The status and development of treatment techniques of typical waste electrical and electronic equipment in China: A review

Abstract

A large quantity of waste electrical and electronic equipment (WEEE) is being generated because technical innovation promotes the unceasing renewal of products. China’s household appliances and electronic products have entered the peak of obsolescence. Due to lack of technology and equipment, recycling of WEEE is causing serious environment pollution. In order to achieve the harmless disposal and resource utilization of WEEE, researchers have performed large quantities of work, and some demonstration projects have been built recently. In this paper, the treatment techniques of typical WEEE components, including printed circuit boards, refrigerator cabinets, toner cartridges, cathode ray tubes, liquid crystal display panels, batteries (Ni–Cd and Li-ion), hard disk drives, and wires are reviewed. An integrated recycling system with environmentally friendly and highly efficient techniques for processing WEEE is proposed. The orientation of further development for WEEE recycling is also proposed.

Keywords

Advanced techniques demonstration project developmental orientation production line typical components WEEE

Get full access to this article

View all access options for this article.

References

CHEARI. (2012) Recovery for waste electrical and electronic equipment – industry research white paper. Available at: http://news.cheaa.com/2012/0612/326822.shtml (accessed August 2013).

Chen

(2005) Cadmium recovery process and modeling in the Ni–Cd batteries by vacuum distillation. Techniques and Equipment for Environment Pollution Control 6: 28–35 (in Chinese).

Chen

Zhang

Zhu

(2009) Lead recovery and the feasibility of foam glass production from funnel glass of dismantled cathode ray tube through pyrovacuum process. Journal of Hazardous Materials 161: 1109–1113.

Chen

Chang

Wang

. (2011) Mixture design of high performance recycled liquid crystal glasses concrete (HPGC). Construction and Building Materials 25: 3886–3892.

Chen

. (2012) The technology and pilot study of pyrolysis of waste wires, Masters dissertation. Tianjin: University of Tianjin.

Espinosa

Tenorio

(2006) Recycling of nikel-cadium batteries using coals as reducing agent. Journal of Power Sources 157: 600–604.

GEM, Recycling System. Available at: www.gemchina.com/en/index.html (accessed August 2013).

Guo

Cao

Guo

. (2008a) A plate produced by nonmetallic materials of pulverized waste printed circuit boards. Environmental Science and Technology 42: 5267–5271.

Guo

Jiang

. (2012) Volatile organic compounds and metal leaching from composite products made from fiberglass-resin portion of printed circuit board waste. Environmental Science and Technology 46: 1028–1034.

10.

Guo

Rao

. (2008b) Phenolic molding compound filled with nonmetals of waste PCBs. Environmental Science and Technology 42: 624–628.

11.

Guo

Tang

(2010) Wood plastic composite produced by nonmetals from pulverized waste printed circuit boards. Environmental Science and Technology 44: 463–468.

12.

Herat

Agamuthu

(2012) E-waste: a problem or an opportunity? Review of issues, challenges and solutions in Asian countries. Waste Management and Research 30: 1113–1129.

13.

(2007) A treating process of resource utilization and no contamination on the waste refrigerators basted on Chinese situation. China Resources Comprehensive Utilization 25: 18–22 (in Chinese).

14.

Zhang

. (2009) Four-position semi-automatic cutting technology for processing of CRT. Recyling and New Equipment of Waste Mechanical and Electrical Products Beijing, CN, 5 June 2009. pp. 35–40 (in Chinese).

15.

Huang

(2009) A novel process for recovering valuable metals from waste nickel-cadmium batteries. Environmental Science and Technology 43: 8974–8978.

16.

Kim

Sohn

Lee

. (2004) Simultaneous separation and renovation of lithium cobalt oxide from the cathode of spent lithium ion rechargeable batteries. Journal of Power Sources 132: 145–149.

17.

Kopp

. (1990) Process for dividing up and recovering the individual materials from old cables. US4964577, 23/10/1990.

18.

Lee

Rhee

(2002) Preparation of LiCoO₂ from spent lithium-ion batteries. Journal of Power Sources 109: 17–21.

19.

(2010) Environmental friendly automatic line for recovering metal from waste printed circuit boards. Environmental Science and Technology 44: 1418–1423.

20.

Duan

Shi

(2011) Heavy metal contamination of surface soil in electronic waste dismantling area: site investigation and source-apportionment analysis. Waste Management and Research 29: 727–738.

21.

Duan

Yuan

(2009a) Case study of a Suzhou pilot project on the suitable treatment technology for scrap computers in China. In: IEEE International Symposium on Sustainable Systems and Technology, Phoenix, AZ, USA, 18–20 May 2009. pp 1–5.

22.

Gao

Duan

. (2009b) Recovery of valuable materials from waste liquid crystal display panel. Waste Management 29: 2033–2039.

23.

Guo

. (2007) Recycle tehchnology for recovering resources and products from waste printed circuit boards. Environmental Science and Technology 41: 1995–2000.

24.

. (2008) The technique for the recycling of copper from waste wires and cables. CN200810022575.8, 8/18/2008.

25.

Lin

Luo

(2009) Recycling of epoxy in waste printed circuit boards (PCBs). Environmental Science and Technology 22: 1–3 (in Chinese).

26.

(2012) An efficient rough vacuum-chlorinated separation method for the recovery of indium from waste liquid crystal display panels. Green Chemistry 14: 3395–3401.

27.

Méar

Yot

Cambon

. (2006) The characterization of waste cathode-ray tube glass. Waste Management 26: 1468–1476.

28.

Nie

Luo

Zheng

. (2008) Trteatment of liquid crystal and recovery of indium from liquid crystal display. Chinese Journal of Environmental Engineering 2: 1251–1254 (in Chinese).

29.

Pan

. (2007) A stripping machine for scrap wire and cable. CN200720056173.0, 28/8/2007.

30.

Puckett

Smith

(2002) Exporting harm: the high-tech trashing of Asia. Seattle: Basel Action Network Silicon Valley Toxics Coalition.

31.

Ruan

(2011) Environmental friendly automated line for recovering the cabinet of waste refrigerator. Waste Management 31: 2319–2326.

32.

Ruan

(2011) An environmental friendly recovery production line of waste toner cartridges. Journal of Hazardous Materials 185: 696–702.

33.

Shi

. (2011) Research progress on recycling technology of end-of-life CRT glass. Materials Review 25: 129–132 (in Chinese).

34.

The Ozone Hole. (2006) Ozone hole consequences. Pocono Pines, PA: The Ozone Hole. Available at: www.theozonehole.com/consequences.htm (accessed August 2013).

35.

Tilmatine

Medles

Bendimerad

. (2009) Electrostatic separators of particles: application to plastic/metal, metal/metal and plastic/plastic mixtures. Waste Management 29: 228–232.

36.

Wang

Cai

Jiang

. (2005) Determination of polybrominated diphenyl ethers in soil and sediment from an electronic waste recycling facility. Chemosphere 60: 810–816.

37.

Wang

. (2009) A study of the effects of LCD glass sand on the properties of concrete. Waste Management 29: 335–341.

38.

Wang

Huang

. (2006) Recycling of waste toner cartridges. CN 101109925A, 21/7/2006.

39.

Waste Electrical and Electronic Products Recycling Directory. (2011). Available at: www.sdpc.gov.cn/zcfb/zcfbgg/2010gg/t20100915_371043.htm (accessed January 2014).

40.

Wen

Zhu

. (2005) Review of the physical treatment of waste printed wiring boards in China. Mining and Metallurgy 14: 58–63 (in Chinese).

41.

Williams

Shu

. (2000) Analysis of remanufacturer waste stream across product sectors. In: Proceedings of the IEEE International Symposium on Electronics and the Environment, San Francisco, CA, USA, 8–10 May 2000. pp. 260–250.

42.

Xie

. (2011) A multi-purpose wire-stripping machine. CN201120135994.X, 1/5/2011.

43.

Yan

Xue

(2013) Disposal of waste computer hard disk drive: data destruction and resources recycling. Waste Management and Research 31: 559–567.

44.

Yang

Liu

. (2011) Blood lead and cadmium levels and related risk factors among children in all electronic recycling area. Journal of Shantou University Medical College 24: 30–34 (in Chinese).

45.

Yang

Retegan

Ekberg

(2013) Indium recovery from discarded LCD panel glass by solvent extraction. Hydrometallurgy 137: 68–77.

46.

Yokoyama

Iji

. (1993) Recycling of printed wiring board waste. In: Proceedings of the 1993 IEEE/Tsukuba International Workshop on Advanced Robotics, Tsukuba, 8–9 November 1993. pp. 55–58.

47.

Yuan

Zhang

. (2012) Innovated application of mechanical activation to separate lead from scrap cathode ray tube funnel glass. Environmental Science and Technology 46: 4109–4114.

48.

Zhan

(2008) Application of vacuum metallurgy to separate pure metal from mixed metallic particles of crushed waste printed circuit board scraps. Environmental Science and Technology 42: 7676–7681.

49.

Zhan

(2009) Separating and recycling metals from mixed metallic particles of crushed electronic wastes by vacuum metallurgy. Environmental Science and Technology 43: 7074–7078.

50.

Zheng

Shen

. (2009) A novel approach to recycling of glass fibers from nonmetal materials of waste printed circuit boards. Journal of Hazardous Materials 170: 978–982.

51.

Zhou

(2012) Response to waste electrical and electronic equipment in China: legislation, recycling system, and advanced integrated process. Environment Science and Technology 46: 4713–4724.

52.

Zhu

Chen

(2009) Recycling of scrap CRT glasses by self-propagating high-temperature synthesis. Rare Metal Materials and Engineering 38: 134–137 (in Chinese).

53.

Zhu

Nie

(2003) Ni–Cd battery recycling technology using high-temperature vacuum distillation. Journal of Tsinghua University (Sciency and Technology) 46: 858–861.

54.

Zhu

. (2012) Research on the renovation of lithium cobalt oxide from the cathode of spent lithium ion batteries by ultrasonic irradiation, doctorate dissertation. Shanghai: Tongji University.