Standardised method to determine disassembly time of key components from electronic equipment to improve resource efficiency

In Europe, recycling of complex products, such as electronics, is predominantly based on mechanical comminution and automated material sorting. This recycling scheme is characterized by high recovery rates for steel and aluminium, but underperforms for the recovery of precious metals, critical metals and plastics. Nonetheless, these materials have high economic value and considerable environmental impact when not reclaimed. Conversely, disassembly or the destructive removal of components, commonly referred to as dismantling, has the potential to significantly increase the recovery rate and purity of precious metals, critical metals and plastics. Aiming to improve the recyclability of the product category Flat Panel displays, maximum disassembly times have been proposed to be included in the European Eco-design directive by the Joint European Research Centre. However, at present there is no standard method available to quantify disassembly times, which is a prerequisite for the implementation of minimum disassembly time requirements in European legislation. Therefore, this study presents a scheme for the implementation of such a standard, aiming at a well-balanced trade-off between accuracy of the time estimation and administrative workload for all involved stakeholders. The proposed quantification method is inspired by the “Work measurement theory”, which is a systematic procedure for the determination of the times required to perform key tasks in different types of processes. By adopting the “Work measurement theory” for disassembly processes, standardized times can be determined for commonly applied disassembly operations. Afterwards, these standard times can be used to calculate the theoretical disassembly times of specific components or of a complete product. For these calculations both the type of fasteners and the product architecture are taken into account. In contrast with actual disassembly time measurements, the proposed method allows to take into account different uncontrollable factors such as labour fatigue, equipment breakdowns or rest periods, as well as performance rating factors and learning curves. Ultimately, a proof of concept of the proposed method is presented for the case study product family flat panel displays. The lessons learned from the application of the Work measurement theory for flat panel displays, as well as the limitations of this methodology, are discussed. In addition general characteristics of the scheme required for the implementation of such a standardized method for new electronic products placed on the market are discussed. Key actors and their interaction, as well as main information exchange instruments (e.g. description of product, disassembly sequence), are analysed.status: publishe