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The best available technologies in e-waste management

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Presentation on theme: "The best available technologies in e-waste management"— Presentation transcript:

1 The best available technologies in e-waste management
CONFERENCE: DEVELOPMENT OF INFRASTRUCTURE FOR WASTE DISPOSAL IN KAZAKHSTAN ALMATY, KAZAKHSTAN, IEC ATAKENT Anahide Bondolfi

2 Structure of Presentation
Collection Recycling process: Composition of e-waste Manual dismantling Mechanical recycling Best practices for dismantling and mechanical facilities Hazards and pollutants related to e-waste recycling and best practices

3 How to collect e-waste?

4 Efficient collection strategies
The key to a successful model is to make it as convenient as possible for the consumers! The collection models must rely on existing systems (informal collection, if existing) A pricing policy must be implemented if the consumers expect value for obsolete equipment (avoid cherry picking) Collectors should only collect, no transformation of any kind is allowed

5 How to recycle e-waste?

6 What is the typical composition of e-waste?
(example in Switzerland)

7 Composition of e-waste in Switzerland
TECHNICAL REPORT 2014 SENS Swico SLRS

8 Manual dismantling Mechanical recycling Pre-treatments units
Picture: Cablofer, Bex, Switzerland

9 Manual dismantling or mechanical pre-treatment?
Mechanical recycling Tons of e-waste per year Small and medium quantities (usually 200 to 2’000) Important quantities (min 5’000 tons). If less, semi automatic facilities Staff One technician can dismantle about 10 to 40 tons of e-waste a year, depending on how far the dismantling process is conducted. Little staff is required Costs Viable with low cost labor High investment costs : 10 to 15 million USD High operating costs (power consumption and maintenance) Strengths Very easy to adapt to downstream processes Allows to remove easily pollutants Economically interesting for important quantities

10 Recycling steps in a mechanical pre-treatment unit
Mechanical separation of plastic and metal 1. Shredding 2. Magnetic separation 3. Granulation 4. Eddy current 5. Density separation Printed circuit board manually removed (sometimes done after shredding) Small pollutants manually removed Manual sorting of material and removing of monitors

11 Outputs of the pre-treatment
Plastic, metal local/ regional treatment (plastic recycler, refinery) Manual dismantling facility Printed circuit board International recycler Collection system Permanent collection points and awareness building to reduce stock and ensure future input in dismantling facility /recyler (incl. refurbishment) Or Mechanical pre-treatment facility Hazardous Outputs (battery, capacitors,…) International integrated smelter

12 Chemical treatment of Printed Circuit boards at Umicore, Belgium
Other plants are located in Sweden, Germany, Canada and Japan Valorised: Copper (15%), Nickel (10%), Silver (<1%), Palladium (<0.1%), palatine, Gold (<0.1%), Indium, tin, antimonies (<0.1%) , lead (<1%), bismuth (<0.1%), arsenic (<0.1%), selenium, tellurium, cobalt (4%), ruthenium (<0.1%), mercury, cadmium (<1%)

13 Best practices for dismantling facilities and pre-treatment units

14 Training and guidelines
Train staff to proper EHS procedures and use protective equipment Check available technical guidelines and standards: STEP R2 Solutions WEEELABEX E-stewards

15 Keep track of the downstream vendors
Monitoring Material flows must be weighed and registered at the entry and the exit of the dismantling unit Keep track of the downstream vendors Computers Refrigerator Television Washing machine = 100 kg Dismantling unit = 100 kg Copper Steel Plastics Printed circuit boards

16 Which hazards and pollutants are related to e-waste recycling?

17 Hazardous substances in equipments
Occurence in equipments Possible adverse effects PBDEs, PBBs Flame retardants in plastics Hormonal effects, under thermal treatment possible formation of dioxines and furanes Polychlorinated biphenyls (PCB) Condensers, transformers Cancer, effects on the immune system, reproductive system, nervous system, endocrine system and other health effects Chlorofluorocarbon (CFC) Cooling units, insulation foam deleterious effect on the ozone layer -> increased incidence of skin cancer / genetic damage Americium (Am) Smoke detectors radioactive element Antimony carcinogenic potential Arsenic gallium arsenide inlight emitting diodes skin diseases, decrease nerve conduction velocity, lung cancer Barium Getters in CRT brain swelling, muscle weakness, damage to the heart, liver and spleen Cadmium NiCd-batteries, fluorescent layer (CRT screens), printer inks and toners symptoms of poisoning (weakness, fever, headache, chills, sweating and muscular pain), lung cancer and kidney damage Chromium VI Data tapes, floppy-disks irritating to eyes, skin and mucous membranes, DNA damage Lead CRT screens, batteries, printed wiring boards vomiting, diarrhea, convulsions, coma or even death, appetite loss, abdominal pain, constipation, fatigue, sleeplessness, irritability and headache Mercury Fluorescent lamps, some alkaline batteries, switches brain and liver damage

18 Hazardous substances contained in e-waste: plastics and cables
Risk that plastics containing hazardous substances such as flame retardants will be mixed with “clean” plastics and will contaminate the plastic streams, resulting in diluted amounts of hazardous substances in consumer products made of recycled plastics. Don’t mix e-waste plastic with other plastics Inform your plastic recycler Keep track of all downstream vendors X X

19 Hazardous substances contained in e-waste: printed circuit boards
If shredded: in mechanical recycling processes, there is a risk of cross contamination of other materials by the hazardous substances contained in the printed circuit boards  One solution is to separate printed circuit boards before shredding (dismantling) If left abandoned in a dumpsite and a landfill, the boards will slowly leach the many substances they contain into the ground and underground water  No dumping, but export to a recycling facility

20 Hazardous substances contained in e-waste: monitors
All processes involving dismantling of appliances must be performed by trained workers No breaking of lamps Getter pill (Barium) Back-light lamps in flat screens, and also photocopy machines (Hg)

21 Hazardous substances contained in e-waste: other components
 Hazardous components must be removed manually and securely stored and labeled: Batteries Capacitors (PCB containing) Lights (mercury) Misc (getters pills, mercury switches, etc.)

22 Hazardous substances released by e-waste recycling processes : wet chemical leaching
During manual and usually informal backyard recycling processes, emissions will occur from improper recycling practices. Additional agents such as cyanide, acids or mercury are used for the process  All processes involving chemical reactions must take place in industrial facilities

23 Hazardous substances released by e-waste recycling processes: open air incineration
Dioxin formation during burning of halogenated plastics  All processes involving material incineration / melting must be banned!

24 Authorised value (VSBo)
Hazardous substances released by WEEE recycling processes: a proven contamination Soil analysis in Delhi Parameter Measured Value Authorised value (VSBo) Indicative value Investigation value Alert value [mg/kgTS] Gold < 5.0 Copper 7'740.0 40.0 150.0 1'000.0 Lead 54'900.0 50.0 200.0 2'000.0 Zinc 4'730.0 Mercury < 1.0 0.5 Cadmium 1.6 0.8 2.0 30.0

25 Conclusions

26 All steps, including recycling, have costs
Collection Dismantling / Pre-processing Downstream treatment Acquisition of the e-waste purchase prices of the collected material (i.e. tender offers, to scavengers) Collection and transport transport costs, costs for take-back points, labour costs, investment costs (truck, etc.) dismantling labour costs, training costs, investment costs and depreciation for equipment administration labour costs, investment costs and depreciation for equipment infrastructure & equipment investment costs and depreciation for real estate, tools, vehicles, etc. Material recovery sales of recovered materials on the commodity market Material disposal Cost for disposal / treatment of hazardous / non valuable materials Transport and handling costs  Need for a financing mechanism to do an environmentally sound recycling!

27 What to remember… It is possible to start small, with low technology and labor intensive processes, and progressively upgrade to a more mechanized process with increasing volumes If mechanical facility or manual dismantling unit, it mainly depends on the amount collected, so the priority is to ensure the collection! The staff involved in collection and dismantling needs to be trained for OHS procedures (look at the guidelines!) Manual dismantling to remove pollutants is always needed, even with mechanical facilities Refurbishment is always a priority

28 Thank you for your attention!
Anahide Bondolfi Thank you for your attention!


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