The Alternatives for Disposition of Electronics Planning Tool (ADEPT)

ADEPT employs a combination of top-down data sources and bottom-up assumptions to track the generation of used electronics by state and estimate the material flows from generation to collection as well as processing and final disposition. Examples of top-down data sources include national statistics on population, GDP, and retail sales. Examples of bottom-up assumptions include average device weight per product based on the year of manufacturing, expected product lifetimes, and market share by consumer segment. ADEPT estimates material flows to three disposition pathways (i.e., reuse, recycling, and disposal). ADEPT produces national- and state-level results for the quantity of electronic products entering EOL management annually (during the years 1980 through 2040) as well as the subsequent volume of waste being landfilled at each stage of the EOL management process. Although the quality and availability of information on the markets and consumer behavior is improving, the rate of change in technology and market behavior is high, which makes these parameters hard to quantify. For this reason, ADEPT was designed to allow end users to easily update key parameters and data elements based on their own assumptions and better information in the future.

Tool description and User Guide are available on the following entry in EPA's Science Inventory ADEPT: Alternatives for Disposition of Electronics Planning Tool User Guide. 

The ADEPT database is available here for download:  ADEPT Database (xlsm)