Title: Recycling - Wikipedia
Headings: Recycling
Recycling
Contents
History
Origins
Wartime
Post-World War II
Legislation
Supply
Government-mandated demand
Recyclates
Quality of recyclate
Quality recyclate action plan (Scotland)
Recycling consumer waste
Collection
Curbside collection
Source separation
Buy-back centers
Drop-off centers
Distributed recycling
Sorting
Recycling industrial waste
E-waste recycling
Plastic recycling
Physical recycling
Chemical recycling
Waste plastic pyrolysis to fuel oil
Recycling loops
Recycling codes
Cost–benefit analysis
Trade in recyclates
Criticisms and responses
Energy and material flows
Costs
Working conditions
Environmental impact
Possible income loss and social costs
Public participation rates
Recycling in art
See also
References
Further reading
External links
Related journals

Content: The first electronic waste recycling scheme was implemented in Switzerland, beginning with collection of old refrigerators but gradually expanding to cover all devices. After these schemes were set up, many countries did not have the capacity to deal with the sheer quantity of e-waste they generated or its hazardous nature. They began to export the problem to developing countries without enforced environmental legislation. This is cheaper, as recycling computer monitors in the United States costs 10 times more than in China. Demand in Asia for electronic waste began to grow when scrap yards found that they could extract valuable substances such as copper, silver, iron, silicon, nickel, and gold, during the recycling process. The 2000s saw a large increase in both the sale of electronic devices and their growth as a waste stream: in 2002, e-waste grew faster than any other type of waste in the EU. This caused investment in modern, automated facilities to cope with the influx of redundant appliances, especially after strict laws were implemented in 2003. As of 2014, the European Union had about 50% of world share of the waste and recycling industries, with over 60,000 companies employing 500,000 persons, with a turnover of €24 billion. Countries have to reach recycling rates of at least 50%, while the lead countries were around 65% and the EU average was 39% as of 2013.