Gap between discarding and recycling: Estimate lifespan of electronic products by survey in formal recycling plants in China

The product lifespan is an important variable in estimating the WEEE generation. This study used the Weibull distribution model to calculate the lifetime of products based on survey data collected from selected formal recycling plants in various regions in China. The result shows that the lifespan of products arriving at the recycling plants is generally much longer than that estimated from questionnaire survey on the discarding behavior of consumers. In this study, household electronic products like TV set, refrigerator, washing machine and air conditioner, had a lifespan around 11-19 years. And computers had a shorter lifespan around 11-17 years, still longer than estimation based on survey on consumers. Then, taking TV set as example, we demonstrated that significant regional disparity exits in the product lifespan among various regions due to diversified local socioeconomic conditions, as well as the cross regional flows of second handed products through the informal collection network. These results could be used in setting both national and regional recycling targets, and to optimize the spatial distribution of recycling capacity.