E-Waste Recycling and Resource Recovery: A Review on Technologies, Barriers and Enablers with a Focus on Oceania

Yken, Jonovan Van; Boxall, Naomi J.; Cheng, Ka Yu; Nikoloski, Aleksandar N.; Moheimani, Navid R.; Kaksonen, Anna H.

doi:10.3390/met11081313

Cited by 76 publications

(39 citation statements)

References 196 publications

(401 reference statements)

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“…The use of urban waste as a secondary source of materials has been discussed worldwide and already applied for e-waste (waste electronic equipment, or WEEE). Industrial processes for recycling printed circuit boards operate worldwide, mainly for metals recoveries, such as Cu, Ag, Au, Co, Ge, In, and platinum group [29]. The recovery of materials from urban waste is called urban mining, which can be defined as "the set of processes and activities related to the production of secondary raw materials from urban solid waste".…”

Section: Urban Mining and Challenges For Sustainable Developmentmentioning

confidence: 99%

Cobalt Recovery from Li-Ion Battery Recycling: A Critical Review

Botelho

Stopić

Friedrich

et al. 2021

Metals

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The increasing demand for Li-ion batteries for electric vehicles sheds light upon the Co supply chain. The metal is crucial to the cathode of these batteries, and the leading global producer is the D.R. Congo (70%). For this reason, it is considered critical/strategic due to the risk of interruption of supply in the short and medium term. Due to the increasing consumption for the transportation market, the batteries might be considered a secondary source of Co. The outstanding amount of spent batteries makes them to a core of urban mining warranting special attention. Greener technologies for Co recovery are necessary to achieve sustainable development. As a result of these sourcing challenges, this study is devoted to reviewing the techniques for Co recovery, such as acid leaching (inorganic and organic), separation (solvent extraction, ion exchange resins, and precipitation), and emerging technologies—ionic liquids, deep eutectic solvent, supercritical fluids, nanotechnology, and biohydrometallurgy. A dearth of research in emerging technologies for Co recovery from Li-ion batteries is discussed throughout the manuscript within a broader overview. The study is strictly connected to the Sustainability Development Goals (SDG) number 7, 8, 9, and 12.

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Section: Urban Mining and Challenges For Sustainable Developmentmentioning

confidence: 99%

Cobalt Recovery from Li-Ion Battery Recycling: A Critical Review

Botelho

Stopić

Friedrich

et al. 2021

Metals

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“…It is worrying that only 1/5 of the total WEEE generated is recycled, and for the remaining 44.3 million tons, it is not known exactly where it ends up [10]. Waste printed circuit boards (WPCBs) are valuable components of WEEEs that make up about 3-6% of the total weight of WEEEs [11]. WPCBs consist of about 40:30:30 of metal, plastic, and refractory oxides (ROs), respectively [12][13][14].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Recovery of Rare-Earth Elements from Printed Circuit Boards by Vacuum Pyrolysis and Multiple Electrostatic Separation

et al. 2022

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The influence of the multi-stage electrostatic separation (ESS) of mechanically treated and magnetically separated waste electronic material and the pyrolysis of the selected ESS fraction on the distribution of metal elements (MEs), elements contained in refractory oxides (EROs), bromine (Br), and rare-earth elements (REEs) contained in waste electronic material was studied. The concentration of MEs, Br, and EROs in the tested samples was determined by X-ray fluorescence analysis, and the concentration of REEs and uranium was determined by inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (ICP-MS). The analysis of the distribution of elements during the multi-stage ESS showed that MEs were predominantly distributed in the conductive fraction and Br, EROs, and REEs were distributed in the nonconductive fraction. The nonconductive fraction (NC2) of the two-stage ESS was subjected to a low-temperature vacuum pyrolysis (T = 550 °C, p = 10 mbar). The distribution of pyrolysis products of the NC2 fraction was determined. The main products of the vacuum pyrolysis experiments were the solid residue phase (54.4 wt.%) and oils (35.4 wt.%). It has been proven that pyrolysis can significantly increase the concentration of MEs, EROs, and REEs in raw materials, thereby providing a method for cost-effectively obtaining of REEs from waste printed circuit boards.

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“…The consumption of electric and electronic equipment (EEE) is growing worldwide. This is fuelled by rapid advancement in technology, increased disposable income, and growing dependence on technology [1]. The production of EEE is estimated to have increased 8% in the year 2018 [2].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The most valuable component of e-waste is typically printed circuit boards (PCBs). PCBs only account for 3-6% of the total volume of e-waste globally; however, PCBs are highly valuable due to the high precious and base metals content [1].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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A Comparison of Methods for the Characterisation of Waste-Printed Circuit Boards

Yken

Cheng

Boxall

et al. 2021

Metals

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Electronic waste is a growing waste stream globally. With 54.6 million tons generated in 2019 worldwide and with an estimated value of USD 57 billion, it is often referred to as an urban mine. Printed circuit boards (PCBs) are a major component of electronic waste and are increasingly considered as a secondary resource for value recovery due to their high precious and base metals content. PCBs are highly heterogeneous and can vary significantly in composition depending on the original function. Currently, there are no standard methods for the characterisation of PCBs that could provide information relevant to value recovery operations. In this study, two pre-treatments, smelting and ashing of PCB samples, were investigated to determine the effect on PCB characterisation. In addition, to determine the effect of particle size and element-specific effects on the characterisation of PCBs, samples were processed using four different analytical methods. These included multi-acid digestion followed by inductively coupled plasma optical emission spectrometry (ICP-OES) analysis, nitric acid digestion followed by X-ray fluorescence (XRF) analysis, multi-acid digestion followed by fusion digestion and analysis using ICP-OES, and microwave-assisted multi-acid digestion followed by ICP-OES analysis. In addition, a mixed-metal standard was created to serve as a reference material to determine the accuracy of the various analytical methods. Smelting and ashing were examined as potential pre-treatments before analytical characterisation. Smelting was found to reduce the accuracy of further analysis due to the volatilisation of some metal species at high temperatures. Ashing was found to be a viable pre-treatment. Of the four analytical methods, microwave-assisted multi-acid digestion offered the most precision and accuracy. It was found that the selection of analytical methods can significantly affect the accuracy of the observed metal content of PCBs, highlighting the need for a standardised method and the use of certified reference material.

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E-Waste Recycling and Resource Recovery: A Review on Technologies, Barriers and Enablers with a Focus on Oceania

Cited by 76 publications

References 196 publications

Cobalt Recovery from Li-Ion Battery Recycling: A Critical Review

Cobalt Recovery from Li-Ion Battery Recycling: A Critical Review

Recovery of Rare-Earth Elements from Printed Circuit Boards by Vacuum Pyrolysis and Multiple Electrostatic Separation

A Comparison of Methods for the Characterisation of Waste-Printed Circuit Boards

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