都市鉱山の経済学

エレクトロニクス製品を中心に

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This Review looks at case studies drawn from Japan, Belgium and USA, so as to provide an economic analysis of what is known as urban mines. The term 'urban mine' has been coined to specify designated urban plants where discarded manufactured products can be stored and the extraction of metals from the products carried out (Nanjyo, 1988) .
It focuses in particular on the issue of electronic wastes, types of wastes that constitute a complex mixture of still valuable yet extremely hazardous materials. Such materials are the residue of products that have themselves always been important factors in controlling the demand for the primary metals used in their production and have thus contributed to an increase in their price, while the uneven distribution of these often rare metals and the various changing conditions responsible for their price increase have, at the same time, become global issues. Although the potential for recycling electronics products is significant, many products are discarded without due care, and, consequently, are improperly treated. Meanwhile, the latest global financial crisis has caused the price of precious metals to plummet, the market is as a result in turmoil, and the recycling market is also in disarray; all this in its turn has influenced the issue of urban mines.
(1) The proper treatment of waste is the premise for the non-ferrous metal industry because the industrial waste, byproducts and scrap are the major materials for them. Also the setup of collection system for WEEE is an important condition for the recycling them. (2) For the effective usage of resources, the enterprises including producers and recyclers, play the decisive role in developing recycling technology. (3) For the low-carbon society, the CO₂ reduction by collection and recycling must become the target and the indicator. (4) As the public policy the support for the domestic recycling non- ferrous metal refinery as the important infrastructure for the recycling waste management.