Assessing the Role of Recycling in Achieving Sustainability = 지속가능성 달성을 위한 폐기물 재활용의 역할 평가

국문 초록 (Abstract)

전자폐기물(e-waste)의 발생량은 지속적으로 증가하고 있다. 세계 각국은 재활용 제도의 확대와 목표를 상향 조정해 오고 있다. 그러나 이러한 노력에도 불구하고 실제 재활용 성과는 목표와 기대치에 못 미치고 있다. 본 논문은 여러 폐기물 중 대표적으로 빠른 증가세를 보이고 있는 전자폐기물 재활용이 왜 전반적으로 확대되고 있음에도 자원 회수 측면에서는 선택적으로만 효과를 보이는지를 규명하려고 한다. 자원회수 및 재활용의 주요 변수인 경제적 타당성, 정책 설계, 그리고 단계별 물질 흐름 제약 간의 상호작용을 중심으로 분석을 진행하였다. 이 연구는 혼합 분석 접근법을 적용하여 다음 세 단계로 구성하였다. 첫째, 전자폐기물 재활용이 항상 지속가능한 성과를 달성한다는 가정을 전제하지 않고, 어떠한 경제적 조건에서 재활용이 환경·자원 측면에서 의미 있는 결과를 제공하는지를 살펴보았다. 둘째, 순환경제 원칙과 관련 규제 체계가 실제 재활용 시스템에서 물질 회수 유인과 성과 지표를 어떻게 형성하고 왜곡하는지를 분석하였다. 셋째, Kaya Identity 기반 분해 분석 프레임워크를 적용하여 수거, 전처리, 정제 단계 전반에 걸친 구조적 병목과 성과 저해 요인을 체계적으로 식별하였다. 분석 결과, 전자폐기물 재활용의 저조한 성과는 개별 기술의 한계나 단일 정책 실패에 기인하기보다는, 경제적 유인 구조, 정책 목표, 운영·처리 역량 간의 구조적 불일치(systemic misalignment)에서 비롯되는 것으로 나타났다. 이러한 불일치는 재활용 시스템이 규모 측면에서는 확장되는 반면, 실제 자원 회수는 고부가가치 물질에 집중되는 선별적 회수(selective recovery)에 좌우됨이 드러났다. 본 논문은 경제 분석, 정책 평가, 분해 기반 시스템 진단을 통합함으로써, 세 개의 상호보완적 연구를 종합하여 전자폐기물 재활용 시스템의 구조적 한계를 설명을 시도하였다. 이를 통해 단순한 재활용률 목표를 넘어, 물질별 유인 설계, 수거 인프라 강화, 재활용 단계 간 연계를 고려한 시스템 설계가 필요성을 제시되었다. 나아가 거시적 정책 메커니즘과 미시적 운영 제약을 연결함으로써, 전자폐기물 재활용 비효율성에 대한 시스템 수준의 진단과 함께 순환경제 성과를 실질적으로 개선할 수 있는 정책적·제도적 시사점을 도출하였다.

다국어 초록 (Multilingual Abstract)

The generation of electronic waste (e-waste) continues to grow rapidly, yet recycling systems struggle to keep pace despite expanding regulatory frameworks and rising recycling targets. This thesis examines why e-waste recycling remains selectively effective by analyzing the interaction between economic viability, policy design, and stage-specific material flow constraints. Using a mixed analytical approach, the study first evaluates the economic conditions under which e-waste recycling delivers sustainability-relevant outcomes rather than assuming universal viability. It then examines how circular economy principles and regulatory structures shape material recovery incentives and performance metrics in practice. Finally, applying a Kaya-Identity-based decomposition framework, the study identifies structural bottlenecks across collection, pre-processing, and refining stages. The findings show that recycling underperformance is driven not by isolated technological limitations, but by systemic misalignments between economic incentives, policy objectives, and operational capacities, resulting in selective recovery focused on high-value materials. By integrating economic analysis, policy evaluation, and decomposition-based system diagnostics, this thesis synthesizes insights across three complementary studies to explain why e-waste recycling systems expand in scale yet remain selectively effective in material recovery. Addressing these challenges requires policy frameworks that move beyond aggregate recycling targets toward material-specific incentives, strengthened collection infrastructure, and coordinated system design. By linking macro-level policy mechanisms with micro-level operational constraints, this research provides a system-level assessment of e-waste recycling inefficiencies and identifies actionable leverage points for improving material recovery and advancing circular economy performance.

목차 (Table of Contents)

• Abstract iii
• Contents v
• List of Tables xi
• Chapter 1. Introduction 1
• 1.1 Background 1
• Chapter 2. Literature Review 6
• 2.1 Electrification, material intensity, and the emerging e-waste challenge 6
• 2.2 Research gap and motivation 8
• Chapter 3. Economic viability of e-waste recycling 11
• 3.1 Introduction 11
• 3.2 Research methodology 15
• 3.2.1 Scoping analysis of prior reviews 16
• 3.2.2 Systematic literature review 17
• 3.2.3 Descriptive analysis 20
• 3.2.4 The 3-step analytical framework based on 6-factors for assessing the economic viability of e-waste recycling 21
• 3.3 Economic viability analysis of the category: Consumer Electronics & Components (CEC) 30
• 3.3.1 Material value: Precious metal richness in CEC 30
• 3.3.2 Technological feasibility of precious metal recovery: maturity constraints and structural system limits 32
• 3.3.3 Market and economic conditions: Stability of precious metal revenues 33
• 3.3.4 Policy and institutional context: Weight-based metrics favoring precious-metal recovery 35
• 3.3.5 Systemic alignment: Profit incentives prioritize precious-metal recovery over critical materials 36
• 3.3.6 Environmental performance: Conditions shaping impacts of precious-metal-focused recycling 38
• 3.4 Economic viability analysis of the category: Clean Energy Technology & Components (CETC) 39
• 3.4.1 Material value: Critical raw material embedding and diluted recoverable value in CETC 41
• 3.4.2 Technological feasibility: Emerging recovery routes and system-integration limits in CETC 42
• 3.4.3 Market and economic conditions: Volatility and fragmentation across diverse CRM markets 44
• 3.4.4 Policy and institutional context: Critical-material mandates without recovery requirements 46
• 3.4.5 Institutional failures: structural barriers preventing the effective scaling of CRM recovery systems 47
• 3.4.6 Environmental performance: Energy, reagent, and environmental impact trade-offs in CRM recovery systems 48
• 3.5 Discussion 50
• 3.5.1 Material-technical layer 53
• 3.5.2 Institutional and economic layer 57
• 3.5.3 Systemic–environmental layer 62
• 3.6 Summary of key findings 65
• Chapter 4. Systemic misalignments in e-waste recycling 69
• 4.1 Introduction 69
• 4.2 Methodology 73
• 4.2.1 Scope 73
• 4.2.2 Research Methodology 75
• 4.2.3 Descriptive analysis 81
• 4.2.4 Research Framework 83
• 4.3 Current recycling practices and emerging challenges 85
• 4.4 Recycling’s structural misalignment with climate change and CE goals 89
• 4.4.1 Idealized frameworks vs. Current frameworks 89
• 4.4.2 Typology of systematic misalignments 92
• 4.5 Layers of systemic failure in recycling systems 109
• 4.5.1 System design and policy failures (Root cause) 110
• 4.5.2 Technical and infrastructure barriers (Intermediate cause) 111
• 4.5.3 Market failures and selective recycling (Manifestation of failure) 112
• 4.6 Negative feedback loops and self-reinforcing failure 114
• 4.6.1 Interdependent failures and systemic lock-ins 115
• 4.6.2 Partial reforms and illusion of progress 118
• 4.6.3 Contradictions of expansion and sufficiency 118
• 4.7 Post-review temporal consistency assessment 119
• 4.7.1 Consistency with interdependent failures and systemic lock-ins 120
• 4.7.2 Consistency with partial reforms and the illusion of progress 121
• 4.7.3 Consistency with expansion–sufficiency contradictions 121
• 4.7.4 Synthesis of post-review consistency 122
• 4.8 Discussion 124
• 4.8.1 Interpreting systemic lock-ins and trade-offs 124
• 4.8.2 Addressing recycling systemic roots 126
• 4.8.3 Disrupting negative feedback loops and system lock-ins 127
• 4.8.4 Emerging directions from recent research 129
• 4.9 Summary of key findings 132
• 4.9.1 Key findings and contributions 132
• 4.9.2 Limitations and future directions 135
• Chapter 5. Structural inefficiencies in e-waste recycling system 138
• 5.1 Introduction 138
• 5.2 Literature review 142
• 5.3 Methodology 148
• 5.3.1 Research design and scope 148
• 5.3.2 Data and variables 149
• 5.3.3 Adaptation of the Kaya Identity 151
• 5.3.4 Analytical approach 152
• 5.3.5 Ration definitions and role 156
• 5.3.6 Ratio interpretation framework 157
• 5.4 Results 161
• 5.4.1 2011~2014 Early Directive implementation: Modest throughput growth and systemic under-collection 161
• 5.4.2 2015~2018 Expansion and enforcement: Divergence between WEEE generation and collection 163
• 5.4.3 2019~2022 Open-scope phase: Constraints and selective recovery 165
• 5.5 Discussion 168
• 5.5.1 System-Level Interpretation: Translating decomposition patterns into observed system behavior 169
• 5.5.2 Decoupling and stage-wise disconnection: interpreting inter-ratio asymmetry dynamics across system stages 171
• 5.5.3 Recycling structure and technological selectivity: Explaining the W/T rebound effects 172
• 5.5.4 Structural inertia and policy misalignment: Connecting open-scope constraints to observed results 176
• 5.5.5 Rethinking performance assessment: Linking assessment ratios with policy-performance mapping 177
• 5.6 Summary of key findings 179
• Chapter 6. Conclusive remarks 183
• 6.1 Summary and contribution 183
• 6.2 Limitation and future research 186
• Bibliography 190
• Appendix 1: Category definitions and coding rule 202
• Appendix 2: Classification of review articles (n=26) 203
• Appendix 3: Distribution of selected studies (n=48) 209
• Appendix 4: Thematic coding matrix from the scoping review 210
• Appendix 5: Typology of systemic misalignments in e-waste recycling 211
• Appendix 6: Post-review temporal comparison 217
• Appendix 7: Mathematical derivation 221
• Abstract (Korean) 228