Assessing the Risk and Disassembly Complexity of Battery-Powered WEEE

The treatment of battery-powered Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment (WEEE) has become increasingly challenging. A growing number of fire incidents are reported during the transport, storage, and treatment of battery-powered WEEE across Europe. Whereas the associated risks are known to be strongly dependent on the battery type, shape, condition, and type of connection terminals, little quantitative data on battery safety hazards and disassembly challenges are available, especially not by product categories. Therefore, an imaging and product weighing procedure is developed to quantify the associated challenges and risks for different WEEE product categories. To test this procedure, 2316 battery-powered devices are randomly sampled, disassembled and assessed. 46 product categories with at least five devices are encountered. Of all disassembled battery-powered devices, 40% of the devices are found to no longer contain a battery. From the battery-containing devices, the battery removal times are registered and the battery type, shape, connection method, and condition are determined. Evaluation results show distinct correlations between these battery characteristics and product categories. While large variations in disassembly times are registered due to different fastening types used, the average disassembly times are found to strongly depend on the product category. Notably, a higher risk is associated with tablets and mobile phones, as the majority of the 35 damaged batteries and 44 batteries with exposed wires that can touch are found in these categories. Tablets and mobile phones are also found to often use lithium-ion pouch cells with no casing, which are known to have a higher risk of igniting when punctured.