The recovery of metals from electronic scrap

Abstract

Most of the published literature on the recycling of scrapped electronic devices is listed in chronological order in Table I. In the 1970s and early to mid-1980s, the predominant method of recycling was blast furnace smelting in conjunction with secondary copper or lead smelters. Since the mid-1980s, the trend has shifted toward the hydrometallurgical processing of scrap. The emphasis has always been on the recovery of precious metals, namely gold, silver, platinum and palladium, from electronic scrap for their obvious economic values. In recent years, greater importance has been placed on the recovery of all metals, including low-concentration metals such as cadmium, because of increasingly strict environmental controls. The electronic scrap recycling program of the 1990s will ha ve to meet many objectives—efficient recovery of all metals, strict effluent and emission controls, the use of nontoxic reagents, maximum recycling of chemical reagents, and minimum energy requirements—in an economical and environmentally safe manner.