Inventory Analysis and Impact Assessment towards ...
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Management of secondhand home appliances exported from Japan Atsushi Terazono, Aya Yoshida National Institute for Environmental Studies, Japan 16-2 Onogawa, Tsukuba, Japan Email: [email protected]
Keywords: secondhand home appliances, material flow, export, invisible flow ABSTRACT The domestic generation of end-of-life electrical and electronic equipment (EEE), such as end-of-life home appliances and personal computers (PCs), is increasing in most Asian countries. We estimated the number of home appliances (CRT-TVs, air conditioners, refrigerators, washing machines) exported from Japan, using domestic material flow and trade statistics. Based on the domestic flow analysis, secondhand exports were estimated to be 4.6 million units in FY2005. Among four items, TV is the largest item with more than 2 million units. For other three items, trade statistics is considered to give underestimation. Hong Kong has been the major destination of secondhand TVs until 2006. Due to Hong Kong’s import control, however, the destination has been changed to other countries such as Vietnam. Inappropriate reuse and recycling of E-waste by informal sectors can easily occur in the “invisible flow”. To promote environmentally sound reuse and recycling procedures beyond the countries, international cooperation is needed to better understand material flow and to control inappropriate trade of secondhand EEE. INTRODUCTION The amount of domestic generation of end-of-life EEE, such as home appliances and PCs, is increasing in most Asian countries. According to existing estimates, for example, more end-of-life home appliances of many types were generated in China than in Japan in 2005. International trade of secondhand products, parts, and other materials related to EEE is also expanding. Since E-waste is potentially economically valuable but also includes hazardous materials, it needs to be reused and recycled in an appropriate manner. It is not easy to estimate and control the export of secondhand home appliances from developed countries. In this paper we tried to estimate the number of end-of-life EEE from Japan to other countries and discuss the current issues for environmentally sound management of E-waste. ESTIMATION OF SECONDHAND HOME APPLIANCES EXPORT There are two methods for estimating the number of secondhand home appliances exported from Japan: one is to estimate the number from domestic material flow analysis, and the other is to make an estimate from trade statistics. In this paper we made both estimation. Estimation from domestic flow in Japan According to Japan’s Ministry of Economy, Trade, and Industry (METI) and Ministry of the Environment (MOE) [1], the number of end-of-life home appliances generated in FY2005 was estimated to be 22.87 million
units, and about 50% of these were recovered and recycled by producers. The remaining flow is called “invisible flow,” which can be difficult to understand, but METI and MOE provide an overview of this invisible flow. Secondhand export for reuse accounts for the largest part of invisible flow—an estimated 5.94 million units (26%). The items with the highest level of exports are TVs, with 2.84 million units, followed by air conditioners with 1.46 million units, refrigerators (including freezers) with 830,000 units, and washing machines with 810,000 units. Taking the number of stored items into consideration, we adjusted the estimate from 22.87 million units to 21.29 million. We also reviewed the transaction route at the generation stage and took business users into consideration as well and recalculated the material flows (Fig. 1). With these changes, the estimated amount of secondhand home appliances exported decreased from 5.94 million units to 4.60 million units in FY2005: 2.23 million TVs, 1.14 million air conditioners, and 620,000 each for refrigerators and washing machines. It should be noticed that this estimation on the domestic material flow has still many mismatched or unclear flows around retailers. Estimation from trade statistics In Japanese trade statistics, brand-new and secondhand EEE have not been differentiated until 2007, as is the case with other general goods. (Since January 2008, the four home appliances is differentiated, according to whether packaging for retail sales exists.) We used the unit price method to estimate secondhand exports from the trade
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Fig. 1 Estimated domestic material flow of end-of-life home appliances in Japan (FY2005) Table 1 Estimated number of home appliances exported from Japan (Unit: units)
Estimation from domestic flow
Air conditioners Refrigerators TVs Washing
Secondhand
Secondhand
(authors)
(METI and MOE)
FY2005
FY2005
1,138,152
Estimation from trade statistics Brand-new
Secondhand
Total
2006
2006
2006
1,453,252
1,055,300
546,157
1,601,457
616,259
825,576
60,880
55,402
116,282
2,225,156
2,843,762
2,789
2,193,893
2,196,682
621,584
814,481
72,602
29,439
102,041
4,601,151
5,937,071
1,191,571
2,824,891
4,016,462
machines Total
statistics, referring detailed unit price data by months and customs. In this method, a low-price item (tentatively, less than 7,000 JPY for each item) is defined as secondhand, and a higher-priced item are classified as brand new. RESULT The number of exported home appliances estimated using domestic material flow and unit price method from trade statistics are shown in Table 1. The results estimated using domestic flow (5.94 million units by METI and MOE, 4.60 million here) were larger than that from trade statistics (2.82 million units in FY 2006).
Among the four appliances, the number of exported secondhand TVs was the greatest, with 2.19 million units in 2006; followed by air conditioners, with 0.55 million units in 2006; refrigerators with 55,000 units in 2006; and washing machines, with 29,000 units in 2006. The estimation of secondhand TVs export, using the domestic flow and trade statistics methods, were relatively similar. But the estimationion result using the trade statistics method were far lower than those from the domestic flow for the other three appliances. This difference may have resulted from the fact that trade statistics do not cover low-value cargo (less than 200,000
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than 30,000 JPY) went to China, whereas 541,000 lowprice units (less than 4,000 JPY) went to Hong Kong (Fig. 3). The importation of secondhand EEE has been prohibited in China since August 2002, a fact that is clearly reflected in these trade statistics.
Export [Units]
JPY for each HS code); this is probably true for the three items other than TVs. On the other hand, we interviewed a secondhand exporter and confirmed actual invoices, and the invoices for exported secondhand TVs are almost always more than 200,000 JPY and therefore should be registered in the trade statistics. Fig. 2 is a histogram of the unit price of exported TVs and air conditioners for 2006. In the case of TVs, 99.3% of total exports (2.2 million units) were valued at less than 2,000 JPY, meaning that exports of low-price secondhand TVs were dominant. In the case of air conditioners, only 22.5% of total exports (1.02 million units) were considered to be secondhand (less than 7,000 JPY). The histogram in Fig. 2 (b) has two peaks: one at a high price and another at a low price. When the unit price is analyzed by destination, it is easy to see that predominantly high-price units (greater
30,000
120%
25,000
100%
20,000
80%
15,000
60%
10,000
40%
5,000
20%
120%
2,000,000
0%
0 2 4 6 8 10 30 50 70 90 1000
0
Unit price [Thousand JPY]
1,800,000 100%
1,600,000
60%
1,000,000
250,000
800,000
120%
40%
600,000
100%
200,000
400,000
20%
200,000 0% 90
1000
70
50
30
8
10
6
4
2
0
0
Unit Price [Thousand JPY]
80% 150,000 60% 100,000 40% 50,000
20%
0
0% 0 2 4 6 8 10 30 50 70 90 1000
(a) TVs 120%
450,000 400,000
100%
350,000
Export [Units]
(a) To China mainland
80%
1,200,000
Export [Units]
Export [Units]
1,400,000
300,000
80%
250,000
60%
200,000 150,000
Unit price [Thousand JPY]
(b) To Hong Kong Fig. 3 Number of air conditioners exported from Japan by unit price (Freight on board prices, 2006)
40%
100,000
20%
50,000 0
90
1000
70
50
30
10
8
6
4
2
0
0%
Unit price [Thousand JPY]
(b) Air conditioners Fig. 2 Number of home appliances exported from Japan by unit price (Freight on board prices, to the world, 2006)
DISCUSSION Comparing two estimations methods for the number of secondhand home appliances exported, the results give similar figures for TVs. For other three items, the domestic flow analysis would be the probable result, since trade statistics do not cover low-value cargo. On the other hand, trade statistics is useful for identifying the destinations. Fig. 4 is a material flow of secondhand TVs from Japan for 2006 and 2007, estimated from trade statistics method. Japan’s exports of secondhand
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TVs have remained stable until 2006. The number of secondhand TVs exported from Japan to Hong Kong was 1.54 million units, or 70.2% of total exports from Japan in 2006. According to the April 2006 “Advice on Import and Export of Used Electrical and Electronic Appliances Having Hazardous Components and Constituents”, it stated that “In any case, it is advisable to avoid any unit with over 5 years from the date of manufacturing.”, and “Provide proper and sufficient individual protective packaging to each of the used appliances to protect the WHOLE unit from damage during transportation and the associated loading and unloading operations”. Since there have been many cases of ships that have been sent back to Japan from Hong Kong containing secondhand TVs not in compliance with the above conditions, Japan’s METI and MOE strengthened the export controls in June 2007, providing notice to dealers of EEE and secondhand goods [2].
(1) 2006
Consequently, exports of CRT TVs to Hong Kong
(2) 2007 Fig. 4 Material flow of secondhand TVs exported from Japan to other Asia, based on trade statistics
decreased to 369,000 units in 2007, while it increased to 838,000 for Vietnam, 468,000 for the Philippines and 311,000 for China. CONCLUSION There are many invisible flows not only in domestic flow in Japan but also in the international trade of secondhand EEE in Asia. Inappropriate reuse and recycling of E-waste by informal sectors can easily occur in such “invisible flow”. To promote environmentally sound reuse and recycling procedures beyond the countries, international cooperation is needed to better understand material flow and to control inappropriate trade of secondhand EEE. REFERENCES [1] METI (Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry) and MoE (Ministry of the Environment) (2006) Estimated flow of waste home appliances, In printed material prepared for the Fifth Joint Working Group for Home Appliance Recycling Law under the Industrial Structure Council and the Central Environment Council, Dec 11, 2006 [in Japanese] [2] METI and MoE (2007) “About the exportation of used CRT TVs and monitors to Hong Kong” (Notice), http://www.env.go.jp/recycle/yugai/law/info_070607.pdf [in Japanese]
Management of secondhand home appliances exported from Japan Atsushi Terazono, Aya Yoshida National Institute for Environmental Studies, Japan 16-2 Onogawa, Tsukuba, Japan Email: [email protected]
Keywords: secondhand home appliances, material flow, export, invisible flow ABSTRACT The domestic generation of end-of-life electrical and electronic equipment (EEE), such as end-of-life home appliances and personal computers (PCs), is increasing in most Asian countries. We estimated the number of home appliances (CRT-TVs, air conditioners, refrigerators, washing machines) exported from Japan, using domestic material flow and trade statistics. Based on the domestic flow analysis, secondhand exports were estimated to be 4.6 million units in FY2005. Among four items, TV is the largest item with more than 2 million units. For other three items, trade statistics is considered to give underestimation. Hong Kong has been the major destination of secondhand TVs until 2006. Due to Hong Kong’s import control, however, the destination has been changed to other countries such as Vietnam. Inappropriate reuse and recycling of E-waste by informal sectors can easily occur in the “invisible flow”. To promote environmentally sound reuse and recycling procedures beyond the countries, international cooperation is needed to better understand material flow and to control inappropriate trade of secondhand EEE. INTRODUCTION The amount of domestic generation of end-of-life EEE, such as home appliances and PCs, is increasing in most Asian countries. According to existing estimates, for example, more end-of-life home appliances of many types were generated in China than in Japan in 2005. International trade of secondhand products, parts, and other materials related to EEE is also expanding. Since E-waste is potentially economically valuable but also includes hazardous materials, it needs to be reused and recycled in an appropriate manner. It is not easy to estimate and control the export of secondhand home appliances from developed countries. In this paper we tried to estimate the number of end-of-life EEE from Japan to other countries and discuss the current issues for environmentally sound management of E-waste. ESTIMATION OF SECONDHAND HOME APPLIANCES EXPORT There are two methods for estimating the number of secondhand home appliances exported from Japan: one is to estimate the number from domestic material flow analysis, and the other is to make an estimate from trade statistics. In this paper we made both estimation. Estimation from domestic flow in Japan According to Japan’s Ministry of Economy, Trade, and Industry (METI) and Ministry of the Environment (MOE) [1], the number of end-of-life home appliances generated in FY2005 was estimated to be 22.87 million
units, and about 50% of these were recovered and recycled by producers. The remaining flow is called “invisible flow,” which can be difficult to understand, but METI and MOE provide an overview of this invisible flow. Secondhand export for reuse accounts for the largest part of invisible flow—an estimated 5.94 million units (26%). The items with the highest level of exports are TVs, with 2.84 million units, followed by air conditioners with 1.46 million units, refrigerators (including freezers) with 830,000 units, and washing machines with 810,000 units. Taking the number of stored items into consideration, we adjusted the estimate from 22.87 million units to 21.29 million. We also reviewed the transaction route at the generation stage and took business users into consideration as well and recalculated the material flows (Fig. 1). With these changes, the estimated amount of secondhand home appliances exported decreased from 5.94 million units to 4.60 million units in FY2005: 2.23 million TVs, 1.14 million air conditioners, and 620,000 each for refrigerators and washing machines. It should be noticed that this estimation on the domestic material flow has still many mismatched or unclear flows around retailers. Estimation from trade statistics In Japanese trade statistics, brand-new and secondhand EEE have not been differentiated until 2007, as is the case with other general goods. (Since January 2008, the four home appliances is differentiated, according to whether packaging for retail sales exists.) We used the unit price method to estimate secondhand exports from the trade
P-059
Fig. 1 Estimated domestic material flow of end-of-life home appliances in Japan (FY2005) Table 1 Estimated number of home appliances exported from Japan (Unit: units)
Estimation from domestic flow
Air conditioners Refrigerators TVs Washing
Secondhand
Secondhand
(authors)
(METI and MOE)
FY2005
FY2005
1,138,152
Estimation from trade statistics Brand-new
Secondhand
Total
2006
2006
2006
1,453,252
1,055,300
546,157
1,601,457
616,259
825,576
60,880
55,402
116,282
2,225,156
2,843,762
2,789
2,193,893
2,196,682
621,584
814,481
72,602
29,439
102,041
4,601,151
5,937,071
1,191,571
2,824,891
4,016,462
machines Total
statistics, referring detailed unit price data by months and customs. In this method, a low-price item (tentatively, less than 7,000 JPY for each item) is defined as secondhand, and a higher-priced item are classified as brand new. RESULT The number of exported home appliances estimated using domestic material flow and unit price method from trade statistics are shown in Table 1. The results estimated using domestic flow (5.94 million units by METI and MOE, 4.60 million here) were larger than that from trade statistics (2.82 million units in FY 2006).
Among the four appliances, the number of exported secondhand TVs was the greatest, with 2.19 million units in 2006; followed by air conditioners, with 0.55 million units in 2006; refrigerators with 55,000 units in 2006; and washing machines, with 29,000 units in 2006. The estimation of secondhand TVs export, using the domestic flow and trade statistics methods, were relatively similar. But the estimationion result using the trade statistics method were far lower than those from the domestic flow for the other three appliances. This difference may have resulted from the fact that trade statistics do not cover low-value cargo (less than 200,000
P-059
than 30,000 JPY) went to China, whereas 541,000 lowprice units (less than 4,000 JPY) went to Hong Kong (Fig. 3). The importation of secondhand EEE has been prohibited in China since August 2002, a fact that is clearly reflected in these trade statistics.
Export [Units]
JPY for each HS code); this is probably true for the three items other than TVs. On the other hand, we interviewed a secondhand exporter and confirmed actual invoices, and the invoices for exported secondhand TVs are almost always more than 200,000 JPY and therefore should be registered in the trade statistics. Fig. 2 is a histogram of the unit price of exported TVs and air conditioners for 2006. In the case of TVs, 99.3% of total exports (2.2 million units) were valued at less than 2,000 JPY, meaning that exports of low-price secondhand TVs were dominant. In the case of air conditioners, only 22.5% of total exports (1.02 million units) were considered to be secondhand (less than 7,000 JPY). The histogram in Fig. 2 (b) has two peaks: one at a high price and another at a low price. When the unit price is analyzed by destination, it is easy to see that predominantly high-price units (greater
30,000
120%
25,000
100%
20,000
80%
15,000
60%
10,000
40%
5,000
20%
120%
2,000,000
0%
0 2 4 6 8 10 30 50 70 90 1000
0
Unit price [Thousand JPY]
1,800,000 100%
1,600,000
60%
1,000,000
250,000
800,000
120%
40%
600,000
100%
200,000
400,000
20%
200,000 0% 90
1000
70
50
30
8
10
6
4
2
0
0
Unit Price [Thousand JPY]
80% 150,000 60% 100,000 40% 50,000
20%
0
0% 0 2 4 6 8 10 30 50 70 90 1000
(a) TVs 120%
450,000 400,000
100%
350,000
Export [Units]
(a) To China mainland
80%
1,200,000
Export [Units]
Export [Units]
1,400,000
300,000
80%
250,000
60%
200,000 150,000
Unit price [Thousand JPY]
(b) To Hong Kong Fig. 3 Number of air conditioners exported from Japan by unit price (Freight on board prices, 2006)
40%
100,000
20%
50,000 0
90
1000
70
50
30
10
8
6
4
2
0
0%
Unit price [Thousand JPY]
(b) Air conditioners Fig. 2 Number of home appliances exported from Japan by unit price (Freight on board prices, to the world, 2006)
DISCUSSION Comparing two estimations methods for the number of secondhand home appliances exported, the results give similar figures for TVs. For other three items, the domestic flow analysis would be the probable result, since trade statistics do not cover low-value cargo. On the other hand, trade statistics is useful for identifying the destinations. Fig. 4 is a material flow of secondhand TVs from Japan for 2006 and 2007, estimated from trade statistics method. Japan’s exports of secondhand
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TVs have remained stable until 2006. The number of secondhand TVs exported from Japan to Hong Kong was 1.54 million units, or 70.2% of total exports from Japan in 2006. According to the April 2006 “Advice on Import and Export of Used Electrical and Electronic Appliances Having Hazardous Components and Constituents”, it stated that “In any case, it is advisable to avoid any unit with over 5 years from the date of manufacturing.”, and “Provide proper and sufficient individual protective packaging to each of the used appliances to protect the WHOLE unit from damage during transportation and the associated loading and unloading operations”. Since there have been many cases of ships that have been sent back to Japan from Hong Kong containing secondhand TVs not in compliance with the above conditions, Japan’s METI and MOE strengthened the export controls in June 2007, providing notice to dealers of EEE and secondhand goods [2].
(1) 2006
Consequently, exports of CRT TVs to Hong Kong
(2) 2007 Fig. 4 Material flow of secondhand TVs exported from Japan to other Asia, based on trade statistics
decreased to 369,000 units in 2007, while it increased to 838,000 for Vietnam, 468,000 for the Philippines and 311,000 for China. CONCLUSION There are many invisible flows not only in domestic flow in Japan but also in the international trade of secondhand EEE in Asia. Inappropriate reuse and recycling of E-waste by informal sectors can easily occur in such “invisible flow”. To promote environmentally sound reuse and recycling procedures beyond the countries, international cooperation is needed to better understand material flow and to control inappropriate trade of secondhand EEE. REFERENCES [1] METI (Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry) and MoE (Ministry of the Environment) (2006) Estimated flow of waste home appliances, In printed material prepared for the Fifth Joint Working Group for Home Appliance Recycling Law under the Industrial Structure Council and the Central Environment Council, Dec 11, 2006 [in Japanese] [2] METI and MoE (2007) “About the exportation of used CRT TVs and monitors to Hong Kong” (Notice), http://www.env.go.jp/recycle/yugai/law/info_070607.pdf [in Japanese]
