Measuring the recyclability of e-waste: an innovative method and its implications

Zeng, Xianlai; Li, Jinhui

doi:10.1016/j.jclepro.2016.05.055

Cited by 118 publications

(59 citation statements)

References 39 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Unclassified

Order By: Relevance

“…As significantly increasing collection rates of WEEE LCD devices are expected over time, the development of appropriate recycling processes for indium recovery has been in focus recently [15,[31][32][33]. Various studies present methodologies for the recovery of indium from LCD panels using mechanical, thermal, and pyro-and hydrometallurgical approaches [12][13][14][15][16][17][18][19][20][21][22][23][24][25][26][27][28][29].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Potential and Recycling Strategies for LCD Panels from WEEE

et al. 2017

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Indium is one of the strategically important materials, which have been characterized as critical by various industrialized countries. Despite its high relevance, only low recycling rates are realized. Its main application is in indium tin oxide (ITO), which is used in the production of liquid crystal displays (LCD). However, recovery strategies for indium from LCDs are not yet being implemented in recycling practices. Although LCDs consist of a sandwich compound with additional materials such as glass (80% ± 5%) and polarizer foils (20% ± 5%), recently published recycling approaches focus mainly on the recovery of indium exclusively. This study, first of all, provides information about the quantity and quality of the materials applied in the LCD panels of the various equipment types investigated, such as notebooks, tablets, mobile phones, smartphones, PC monitors, and LCD TVs. The highest indium mass fraction per mass of LCD was determined in mobile phones and the least indium was found in smartphones. Additionally, we found the significant use of contaminating metals like antimony, arsenic, lead, and strontium in the glass fraction. Thus, specific recovery strategies should focus on selected equipment types with the highest indium potential, which is directly related to the sales of new devices and the number of collected end-of-life devices. Secondly, we have developed and successfully tested a novel recycling approach for separating the sandwich compound to provide single output fractions of panel glass, polarizer foils, and an indium concentrate for subsequent recycling. Unfortunately, the strongly varying content of contaminating metals jeopardizes the recycling of this output fraction. Nonetheless, economic recycling approaches need to address all materials contained, in particular those with the highest share in LCD panels such as polarizer foils and panel glass.

show abstract

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Potential and Recycling Strategies for LCD Panels from WEEE

et al. 2017

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…S-CRMs are mainly applied in complex WEEE products (Chancerel et al, 2015(Chancerel et al, , 2013. Due to highly sophisticated processes for their recovery, no recycling strategies are implemented yet (Kumar and Holuszko, 2016;Li et al, 2017;Zeng and Li, 2016).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Assessment of element-specific recycling efficiency in WEEE pre-processing

Ueberschaar

Geiping

Zamzow

et al. 2017

Resources, Conservation and Recycling

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Pre-processing is a crucial step to ensure the efficiency of subsequent processes and the quality of recyclates. The efficiency of pre-processing can be affected by high losses to undesignated output fractions. Standard batch tests usually provide mass balances and are a good proxy for bulk materials balances (iron/steel, aluminum, plastics). This article aims at harmonizing methodologies and recommends a strategy for further study in pre-processing on a plant scale. We have developed an “extended batch test” method, which should help to • describe the fates of materials and elements, • assess the quality of output fractions, • identify access points for critical metals and other valuable elements to enable their recovery. A methodical approach was compiled with common material flow analysis methods and an extended set of methods, which improve the reliability via the assessment of uncertainties. This applies to systematic effects and random effects. This extended batch test was performed with a 40 Mg Waste Electrical & Electronic Equipment (WEEE) batch to trace the flows of industrial base metals, precious metals and critical metals in a WEEE pre-processing plant. Results show that one-third of the input was separated and sorted manually, while the remaining material was subsequently crushed and automatically sorted. Copper and precious metals are distributed to various output fractions but are most concentrated in the sorting residues. Critical metals like cobalt and rare earth elements are mainly concentrated in the manually sorted materials but also appear in the ferrous metals scrap and the shredder light fraction

show abstract

“…In the current scenario, 13% of total e-waste is recycled by the formal sectors and anticipation shows that the global e-waste generation will reach to 50 million tons soon (Baldé et al, 2015;Zeng and Li, 2016). Printed circuit boards (PCBs) are the prime constituent of e-waste having high copper and precious metals (Chen et al, 2015) along with hazardous halogenated hydrocarbons and heavy metals (Shibayama et al, 2013).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%