The Potential and Limitations of Critical Raw Material Recycling: The Case of LED Lamps

Abstract

Supply risks and environmental concerns drive the interest in critical raw material recycling in the European Union. Globally, waste electrical and electronic equipment (WEEE) is projected to increase by almost 40% until 2030. This waste stream can be a source of secondary raw materials. The determination of the economic feasibility of recycling and recovering specific materials is a data-intensive, time-consuming, and case-specific task. This study introduced a two-part evaluation scheme consisting of upper continental crust concentrations and raw material prices as a simple tool to indicate the potential and limitations of critical raw material recycling. It was applied to the case of light-emitting diodes (LED) lamps in the EU. A material flow analysis was conducted, and the projected waste amounts were analyzed using the new scheme. Indium, gallium, and the rare earth elements appeared in low concentrations and low absolute masses and showed only a small revenue potential. Precious metals represented the largest revenue share. Future research should confirm the validity and usefulness of the evaluation scheme.

High-Temperature Fluidized Bed Processing of Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment (WEEE) as a Way to Recover Raw Materials

“…II (samples 8, 10, 12, 14) and Kit no. III mobile phones (samples 15,17,19,20): these were in the range of 80-200 ppm.…”

“…Energies 2021, 14, 5639 2 of 23 Therefore, the recycling of electrical and electronic waste, and the recovery of metals, is so important [9,[14][15][16]. The waste contains heavy metals and organic compounds that may permanently contaminate the environment [17,18].…”

Comparison of Lighting Efficiency (Led-CFL) based on Environmentally Friendly Technology

“…Other components that are the main content of light bulbs are displays, printed circuit boards (PCB) and metal, such as those contained in Light-Emitting Diode (LED) and Compact Fluorescent Lamp (CFL) bulbs. (Rahman et al, 2021) (Işıldar et al, 2018) (Nikulski et al, 2021). Components contained in the bulb Light-Emitting Diode (LED) waste contains some metal gallium which cannot be decomposed which has an impact on environmental pollution and damage to soil composition (de Oliveira et al, 2021;Rahayu & Sumarni, 2021).…”

“…LED type lighting lamps are made of semiconductor materials with the concept that electric current flows in one direction and not in the other direction. LED chips generally have a long life and break down relatively rarely (Nikulski et al, 2021). The characteristics of LED chips in general are the same as those of diodes which only require a certain voltage to operate.…”

Recuperação de metais de Resíduos de Equipamentos Elétricos e Eletrônicos (REEE): estado da arte, benefícios e desafios para a Economia Circular

“…Este aumento é derivado do maior uso deste tipo de material nas tecnologias atuais, como equipamentos de informática, baterias e dispositivos de geração de energia renovável (NIKULSKI et al, 2021). No entanto, muitos dos metais amplamente utilizados para a fabricação das tecnologias atuais, como cobalto , lítio, e elementos de terras raras, correm risco de abastecimento (SONG et al, 2019;OLIVEIRA et al, 2021).…”