Module : Waste Management
Title of work : Research report on recycling electronic waste
Supervisor : Dr. Vasanthi Sethu
Group : 7
Name : Rida Ali (010251) Mohamed Faiz Ahmed Fadhil (010283) Malik Adil Elshiekh Abdalla (010457)
Process Description
The processes employed for recycling vary a lot depending on where and under what
circumstances they are carried out. In the developed world, the economy has allowed the
development of more comprehensive solutions to the e-waste problem, and therefore a
noteworthy fraction of the e-waste generated is gathered and sent to authorized
recycling facilities, in which both valuable materials and hazardous compounds are
separated and treated appropriately. Owing to the competition from informal recycling
industries, developing countries hadn’t had this system thriving. Plus, many poor people
earn their only income through such industries. The chief goal in informal recycling
industries is to recover valuable materials in the e-waste; consequently little or no regard
is paid to the impacts on the environment and human health. Regrettably, the processes
used by the informal recycling industries are also much less efficient than the processes
used by the formal recycling industry in terms of recovering treasured materials. Below
are descriptions of processes carried out in controlled recycling facilities as well as the
more rudimentary methods used in many developing countries.
Under controlled conditions, recycling of e-waste engages two types of facilities. In the
first one the electronic waste is dismantled and mechanically processed so that materials
can be separated and further recovered. In the second type of facilities, metallurgical
processes are used to recover metals, and various other processes to recover plastics
and other materials.
Manual dismantling and sorting
The opening step in this recycling procedure is manual dismantling, which allows the
retrieval of whole homogenous parts that may be reusable, precious or recyclable, e.g.
whole components, metal, plastic or glass parts, and hazardous components that entail
further special treatment, e.g. components comprising of mercury, batteries, CRT-glass
and LCDs. Following separation, mercury containing components are ordinarily sent to
specialized mercury recovery facilities or authorized hazardous waste incinerators with
modern flue gas cleaning systems. Batteries are typically sent for processing to salvage
cadmium, nickel, mercury and lead; the former three through heating of the batteries in
a furnace, heading to evaporation of the metals that later can be amassed through
condensation; lead by smelting the intact batteries or parts of them in a metallurgical
process. The leaded CRT glass may be used in the manufacture of new leaded glass, for
the recovery of lead or may just be put on landfill. LCDs may be sent for glass recovery
or demolition in certified incineration facilities.
Mechanical shredding and separation
Supplementary liberation and size reduction of the recyclable materials, e.g. PC-boards,
is customarily attained by some kind of shredding or crushing process. After the size
reduction, the materials are categorized into defined output fractions based on their
specific physical characteristics, such as weight, size, shape, density, and electrical and
magnetic characteristics. Conventional sorting processes used are screening, magnetic
separation of ferrous parts, eddy current separation (electric conductivity) of non-ferrous
metals (e.g. copper and aluminium), and density or gravity separation (water or airflow
tables, heavy media floating, sifting) of plastics. In addition, physical sorting or new
optical sorting techniques are exploited. Furthermore, the sorting may occasionally be
supported by screening as well as further size reduction steps. Final output streams are
usually components taken out as a whole (for reuse or further treatment), a magnetic
fraction (going to Steel plants), an aluminium fraction (going to aluminium smelters), a
copper fraction (going to copper smelters), and in some cases numerous plastic fractions.
Commonly a waste fraction is also engendered at this stage, which among others
consists of a mixture of plastics, glass, wood and rubber. This fraction, which often is
called “the shredder light fraction”, is sent for further administering, incineration or
landfilling.
CRTs:
Possibly only 15 years may have passed since the world was staggered by the advent of
the first plasma screen television - a 42 inch Fujitsu model available in Sears for $14,999
- but consumer electronics blossomed since, and creation of the Cathode Ray Tubes
(CRTs) which once conquered the TV market has terminated. For the waste and recycling
industry, which has customarily sold the glass from end-of-life television sets back to the
CRT manufacturers, the upsurge of the flat screens has created an enigma - what to do
with the leaded glass? A small firm in Manchester, England fostered a triumphant
technology that coalesces heat and chemistry to extricate lead and clean glass.
The temperature inside the main unit is in excess of 1000°C to
extract the toxic lead from the glass while creating no emissions
The initial stage in the process is to detach the panel glass from
the leaded glass, which is crushed and treated with chemicals to
aid the lead extraction. The process operates a specially designed electrolytic converter
where the CRT glass and process chemicals are melted under strictly controlled
conditions to free metallic lead from the glass, which is tapped off to form lead ingots.
The activity is unceasing and has the capacity to handle 10 tonnes per day - equivalent
to around 60 tonnes of end-of-life CRT televisions. To augment energy efficiency, the
process utilises super-efficient insulation so that while the temperature inside the main
melting unit is in excess of 1000°C, the outside never exceeds 60°C. In addition to being
energy efficient, the converter has trivial emissions, meaning that there is no
requirement for pricey extraction and filtration systems.
The lead purity achieved by the process is typically better than 99.7%
Batteries:
Batteries constitute of a number of heavy metals and toxic chemicals; their dumping has
raised apprehension over threats of soil contamination and water pollution.
Lead Acid Battery Recycling
The battery is broken apart in a hammer mill; a machine that hammers the battery into
pieces. The broken battery pieces are then placed into a vat, where the lead and heavy
materials fall to the bottom and the plastic floats. At this point, the polypropylene pieces
are scooped away and the liquids are drawn off, leaving the lead and heavy metals. Each
of the materials goes into a different recycling “stream”.
Plastic
Polypropylene pieces are rinsed, blown dry, and sent to a plastic recycler where the
pieces are melted together into an almost liquid state. The molten plastic is put through
an extruder that constructs small plastic pellets of uniform size. The pellets are retailed
to a manufacturer of battery cases and the process begins again.
Lead
Lead grids, lead oxide, and other lead parts are cleaned and heated within smelting
furnaces. The molten melted lead is then poured into ingot moulds. After a few minutes,
the impurities float to the top of the still molten lead in the ingot moulds. These
impurities are scraped away and the ingots are left to chill. When the ingots are cool,
they’re removed from the moulds and sent to battery manufacturers, where they’re re-
melted and utilized in the manufacture of new batteries.
Sulphuric Acid
Old battery acid can be managed in two ways: 1) The acid is neutralized with an
industrial compound comparable to household baking soda. Neutralization turns the acid
into water. The water is then treated, cleaned, tested in a waste water treatment plant to
be sure it meets clean water standards. 2) The acid is processed and converted to
sodium sulphate, an odourless white powder that’s used in laundry detergent, glass, and
textile manufacturing.
Printed Circuit Boards:
PCBs contain metals, polymers, and ceramics and are produced by sophisticated
technologies. Electronic components have to be dismantled from PCB assembly as the
most momentous step in their recycling chain, to help conservation of resources, reuse of
components and elimination of hazardous materials from the environment. In semi-
automatic approaches, electronic components are removed by an amalgamation of
heating and application of impact, shearing, vibration forces to open-soldered
connections. Heating temperatures of 40-50 °C higher than the melting point of the
solder is obligatory for effectual dismantling. A crushing stage is essential for a further
easier organisation of PCB waste. The PCB are cut into pieces of approximately 1 -2 cm2
typically with shredders or granulators, allowing the starting batch to be easily
manageable for supplementary treatments (PCB scraps). Auxiliary particle size reduction
to 5-10 mm can be carried out by means of cutting mills, centrifugal mills or rotating
sample dividers equipped with a bottom sieve. The local temperature of PCB briskly
intensifies due to impacting and reaches over 250°C during crushing.
CD ROMs, Sound & Memory cards:
For copyright and security reasons these products are shredded before being sent to
plastic and metal recyclers.
Ink Cartridges:
Health and Environmental Aspects
Electronic waste contains large amounts of toxic materials such as heavy metals,
brominated fire retardant compounds and PVCs. These heavy metals can have a large
impact on the human health.
Antimony (Sb) compounds have been associated with skin problems and irritation of
the respiratory tract, as well as interfering with the normal function of the immune
system.
Arsenic (As) which is found in the form of gallium arsenide is toxic, dangerous and are
also confined carcinogens. Exposure to arsenic compounds causes metabolism and
energy productions in cells which can lead to death. When inhaled, it can cause tumour
formation in lungs, urinary bladder, kidney and skin.
Asbestos are a group of natural occurring silicate minerals that consist of long, thin
fibrous crystals. They are used in electronic equipment as heat resistant materials.
When exposed to asbestos, the fibres can get stuck in the lungs and cause serious
illness.
Barium is unstable in its pure form. Short exposure to large amounts of barium can
cause disturbed heart rhythm, vomiting, difficulties in breathing and muscle illness.
Beryllium is another toxic chemical which has a direct effect on lungs. It can cause
Acute Beryllium Diseases (ABD) and also cause chest pain, rapid heart rate and could
also lead to death in extreme cases.
Mercury, which is most commonly found in almost all electrical equipment, can cause
damage to nervous systems when exposed to it.
When electronic waste is dumped into landfills, these toxic chemicals seep into the soil
and ground water causing serious environmental damage, birth defects and serious
illness. These chemicals also enter the river causing acidification of the river (water
pollution) destroying fish and flora.
When incinerated, large emissions of toxic gases enter the atmosphere. These are
usually gases (CO2 in particular) which are contained within the atmosphere, raising the
temperature, leading to global warming.
Advantages and Disadvantages
Electronic waste as the most rapidly growing segment of solid waste globally contains
many useful components and materials that have huge economic benefits if recovered
and reused. Such materials include aluminium, copper, gold, silver and ferrous metals.
The refurbishment of electronic waste conserves the energy required to produce new
electronic component and has a much smaller impact on the environment.
Refurbishment, Reuse and Recycling also prevents hazardous materials within e-waste
such as mercury, lead, cadmium, beryllium, chromium and chemical flame retardants
from leaching to the soil, a consequence of landfilling.
Other advantages include opening up access to electronic goods for less developed
communities as refurbished electronic equipment are much cheaper than their newly
manufactured counterparts. It also create “e-cycling” industries which leads to more jobs
in less developed community hence increasing economic activity of that particular area.
“e-cycling” also prevents the emission of pollution from the mining activities that would
have been needed to bring mine new virgin materials and minerals from the soil. Finally,
“e-cycling” conserves valuable space which would have been used up as landfilling area,
leading to better aesthetics and an improved environmental health.
There have been problems with “e-cycling” around the world. There have been cases of
fraud such as when a company based in the United States collected “e-waste” and
illegally shipped them to China for dismantling in an impoverished area with poor
oversight.
The process of “e-cycling” itself can be be quite damaging to the environment and to the
staff processing it. “e-cycling” facilities around the world are unregulated and hence bad
practices occur in such facilities which damage the environment in the way of water and
soil pollution. Usually most electronic waste that is collected in developed countries are
not usually recycled internally and are usually illegally exported to less developed
countries where they are usually used and then dumped. Furthermore, very little of the
electronic waste that is being dumped can actually be salvaged.
Legal requirements
The legality of e-waste recycling, repair and reuse differs in international, national and
provincial contexts around the world and highly depends on the nature of what is being
done to electronic waste.
Internationally, there is the Basel convention ratified by 180 countries around the world
excluding the United States and Haiti which attempts to stifle the movement of
hazardous waste through international boundaries. Hence this only affects the
international movement of electronic waste only if they are deemed to be hazardous.
Hence in order for electronic waste to cross international borders, it needs to be stripped
off it's many hazardous components first.
Malaysia is a signatory to the Basel convention; hence the importation of used electrical
and electronic production for short term refurbishment and/or recovery is prohibited. In
Malaysian federal law, electronic waste is categorized as scheduled waste under the code
SW110, First Schedule, Environmental Quality (Scheduled Wastes) Regulations 2005. In
general, generation of electronic waste in Malaysia must be reported to the Department
of Environment within 30 days of generation and must be treated at prescribed premises
or on site treatment facilities
Electronic waste not exceeding 20 metric tonnes can be stored for up to 180 days and
must be contained in storages that are compatible with the electronic wastes to be
stored to prevent or leakage to the environment. Accidental spillages must be reported
immediately to the Department and immediate clean-up operations must commence.
In the United States, there is no federal mandate to regulate electronic wastes, but there
are state laws which regulate their reuse, recycle and repair. There are currently 25 such
states, with California being probably the most stringent in its regulations. In general, the
state laws state the abandonment of electronics defined as “e-waste” as illegal and
having varying penalties for such activities. On the other hand, the Environmental
Protection Agency, an arm of the federal government considers most “e-waste” in the
United States as either “non-hazardous waste” or “non waste” and also provides
exemptions and exclusions for hazardous wastes to encourage reuse and recycling.
The European Union has two comprehensive regulations regarding the reuse, recycling
and disposal of electronic wastes. They are known as the Waste Electrical and Electronic
Equipment Directive and the Restriction of Hazardous Substances Directive both of which
became European law in February 2003. Regulations set by the WEEE are supposed to
ensure that each member state within the European Union achieve a minimum electronic
waste recycling goal of 4kg per head of population per year by 2009 and making
European producers both financially and legally responsible for the safe collection and
disposal of old electronic equipment. In 2012 the WEEE was updated after several years
of concerns of its incomplete compliance and not being able to sufficiently promote the
reuse and recycling of valuable electronic wastes and their export. The updated
legislation significantly strengthens a range of e-waste regulations and sets a target of a
85% electronic waste collection rate by 2016.
Statistics
Sales of new electronics are increasing. According to statistics, 438 million
electronic products were sold in 2009 which is almost double the amount
compared to the sales in 2007, driven by a nine fold increase in mobile phone
sales.
About 40 to 50 million metric tonnes of electronics are dumped as waste,
recycling about 10 t 18%.
According to the U.S Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), it is estimated that
in the next few years, around 30-40 million PCs will have reached “end of life
management”. In 2005, the U.S disposed about 1.5-1.9 million tons of PCs, TV’s,
monitors and other equipment.
According to the UN Environment programme, the worldwide total for electronic
waste could reach 50 million tons per year.
According to EPAs report, electronic waste sows a greater growth rate than any
other municipal waste. Between the years 2007 and 2008, the total volume of
municipal waste decreased while electronic waste volumes continued to increase.
In 2009, an estimate of 5 million tons of electronic products were kept in store,
with CRTs (monitors and TVs) being stored at higher rates.
In 1999, approximately 2.37 million tons of electronics reached end of life
management.
CRTs (monitors and TVs) comprise nearly 47% of all electronics ready for end of
life management.
25% of electronics were collected for recycling with computers collected at the
highest rate of 38%.
In 1998, the amount of gold recovered from electronic scrap in U.S was equivalent
to that recovered from more than 2 million metric tons of gold ore and waste.
A UN study found that it takes about 539 pounds of fossil fuel, 48 pounds of
chemical and 1.5 tons f water t manufacture a computer and its screen.
According to a report issued by the International Data Corporation (IDC), it states
that about 3.5 million tons of used electronics were collected and processed. Out
of the collected electronics in America, 70% is processed and sold at home or te
global market place as goods such as steel, aluminium, precious metals, glass and
plastics. It also states that while American households account for the most of the
new electronics market, they only contribute about 26% to the electronics
recycling market. Indeed 74.1% of the electronics being recycled in America
originate form business and commercial entities.
Following are the facts and figures from the Environmental Protection agency
(EPA)
Management of Used and End-Of-Life Electronics in 2009
Equipment
Ready for End-of-Life
Management
(millions of units)
Disposed
(millions of
units)
Collected for
Recycling
(millions of
units)
Rate of Collection
for Recycling
(by weight)
Computers 47.4 29.4 18 38%
Televisions 27.2 22.7 4.6 17%
Mobile
Devices141 129 11.7 8%
Also according to the EPA:
1. Total volume of e-scrape will double in the next fifteen years, rising from 676
million cubic feet to 1,465 million cubic feet by 2015.
2. Electronic recycling will increase from 122 million cubic feet per year in 2010 to
776 million cubic feet annually by 2015.
3. By early 2020s, it is expected that recycling and reusing activies will surpass
annual volume and weight of electronic devices that become e-waste due to
government legislations and new environmental awareness among corporations
together with new corporate social responsibility programs.
4. Total volume of e-waste in landfills will continue to increase.
Case Study Example:
Sims Recycling Solutions is the global leader in the secure, sustainable and responsible
recovery of retired computers, Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment (WEEE) and
other materials for reuse and recycling. We are the world's largest electronics recycling
company, handling over 735,000 tonnes of e-waste annually in over 50 locations
worldwide.
Sims Recycling Solutions has operations in Australia, India, New Zealand, Singapore and
South Africa, with partnership services available in several Asian Pacific nations such as
China, Japan, Korea, Taiwan and Thailand. The Recycling Solutions division of Sims Metal
Management Limited was created specifically in response to the increasing social and
political pressures to prevent undesirable and often hazardous materials found in
electrical and electronic products being disposed of in an environmentally unsound
manner.
Prior to mechanised processing, hand sorting of WEEE occurs to extract materials such as
batteries and copper for quality control purposes. Some hand sorting can also occur at
later stages of the process for quality control purposes (stages 4 and 5) such as battery
extraction and non-metallic material recovery.
Initial size reduction process reduces materials to approximately 100mm in size. This
prepares the materials for the secondary process.It also ensures secure destruction of
the equipment with sensitive materials such as hard drives.
The material is dropped into a large shaking hopper. This spaces the material out so it
moves evenly onto the conveyor system.
The material then proceeds through a secondary size reduction process. This facilitates
the separation of materials ready for sorting. Dust extracted at this stage is sent for
sound environmental disposal.
An overhead view of the over band magnet equipment
Iron and steel (Ferrous) metals are removed from the reduced material using electro
magnets. This material is then collected in large storage containers ready for sale.
Aluminium, copper and brass (Non Ferrous) metals are separated from material with low
or non-metallic content such as wire, plastic and printed circuit boards. This is achieved
using Eddy Currents( created by rapidly alternating magnetic fields) which induce non-
ferrous content to leap away from the conveyor whilst other material drops straight
down.
A process of water separation is used to separate plastics and glass from printed circuit
boards and copper wire. The printed circuit boards and copper content are collected and
sold. Sensor technology is also sometimes used instead of water separation for this
processing stage.
Conclusion:
Due to the mountains of perilous waste from electronic products growing exponentially in
developing countries, on 22 February 2012, the United Nations called for new recycling
technologies and regulations to safeguard both public health and the environment.
A study launched at a meeting of waste experts in Bali, Indonesia, predicted that by 2020
e-waste from old computers will have jumped by 500 per cent from 2007 levels in India,
and by 200 to 400 per cent in South Africa and China, while that from old mobile phones
will be 7 times higher in China and 18 times higher in India. It noted that China already
engenders about 2.3 million tonnes of e-waste domestically each year, second only to
the United States with about 3 million tonnes, while it remains a chief dumping ground
for developed countries despite having banned e-
waste imports.
Computer sales data from the International
Telecommunication Union, an agency of the
United Nations headquartered in Geneva,
Switzerland.
UNEP Executive Director Achim Steiner said that, “This report gives new resolution to
establishing ambitious, formal and regulated processes for collecting and managing e-
waste via the setting up of enormous, efficient facilities. In addition to curtailing health
tribulations, boosting developing country e-waste recycling rates can have the potential
to generate generous employment, diminish greenhouse gas emissions and recover a
wide range of valuable metals including silver, gold, palladium, copper and indium.”
Consequently, smart new technologies and mechanisms have been sought after.
The Basel Action Network, a Seattle-based non-profit treaty essentially revealed the
overseas dumping of U.S. electronic waste and launched a program to use third-party
auditors to certify recyclers who don't export hazardous electronic waste. According to
this program, recyclers will also agree not to dump the waste in U.S. landfills and consent
to other criteria. The certification is projected to provide companies and consumers with
some assertion that the waste, which can include toxins such as lead and mercury, is
disposed of safely.
Apart from this, an international team of researchers , from the Istituto Officina dei
Materiali at CNR and of the International School for Advanced Studies of Trieste (SISSA),
created a most promising technology, DIPAB.
Researcher Massimo Capone explained that, "A ferroelectric substance has properties
analogous to those of a magnet in electricity, a system in which the electric dipoles tend
to “line up”. Materials with such features are fundamental in the assembly of electronic
devices, from ordinary computers to solar cells. The materials that are usually employed,
like barium or titanium oxides, have a very robust influence on the atmosphere and,
besides, require intricate equipment for their production. This is not the case of the
organic compound we have elaborated and reviewed, that can be processed very
straightforwardly from aqueous solution and has a minimal impact on the environment.
And not only is it environmentally friendlier, but also comparatively inexpensive.”
DIPAB is a molecular crystal. At each point in its lattice, an entire molecule is found
instead of a single atom dissimilar to normal crystals. Such molecules feature “tails” that
can orient themselves much more easily as compared to ions in atomic crystals, thus
facilitating polarization.
The increasing e-waste recycling rate across all geographies is set to drive the market.
GBI Research anticipates the Global E-Waste Recovery Market to reach $21 billion by
2020 from $6.9billion in 2009.
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