DefinePK

Abstract

The objectives of the research proposed in this paper are to: (i) review the state of art of various operations carried out during e-waste dismantling processes including dismantling equipment used and dismantling issues encountered in informal sector and formal sector, (ii) identify dismantling processes encountered during recycling and reuse of electronic appliances, and (iii) assess their associated disassembly effort and ergonomic hazards. The methodology adopted includes: data collection by interviewing dismantlers, video recording of dismantling processes, and identifying various dismantling issues and dismantling processes involved in recycling from the Literature and data analysis to assess disassembly effort and ergonomic hazards of the dismantling processes identified. Disassembly effort was measured in terms of Disassembly Effort Index (DEI) using a DEI model, and ergonomic hazards were assessed by an MSD Risk Assessment Checklist tool. Evaluation of DEI and ergonomic hazards was carried out on various electronic appliances that have reached their End of Life (EoL). Results of Evaluation are tabulated. Some of the most difficult disassembly steps and ergonomic risks associated with both formal and informal sectors were identified. It was found that there is a correlation between the number of disassembly steps and the Total DEI score. Also, the results on ergonomic risks found from the study showed that the ergonomic risks associated with informal sector are more serious than those in the formal sector. These include awkward postures, high hand forces and highly repetitive motions.