Waste electrical and electronic equipment is a special type of waste consisting of any electrical or electronic equipment that the owner intends to discard because it is faulty, unused or obsolete and therefore destined for abandonment.
The main problems arising from this type of waste are the presence of substances considered toxic to the environment and the non-biodegradability of these devices.
The increasing diffusion of electronic devices determines an ever-increasing risk of abandonment in the environment or in landfills and waste-to-energy plants (incinerators) with consequences of soil, air and water pollution with repercussions on human health.
These products must be treated correctly and destined for the differentiated recovery of the materials of which they are composed, thus avoiding a waste of resources that can be reused to build new equipment in addition to environmental sustainability. This type of waste is commonly called RAEE and is regulated by the RAEE Directive, implemented in Italy by the "RAEE" Decree.