A sustainable approach tackling WEEE management using ontology-based DSS

Electronic waste generation has been following a continuously rising trend. With electronics containing a myriad of materials some of which are hazardous, toxic, extremely rare, or precious combined with more stringent legislative laws which encourage the reuse and optimised recycling of the materia...

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Main Authors: Ahmed Tarek Ismail Mohamed, Francesco Laviano, Debora Fino, Francesca Rubertelli, Claudio Toscano
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Frontiers Media S.A. 2025-08-01
Series:Frontiers in Sustainability
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Online Access:https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/frsus.2025.1523114/full
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author Ahmed Tarek Ismail Mohamed
Francesco Laviano
Francesco Laviano
Debora Fino
Francesca Rubertelli
Claudio Toscano
author_facet Ahmed Tarek Ismail Mohamed
Francesco Laviano
Francesco Laviano
Debora Fino
Francesca Rubertelli
Claudio Toscano
author_sort Ahmed Tarek Ismail Mohamed
collection DOAJ
description Electronic waste generation has been following a continuously rising trend. With electronics containing a myriad of materials some of which are hazardous, toxic, extremely rare, or precious combined with more stringent legislative laws which encourage the reuse and optimised recycling of the materials included in WEEE, the need for a holistic approach is inevitable. In the context of this research, the term holistic refers to the three aspects of material, technology, and hazard. This work aims to develop an approach that identifies the materials found in the various types of WEEE and their respective quantities as well as highlights the possible handling techniques and their respective impacts and associated hazards whether to the environment or human health. Performing such a task manually would be exasperating and costly while requiring extensive resources that might not be met with a justifiable economic gain; thus, the use of the advancement in computational sustainability to draw a complete framework and aid in an informed decision-making process is crucial. The WEEE ontology developed in this paper is one way of addressing the problem since it covers the treatment domain, the hazard and the materials contained within the different types of WEEE. The ontology developed in this research is part of a Decision Support System that is yet to be integrated, however, the ontology can be directly used from the commercial Protégé software.
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spelling doaj-art-2ab5cd2e13c84c03b6a180feb224eb762025-08-20T04:02:41ZengFrontiers Media S.A.Frontiers in Sustainability2673-45242025-08-01610.3389/frsus.2025.15231141523114A sustainable approach tackling WEEE management using ontology-based DSSAhmed Tarek Ismail Mohamed0Francesco Laviano1Francesco Laviano2Debora Fino3Francesca Rubertelli4Claudio Toscano5Department of Energy, Politecnico di Torino, Turin, ItalyDepartment of Applied Science and Technology, Politecnico di Torino, Turin, ItalyINFN—Sez. Torino, Turin, ItalyDepartment of Applied Science and Technology, Politecnico di Torino, Turin, ItalyEni SpA—Renewable, New Energies and Material Science Research Center, Novara, ItalyEni SpA—Renewable, New Energies and Material Science Research Center, Novara, ItalyElectronic waste generation has been following a continuously rising trend. With electronics containing a myriad of materials some of which are hazardous, toxic, extremely rare, or precious combined with more stringent legislative laws which encourage the reuse and optimised recycling of the materials included in WEEE, the need for a holistic approach is inevitable. In the context of this research, the term holistic refers to the three aspects of material, technology, and hazard. This work aims to develop an approach that identifies the materials found in the various types of WEEE and their respective quantities as well as highlights the possible handling techniques and their respective impacts and associated hazards whether to the environment or human health. Performing such a task manually would be exasperating and costly while requiring extensive resources that might not be met with a justifiable economic gain; thus, the use of the advancement in computational sustainability to draw a complete framework and aid in an informed decision-making process is crucial. The WEEE ontology developed in this paper is one way of addressing the problem since it covers the treatment domain, the hazard and the materials contained within the different types of WEEE. The ontology developed in this research is part of a Decision Support System that is yet to be integrated, however, the ontology can be directly used from the commercial Protégé software.https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/frsus.2025.1523114/fullontologyWEEEdecision support systemwaste managementcomputational sustainabilitycircular economy
spellingShingle Ahmed Tarek Ismail Mohamed
Francesco Laviano
Francesco Laviano
Debora Fino
Francesca Rubertelli
Claudio Toscano
A sustainable approach tackling WEEE management using ontology-based DSS
Frontiers in Sustainability
ontology
WEEE
decision support system
waste management
computational sustainability
circular economy
title A sustainable approach tackling WEEE management using ontology-based DSS
title_full A sustainable approach tackling WEEE management using ontology-based DSS
title_fullStr A sustainable approach tackling WEEE management using ontology-based DSS
title_full_unstemmed A sustainable approach tackling WEEE management using ontology-based DSS
title_short A sustainable approach tackling WEEE management using ontology-based DSS
title_sort sustainable approach tackling weee management using ontology based dss
topic ontology
WEEE
decision support system
waste management
computational sustainability
circular economy
url https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/frsus.2025.1523114/full
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