Circular Economy in the Electronic Products Sector: Material Flow Analysis and Economic Impact of Cellphone E-Waste in Mexico

Daniela Cordova-Pizarro, Ismael Aguilar-Barajas, David Romero and Ciro A. Rodriguez
Additional contact information
Daniela Cordova-Pizarro: School of Engineering and Science, Tecnologico de Monterrey, 64849 Monterrey, Mexico
Ismael Aguilar-Barajas: School of Social Sciences and Government, Tecnologico de Monterrey, 64849 Monterrey, Mexico
David Romero: School of Engineering and Science, Tecnologico de Monterrey, 64849 Monterrey, Mexico
Ciro A. Rodriguez: School of Engineering and Science, Tecnologico de Monterrey, 64849 Monterrey, Mexico

Sustainability, 2019, vol. 11, issue 5, 1-18

Abstract: The circular economy (CE) model has become highly relevant in recent years, with the electronics industry being one of the sectors that has considered its application. Despite only a limited amount of literature being available on waste electric and electronic equipment (e-waste) in Mexico, the Mexican Government, academic institutions, and electronics industry have coordinated efforts to implement the CE in the country. This study evaluates the current technical and economic situation of cellphone e-waste generated in Mexico by surveying and analyzing the main actors that influence the management of this waste and using a material flow analysis. Extensive fieldwork was conducted in order to quantify the extent of cellphone e-waste processing in both formal and informal channels. The study of printed circuit boards in cellphones shows that the total value of cellphone e-waste materials ranges between $11.277 and $12.444 million USD per year in Mexico. However, a value of only $0.677 million USD is recycled through formal channels. After characterizing the remanufacturing and recycling CE loops, we conclude that the potential for improvement and advancing towards a CE model is significant

Keywords: circular economy; electronic products; material flow analysis; e-waste; cellphones; Mexico (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: O13 Q Q0 Q2 Q3 Q5 Q56 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2019
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (17)

Downloads: (external link)
https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/11/5/1361/pdf (application/pdf)
https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/11/5/1361/ (text/html)

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:11:y:2019:i:5:p:1361-:d:211042

Access Statistics for this article

Sustainability is currently edited by Ms. Alexandra Wu

More articles in Sustainability from MDPI
Bibliographic data for series maintained by MDPI Indexing Manager ().