The Life-Cycle Assessment of Greenhouse Gas Emissions and Life-Cycle Costs of E-Waste Management in Thailand

There is no clear direction in the management of electrical and electronic waste products (e-waste), as there are no regulations on ways to do so. This research attempts to understand the trade-off between economic value and environmental effects of the current disposal of e-waste to nd ways to optimize waste management, focusing on cellphones, television CRTs, desktop computers, and air conditioners. A Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) is a tool that can analyze various inuences, e.g., environmental, costs, and value added. Under the e-waste management status quo, most household e-wastes are kept in houses because owners do not know where to discard them. In addition, informal sectors, such as domestic farmers or workers, have been involved actively for more than a decade, leading to poor management standards for both health and the environment. The logistics are inecient because the dismantling communities and recycling industry are far apart. Most e-waste is generated, and most recycling industries are located, in the Central region (the richest areas), while the dismantling communities are located in the Northeastern region (the poorest areas). Further, LCA and LCC of e-waste are sensitive to transportation, and not all e-waste parts can be recycled within the country. High-tech mineral extraction cannot be practiced in the country, and thus, circuit boards and batteries are exported for recycling. To promote a circular economy, e-waste management regulations should be implemented and a full recycling industry should be established in the country.


Introduction
Thailand has been facing many challenges, as the country lacks accurate information about e-waste, from the amount of waste generated per year until the end of its life. In addition, the country still has no legislation on e-waste management, and thus, it is di cult to collect household e-waste for recycling. Importantly, local authorities still are unready to manage household waste [1,2].
The amount of e-waste of all types was estimated to be approximately 357,000, 384,233, and 421,335 tons in 2012, 2015, and 2019, respectively, and this trend is likely to increase by more than 40 percent over the next 10 years [3,4]. In addition, according to a survey of household consumers' behavior in dealing with e-waste, the Pollution Control Department (2017) reported that 51.3 percent of ewaste owners sell their devices to second-hand shops, 25.3 percent keep them at home, 15.6 percent discard them with general waste, and 7.8 percent do something else.
Under the current status quo, because no fee is collected from producers or consumers, the market determines the collection system.
In addition, informal sectors have been involved actively in separating and dismantling e-waste, which has led to ine cient collection and disposal systems.
These informal sectors are scattered throughout the country, particularly in the North-eastern region (Daeng Yai and Ban Pao subdistricts, Buriram province). They include approximately 347 families that separate and dismantle 383 tons of e-waste per week [5].
The key to the success of e-waste management is its economic function (cost effectiveness), environmental effects, social awareness, and technological aspects [6]. Importantly, it is impossible to design effective e-waste policies if the government does not have information about e-waste and its distribution ow. Life cycle assessment (LCA) can evaluate the environmental performance of e-waste management activities [7] [8] and a nancial life cycle costs (LCC) is a tool used to analyze the economic effects of an LCA system and can be viewed as an analytic tool parallel to an LCA. The combined use of LCA and LCC is imperative to assess the sustainability of a product or product system in the economy [9]. Accordingly, the objectives of this study are to 1) study and estimate the LCA of greenhouse gas (GHGs) and LCC of household ewaste, focusing on the top 4 types of e-waste discarded in the country, TV (CRTs), desktop computers, air conditioners, and mobile phones, and 2) provide policy recommendations for e-waste management. This study will contribute to understanding the status of ewaste management in Thailand and the trade-off between e-waste's environmental and economic aspects to provide better disposal practices. Hence, the results of this study will be valuable for the entire e-waste treatment industry.

Estimated total amount of e-waste generated in Thailand
Some studies have reported government agencies', such as the Pollution Control Department and the Department of Industrial Works, e-waste estimates. The estimation of the amount of waste products produced in 2019 were provided in various reports [4,[10][11][12][13][14].

E-waste management ow
According to the study of A Mangmeechai [5], Figure 1 shows the ow of the e-waste from industries and households. The e-waste from the industrial sector is not the problem because global corporations have very clear protocols for e-waste management. E-waste from these industries is transported to professional dismantling and recycling industries that often have foreign a liates. The valuable parts, e.g., electronic circuits and batteries, are exported to foreign recyclers; for example, in Singapore and South Korea, while the less valuable parts, such as plastic, copper, iron, and aluminium are recycled by Thai industries.
In contrast, households do not have any directions or guidelines for e-waste. The collection and recycling system is not properly managed, and mainly relies on the market demand mechanism. There are four channels for household e-waste: The rst channel is e-waste owners selling their obsolescent e-wastes to peddlers who then sell them to e-waste dealers.
The second channel is owners donating their obsolescent home appliances to temples or non-pro t organizations or associations.
The third channel is to donate to e-waste collection projects conducted by government agencies, e.g., EGAT, universities, or private sector companies like AIS, a mobile signal provider. However, these projects are just temporary.
The fourth channel is to discard e-waste along with household solid waste. According to a survey from the Pollution Control Department, 25% of the owners kept their obsolete electronics at home [14].
The rst and second channels, the peddlers to dealers to temples or associations, often sell to second-hand markets, where such ewastes can be reused after simple repairs or upgrades. Rural populations are the major consumers for such products due to their lower incomes. These practices can be considered as an extension of the lifespans of these electronic appliances [15]. When devices can no longer be repaired, the wastes can be sold to peddlers or dealers again and later shipped to recycling industries. This process might pass many middlemen before arriving at the recycling industries. For the circuit board or battery, peddlers and dealers collect ewastes to sell to Chinese collectors who then export them to China for mineral extraction. Guangdong Province in China has the world's largest recycling center for printed circuit boards. But because the Chinese government has strengthened controls over the importing of printed-circuit boards, several Chinese rms have recently begun to recycle printed circuit boards in Mong Cai in Vietnam For the third channel, e-waste was collected and sent to professional dismantling plants (a similarly path for industrial e-waste) and recycled as part of Corporate social responsibility (CSR).
The practices in the sorting/dismantling communities, second-hand shops, etc., are not professional as workers do not have adequate and appropriate knowledge, equipment, and technologies to handle e-wastes. After collecting e-wastes, they simply employ primitive techniques, including manually dismantling electronic equipment and burning wires for steel and copper.

The practice of informal sector and recycling industries
The informal sectors are active in sorting and dismantling activities. They use such basic tools as hammers, wrenches, pliers, screwdrivers, grinding stones, and drills, etc., to dismantle the waste. Many workers do not wear personal protective equipment and pay more attention to economic issues than potential health problems. These communities have not yet experienced the adverse health effects of dismantling e-waste, as heavy metal illnesses are more likely to present years later than are acute sicknesses [18]. However, N Amphalop, N Suwantarat, T Prueksasit, C Yachusri and S Srithongouthai [19] con rmed that e-waste separating activities can elevate the potential ecological risk to these areas, as the researchers reported that the soil was contaminated highly with Cu and As. One research study con rmed that open burning is a common practice by informal sector used to separate the copper from the wires. that still in Thailand. The study found that increased amounts of burnt e-waste signi cantly in uenced the concentrations of coarse and ne particles emitted [17].
For certain countries, the workers sometimes heat and remove components from printed circuit boards; cutting cables and wires for recovering metals; chipping and melting plastics; sweeping out toners; and recovering precious metals through acid leaching [15].
Thus, proper e-waste separating practices, such as operating in a closed-system workshop far from households and vegetation areas and ban open burning, are recommended highly to avoid heavy metal contamination in the soils and high concentration of ne particles.
E-waste sorting community does not fall within the de nition of an industry since they use only primitive tools and have a few workers (e.g. 1 -2 family members). There are e-waste sorting communities in 17 provinces nationwide. Kalasin and Buriram provinces in the Northeastern region are the primary e-waste sorting communities and have been involved in this activity for more than 10 years. These communities operate in a way similar to an industry type 105 separation plant or land ll for waste or unused materials. For the most part, these communities' sorting and disassembling activities are just a supplementary occupation or a small business. Thus, there are no major short-term effects on the environment; instead, there are economic and social bene ts to the poor communities. This is attributable to the fact that poor people undertake informal sorting and dismantling and thus the government is unable to impose a serious penalty or nes, as they cannot pay them. Open dumping of non-valuable devices is also common and has caused signi cant adverse environmental and health effects [1].
Industrial code 105 is licensed to sort and dismantle all kinds of wastes. According to the database system of the Department of Industrial Works, Thailand has 43 industries (involved only in e-waste) scattered in 11 provinces (largely in the Central region).
Industrial code 106 is licensed to recycle discarded industrial products or wastes, including hazardous materials and raw materials or new products. There are 116 industries scattered in 21 provinces. Most are distributed densely in the Central and Western areas, and only a few are located in the North and South.
Industry code 101 is for companies that treat or eliminate unused materials that are classi ed as hazardous waste. A 101 plant is a total waste treatment operation that takes one of two forms: 1) wastewater treatment plant to reduce, remove, and treat pollution contained in wastewater and sludge, or 2) waste incineration. There are 22 industries with waste disposal facilities involved in ewaste scattered in 10 provinces that are distributed largely in the Central and Eastern regions with a small number in the North and South.

Electronic Waste Recovery and Recycling Processes
Not all e-waste parts in the country can be recycled and different types of e-waste are transported and dismantled in different areas.
Televisions: Most televisions are sent to waste sorting communities in Kalasin and Buriram provinces that require the waste to be transported approximately 31-448 kilometers. Plastic, iron, aluminum, and copper are recycled in the country, and glass is disposed of in municipal land lls. Most of the recycling facilities are located in the Central areas. The distance between waste sorting communities and recycling facilities is as follows: copper (441-549 km); iron (112-521 km); plastic (31-518 km), and circuit boards (523 km). Circuit boards are exported to recycling industries abroad or burned illegally to extract valuable minerals [5].

Air conditioners
Most households that have air conditioners are located in the Central region. Thus, the discarded air conditioners are not transported to other areas for dismantling, and the distance between the waste sorting community and recycling facilities is less than 170 km [5].

Desktop computers
These are sent to the Suayai Uthit community (Bangkok), Daeng Yai Subdistrict (Buriram), and Khok Saat Subdistrict (Kalasin), and the transportation distance can range widely from less than 100 to 550 km [5].
Cellphones: It was found that phone scraps from all over the country are gathered and dismantled in three sub-districts in the Chiang Yuen District, Maha Sarakham Province. The dismantled parts can be divided into 2 groups: 1) parts that can be sold to foreign recycling companies, e.g., batteries and circuit boards, and 2) parts that cannot be sold and are disposed of later in municipal land lls, e.g., plastic front/back cover, screens, etc. (see Tables A3-6) [5].

E-waste management in Asia Japan
In 2001, Japan implemented a recycling system for TV sets, refrigerators, washing machines, and air conditioners under the Home Appliance Recycling Law. Consumers pay the recycling and transportation fees, and the discarded appliances are sent to recycling facilities. The appliances collected under this framework represent only approximately half of the estimated production, suggesting that the remaining half is either exported and/or is disposed of domestically [20].
Until 2004, there were 41 e-waste recycling facilities in Japan that the ministries, municipalities, or companies that produce electronic products nanced in part. Many producers have implemented their own business strategies for e-waste management and have their own facilities, or collaborate with other producers to create and operate such facilities. e-waste derived from residences is collected when these products are no longer used or when consumers purchase new ones. The waste collected is transported to intermediate ewaste collection points (380 points) and eventually to the recycling facilities through a distribution system [21].

Korea
In January 2008, the Eco-Assurance Committee System (ECOAS) in Korea was established to re-circulate electrical and electronic equipment and vehicles in joint legislation by the Ministry of the Environment, the Ministry of Knowledge and Economy, and the Ministry of Land, Transport, and Maritime Affairs. According to ECOAS, ve product groups and 27 WEEE items, including refrigerators, personal computers, electric ovens, audio equipment, and mobile phones, are controlled to increase the electronic industries' recycling capacity [22].

India
This country has implemented an EPR system since 2012. However, the system did not work because of overlap and lack of a clear target, as well the lack of a collection system. A new rule issued in 2016 added a deposit and refund system as an incentive to motivate consumers to return discarded electronic devices to their manufacturers. Those who returned their devices claimed money back with little interest. At this time, each producer has been assigned to collect 30% of the electronic devices they sold [23].

E-waste components
The researcher followed the methods and steps that dismantlers follow when dismantling e-waste from 1) TVs with a 20-inch color CRT screen (weighing 20 kg or more), 2) air conditioners, 9,000-12,000 BTU (both indoor and outdoor units), 3) desktop computers, both the central processing unit (CPU) and monitors in models between 2010-2018, 4) 4 cellphones: 1 feature phone and 3 smartphones. The main parts of the e-waste selected are separated, e.g., plastic cover, yoke, monitor, power supply, hard disk, hot coil, circuit board, motor, etc. Then, each part is weighed to calculate the percentage of the main components.

LCA and LCC of e-waste
An LCA and LCC study based on the international standards of the ISO 14040 series was performed. e-waste management involves collecting, disassembling, transporting, recycling, and disposing of residue [24]. The system boundaries of the LCA study of each ewaste type are displayed in Figure 1. Primary data and SimaPro software (Ecoinvent v. 3 database) were used. The method used was Eco-indicator 99 and Allocation default, and unit processes were applied to study the LCA and LCC of e-waste.  Table A1) Refrigerant R32 See Table A 2 Transportation distances GIS data from [5] (see Tables A3-A6) Transportation emissions Thai National LCI database/MTEC ( Transportation distances GIS data from [5] 4. Results

e-waste components
The types and models of e-waste were chosen and dismantled. The separation method followed was according to informal sector practice. The e-waste components are summarized in Table 2.  Table 3 shows non-recyclable e-waste. TV CRTs showed the highest amount of waste, while air conditioners showed the lowest amount of waste, as most of the parts can be sold to recycling industries.

LCA of e-waste
The LCA of each type of e-waste depends upon transportation distance. The logistical system is ine cient because certain types of ewaste are transported for separation in certain areas and for recycling in another location. Most e-wastes are generated in the Central areas that have the highest household income and the majority of the recycling industries, while the dismantling communities are located in the Northeastern region because they are the poorest sector in the country. Table 4 shows the LCA of all 4 types of e-waste.
The LCA is sensitive to transportation. The country has banned the use of Hydro uorocarbon-R22 (R22) refrigerant in air conditioners nationwide since 2018 and converted to R32, which has less effect on ozone layer depletion [27]. The amount of refrigerant depends upon the compressor size. Normal use is approximately 1-4 kg for air conditioners of 9,000-50,000 BTU (data from interviews with air conditioner repair shops). R32 has a GWP 675 [28]. During the process of dismantling air conditioners, the informal sector allows the refrigerant to evaporate rather than collecting it properly for disposal. Considering the emissions of the refrigerant in R32 air conditioners, it has been found that dismantling air conditioners has a negative environmental effect of (-30.1)-(-17.3) kg CO 2 e/unit if R32 is stored and disposed of improperly. Therefore, to reduce the adverse effects on the environment, dismantler should be encouraged to Collect R32 refrigerant rather than allowing it to evaporate.

LCC assessment of e-waste
The results showed that sorting/dismantling and extracting precious minerals from cell-phone waste generates the highest revenue (by weight), followed by desktop computers. The circuit boards of these two types of wastes contain precious minerals, such as silver, gold, palladium, etc. In contrast, CRT televisions generate the lowest revenue because the screen contains lead components that are hazardous substances. Table 5 shows the LCC of e-waste. Note: Labor costs, utility bills, cost of equipment, and transport for recycling abroad are not included.
Air conditioners yielded the highest pro t for Thai recyclers (by unit), followed by computers, TVs, and cell phones. In reality, if the costs of waste treatment (non-recyclable parts) are included, TV dismantlers would not make any pro t. Table 6 shows a comparison of greenhouse gas emissions, added value, and waste generated from the collection, dismantling communities, recycling, and transport of the 4 e-waste products. Table 6. LCA and LCC assessment results for each type of e-waste from the household to dismantling locations and recycling industries.
Given the total e-waste generated in 2019, if all of it had been discarded and collected for recycling under the status quo, then the emissions and value-added would be as summarized in Table 7.

Discussion And Conclusions
e-waste management is clearly ineffective and is determined by the market mechanism. In addition, workers in the informal sectors lack knowledge and tools, yet they are the main group active in sorting and dismantling waste. Thus, the e-waste management system does not meet the standard under the status quo. This research attempted to understand the trade-offs among the economic value and environmental effects of the current e-waste management system.
The study focused on four types of e-waste: cell phones; desktop computers; air conditioners, and televisions discarded in 2019. The e-waste estimates reported above can be divided into three categories according to the value of their parts: 1) waste or non-recyclable materials. For example, the non-recyclable materials are glass with lead content (TV screens), plastic, etc. which accounted for 24% of the total e-waste generated; 2) recyclable parts within the country, e.g., plastic, iron, copper and aluminum, which accounted for 70%, and 3) recyclable parts outside the country, e.g., circuit boards and batteries, which accounted for 6% of the total waste. Moheb-Alizadeh [24] study, who stated that the decline in using fossil-fuel-powered personal vehicles was found to be a key contributor to cost and carbon dioxide emissions.
With respect to the LCC assessment, it was found that dismantling and recycling all four types of e-waste in 2019 resulted in income in the range of 202.4-1,399 million THB ($6.8-$45.0 million). The income from the extraction of precious minerals from circuit boards and batteries was in the range of 587-3,010 million THB ($18.9-$96.7 million USD). Although the amount from parts that are exported to foreign recycling industries is small, it has a high value after the precious metals are extracted. The extraction and recycling of circuit boards and batteries generated a higher income than Thai recycling industries. P He, H Feng, G Hu, K Hewage, G Achari, C Wang and R Sadiq [30] showed that the LCCs of recycling one waste feature phone and It appears that the dismantling communities can earn pro ts from this practice; however, the reason that they gain only a slight pro t is because they do not pay a land ll fee or a waste disposal fee. The local municipality covers the costs. In fact, dismantling TV CRTs costs more than its pro t if the cost of e-waste disposal is included (lead contained in TV screens). Existing waste management systems should be revised to internalize disposal costs in the economy [31].
Changes in the attitudes of governments, appropriate legislation that addresses e-waste speci cally, control of dumping electronic waste, implementation of EPR, and technology transfer for the sound recycling of e-waste are the keys for its effective management [32]. The Thai government has taken more than a decade to draft "The Electrical and Electronic Equipment Waste Management Act".
At present, it is still in the drafting process and cannot be implemented anytime soon. Certain e-waste types may need to be charged a waste management fee because collection and recycling have more embedded costs and cannot rely solely on market determinants.
A better e-waste collection system is required, and collection guidelines and collection points will affect both pro tability and GHGs.
Therefore, collection, sorting, and dismantling centers by region (North, Central, West, Northeast, East and South) need to be established between dismantling facilities and recycling plants. Further, the transportation distance between each facility should not exceed 400 km. e-waste should be considered an opportunity to recycle or recover valuable metals (e.g., copper, gold, silver, and palladium), given their signi cant content of precious metals compared to mineral ores [33]. In addition, a full high-tech recycling plant in the country should be promoted to achieve the complete extraction of precious minerals.
Ending informal dismantling and recycling sectors should be made one of the high-priority policy objectives for governments. Many research articles that have studied this issue also have raised this point [34,35]. The informal sector should apply the best affordable technologies and upgrade and qualify low-and medium-skilled laborers [36]. In addition, the practical feasibility of circular economy approaches and developing community commitment through stakeholders' active engagement should be promoted [37] [38].
Finally, considering the public's awareness and the human risk attitude during the e-waste recycling activities would be bene cial for organizations with respect to reducing potential adverse effects on society. Incentives may be needed to encourage people to discard e-waste at collection points and not together with their solid household waste [39]. The possible introduction of a carbon tax was also found to reduce the cost disadvantage of recycling rather than land ll disposal signi cantly [9]. Given the high level of environmental load associated with land lling and the potential introduction of carbon taxes, the circular economy could be seen as a strategy to achieve appliances' sustainability. Future studies of consumers' e-waste disposal behaviour and awareness could be helpful to devise inclusive e-waste management strategies to address the current challenges [40].

Declarations
Availability of data and material Yes. I provided necessary data in the supplement data AppendixLCCLCA.docx