Abstract
The useful life of electrical and electronic equipment (EEE) has been shortened as a consequence of the advancement in technology and change in consumer patterns. This has resulted in the generation of large quantities of electronic waste (e-waste) that needs to be managed. The handling of e-waste including combustion in incinerators, disposing in landfill or exporting overseas is no longer permitted due to environmental pollution and global legislations. Additionally, the presence of precious metals (PMs) makes e-waste recycling attractive economically. In this paper, current metallurgical processes for the extraction of metals from e-waste, including existing industrial routes, are reviewed. In the first part of this paper, the definition, composition and classifications of e-wastes are described. In the second part, separation of metals from e-waste using mechanical processing, hydrometallurgical and pyrometallurgical routes are critically analyzed. Pyrometallurgical routes are comparatively economical and eco-efficient if the hazardous emissions are controlled. Currently, pyrometallurgical routes are used initially for the segregation and upgrading of PMs (gold and silver) into base metals (BMs) (copper, lead and nickel) and followed by hydrometallurgical and electrometallurgical processing for the recovery of pure base and PMs. For the recycling of e-waste in Australia, challenges such as collection, transportation, liberation of metal fractions, and installation of integrated smelting and refining facilities are identified.
Highlights
The demand of electrical and electronic equipment (EEE) has increased dramatically with the advancement in technology
printed circuit boards (PCBs) of FR-4 types are used for small electronic equipment and FR-2 is used for larger appliances
Agglomeration may be required to effectively harness the energy content and to minimize the health risk posed by fine dust particles; Ceramic components in feed material can increase the volume of slag generated in the blast furnaces, which thereby increases the risk of losing precious metals (PMs) from base metals (BMs); Partial recovery and purity of PMs are achieved by pyrometallurgical routes
Summary
The demand of electrical and electronic equipment (EEE) has increased dramatically with the advancement in technology. Different metallurgical routes are used to extract valuable metals from e-waste. The reported definitions of e-waste in literature are described here: European WEEE Directive “Electrical or electronic equipment which is waste ... According to the Association of Plastics Manufacturers in Europe (APME), material consumption in electric and electronic equipment is summarized in Table 2 [5]. Printed circuit boards (PCBs) are found in electrical and electronics appliances (televisions, computers, mobile phones and laptops). PCBs are composed of 40% metals, 30% plastics and 30%. There are two types of PCBs (FR-4 and FR-2), which are used in mobile phones and personal computers. PCBs of FR-4 types are used for small electronic equipment (mobile phones) and FR-2 is used for larger appliances (computers and television). Metals in e-waste can be grouped into PMs, platinum group metals (PGMs), BMs, metals of concern (MCs), and scarce elements (SEs), such as the following [20]: PMs: PGMs: BMs: MCs (Hazardous): SEs: Au, Ag; Pd, Pt, Rh, Ir and Ru; Cu, Al, Ni, Sn, Zn and Fe; Hg, Be, In, Pb, Cd, As and Sb; Te, Ga, Se, Ta and Ge
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