1. Department of Chemical Engineering, Jadavpur University, Kolkata 700032, India 2. Department of Mechanical Engineering, Jadavpur University, Kolkata 700032, India
Metal recovery techniques from electronic waste reported in literature.
Metal recovery processes followed in Industries from electronic waste.
Sustainability analysis of metal recovery processes from electronic waste.
The issue of E-waste disposal is concerning all the stakeholders, from policymakers to the end users which have accelerated the research and development on environmentally sound disposal of E-waste. The recovery of metals (gold, tantalum, copper, iron etc.) from E-waste has become an important focus. The mechanical recycling, thermo-chemical processes like pyrolysis, pyro-, hydro- and bio- metallurgical processes can play important roles in the Metal Recovery from E-waste (MREW) technology. For the industrial application of the MREW technology, it is important to analyze the sustainability. In this paper, two case studies have been presented on E-waste recycling industries in India and China. Based on the literature data, an attempt has been made to assess qualitatively the overall sustainability of MREW technology considering the three pillars, i.e., environmental, economic and social. Two conceptual frameworks with (Option-2) and without (Option-1) pyrolysis for integrated MREW units have been developed and the generalized energy and environmental impact analysis has been made using the principles of LCA. The impacts of two options have been compared. Option 2 has been found to be more efficient and sustainable. It has been realized that climate change, fossil fuel depletion, water depletion, eutrophication, acidification, fresh and marine water ecotoxicity are possible impact categories. The recommendations based on the generalized assessment are in good agreement with the findings of previous researchers on individual steps of MREW unit. The findings of this paper are expected to be beneficial to researchers and stakeholders for research directions and decision making on MREW.
Pyrometallurgical processes (Ghodrat et al., 2017)
Comparison of secondary copper smelting with and without E-waste.
An input rate of 12,500 kg per hour of feed materials, (48 wt% copper scrap/metal oxides, 48 wt% waste PCB, 3.4 wt% slag and 0.6 wt% coke)
ReCiPe
Australia
1. Human Toxicity 2. Climate Change 3. Marine eutrophication 4. Freshwater eutrophication 5. Fresh water ecotoxicity 6. Water depletion
Hydrometallurgical processes (Iannicelli-Zubiani et al., 2017)
Standalone LCA
100 kg of electronic boards of mobile phones
Data obtained from pilot plant and SimaPro
EU/Italy
1. Eutrophication 2. Acidification 3. Global warming 4. Abiotic depletion 5. Human toxicity
Tab.3
Recovery processes
Typical industry
Input material
Expected output material
Machinery involved
Disadvantages
References
Pyrolysis
Jectec, Japan
Different PCB
Cu, Fe etc
Pyrolyzer
High energy penalty
(De Marco et al., 2008; Ghosh et al. 2014)
Plasma Process
PyroGenesis Canada Inc.
All type of PCB
Base Metals and Precious metals.
Plasma torch chamber
Very costly
(Tippayawong and Khongkrapan, 2009)
CRT Treatment
E-Parisaara India
TV, Monitor etc
Hg may be recovered
Laser Cutter
Toxic pollutants and health hazard
(Ling and Poon, 2012; Ghosh et al. 2014)
Leaching
Umicore
PCB chips or paste
Gold and other precious metals
Reactor
Toxic waste water
(Hagelüken, 2006; Kim et al., 2011)
Bioleaching
N/A
PCB chips or paste at certain %
Gold and other precious metals
Bio-reactor
Very slow process
(Alan et al., 2005)
Smelting & Electro-chemical refining
Umicore, Outotec TSL, Aurubis recycling.
All kinds of PCB
Different base metals (Cu, Fe etc) & noble metals (Ag, Au, Pt).
Smelting device
Higher emission, high energy penalty, slag generation etc
(Khaliq et al., 2014; Cui and Zhang, 2008)
Tab.4
Stakeholder category
Subcategories
References
Worker
Working Hours
Umair et al. 2015
Child Labour
Health and Safety
Social Security
Wages
Equal opportunities/discrimination
Local community
Safety and health
Umair et al. 2015
Community engagement
Local Employment
Society
Public contribution to sustainable issues
Umair et al. 2015
Contribution to economic development
Governance
Corruption
United Nations, 2007
Crime
Demographics
Population
United Nations, 2007
Education
Education Level
Ghodrat et al., 2017
Literacy
Awareness
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