E-Waste Collection and Treatment Options: A Comparison of Approaches in Europe, China and Vietnam Stefan Salhofer Abstract E-waste is a complex waste stream with several categories of products, each of them requiring a specific treatment technology. This chapter analyses the status quo of e-waste management in three global regions, where the European Union represents a frontrunner in environmental legislation and implementation; China, catching up with recent legislation and large-scale investments in recycling infrastructure; and Vietnam, as an example for the numerous countries where an unregulated situation dominates. This chapter aims at giving an overview of the management of this waste stream focussing on two relevant stages in the material recovery chain: collection as the interface between consumers and waste manage- ment and treatment with an overview of technologies applied for the removal of hazardous materials and the recovery of valuable materials such as steel, copper, plastics and others. Challenges for these situations are identified. Keywords Collection, E-waste, Recycling, Source separation, Treatment Contents 1 Introduction .................................................................................. 228 2 Material Properties .......................................................................... 228 3 Collection .................................................................................... 230 3.1 E-Waste Collection in Europe ........................................................ 230 3.2 E-Waste Collection in China ......................................................... 232 3.3 E-Waste Collection in Vietnam ...................................................... 233 S. Salhofer (*) University of Natural Resources and Life Sciences, Vienna, Wien, Austria e-mail: stefan.salhofer@boku.ac.at R. Maletz et al. (eds.), Source Separation and Recycling, Hdb Env Chem (2018) 63: 227–244, DOI 10.1007/698_2017_36, © Springer International Publishing AG 2017, Published online: 28 April 2017 227