (t) 87.903 96.503 90.156 78.962 85.493

Difference (%) 59% 61% 58% 51% 54%

Data from „EAK Austria“ (numbers incl. amounts of WEEE from households & industry)

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Other reasons for leakages in the Austrian WEEE
system
• E-waste with a high amount of metal is collected as scrap metal

• Old electric and electronic devices are exported overseas under the aspect
of re-use

• Waste analyses and studies show that the residual waste contains an
average amount of 1 % of e-waste

• Old devices are often not immediately given to collection centres and are
instead stored at depots, cellars and attics

• Old devices are kept at the household as auxiliary

• Technical upgrading of electronic equipment at households

• Profitable e-waste collected at WCC of the municipalities is not always

reported
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Data Background

Sold and collected electr(on)ic amounts, 2010

Large Cooling Screens Small Lamps Total

Put on market (t) 74.949 21.512 19.481 48.461 1.408 165.811

collected (t) 19.838 12.966 18.737 21.844 870 74.255

Difference (t) 55.111 8.546 744 26.618 538 91.556

Difference (%) 74% 40% 4% 55% 38% 55%

Data from „EAK Tätigkeitsbericht 2010“(numbers incl. amounts of WEEE from households & industry)

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Formalisation strategies

• Re-Use Corner
Shared space at WCC

• Work Integration Social Enterprise

© Allensbach.de
Repair and sell re-useable items

• WEEE-Shop
Used eletr(on)ic equipment is sold legally by collectors

• International Second Hand Service (ISHS)

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International Second Hand Service (ISHS)

• „Association of the International used item collectors and

traders” established 21st December 2011

• Interested collectors may join the association and operate under the
name of “International Second Hand Service” (ISHS)

• Necessary: Training about •Basic entrepreneurship

•Commercial knowledge
•Environmental protection
•Transport issues
•Basics of German language
© Bay-Logi •Collection: Where? How? What?
Training materials worked out by TransWaste team; acceptance process of the
Austrian ministry is in progress

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International Second Hand Service (ISHS)

• Procedure: Inhabitants of municipalities are

informed about collection activities per e-mail,
flyer and telephone

• Citizens prepare functional items for collection

• A transfer list is signed by the inhabitants and

the collectors to prove the legal transfer of the
items

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International Second Hand Service (ISHS)

Status quo

• 72 registered members at the moment

(Status: August 2012)

• Members have ID-numbers

→ ISHS knows where they are operating

• Minor problem with few ISHS-collectors (5%),

who are transporting more items than named on the transfer list

• Problem with informal waste collectors (Lomis), who try do copy the
ISHS

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International Second Hand Service (ISHS)

Long term goals

• Safe and controlled disposal of the items which are not sold

• Improving the quality of life of the registered used item collectors

• Decreasing the illegal activities

• Further education of the members of the Association: selling, marketing,

environmental information, waste handling, etc.

• Establishment of refurbishing centers close to Hungarian used item markets

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Thank you for your attention!

Contact:
Austrian Society for Systems Engineering
and Automation (SAT)
Gurkgasse 43/2
A-1140 Vienna
www.sat-research.at
info@sat-research.at

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