Tracking the Flow of Resources in Electronic Waste - The Case of End-of-Life Computer Hard Disk Drives

Environmental Science & Technology
Komal HabibHenrik Wenzel

Abstract

Recovery of resources, in particular, metals, from waste flows is widely seen as a prioritized option to reduce their potential supply constraints in the future. The current waste electrical and electronic equipment (WEEE) treatment system is more focused on bulk metals, where the recycling rate of specialty metals, such as rare earths, is negligible compared to their increasing use in modern products, such as electronics. This study investigates the challenges in recovering these resources in the existing WEEE treatment system. It is illustrated by following the material flows of resources in a conventional WEEE treatment plant in Denmark. Computer hard disk drives (HDDs) containing neodymium-iron-boron (NdFeB) magnets were selected as the case product for this experiment. The resulting output fractions were tracked until their final treatment in order to estimate the recovery potential of rare earth elements (REEs) and other resources contained in HDDs. The results further show that out of the 244 kg of HDDs treated, 212 kg comprising mainly of aluminum and steel can be finally recovered from the metallurgic process. The results further demonstrate the complete loss of REEs in the existing shredding-based WEEE treatment proce...Continue Reading

References

Apr 28, 2011·ACS Applied Materials & Interfaces·Anna J SvaganPoul Jensen
Aug 11, 2012·Science·Barbara K Reck, T E Graedel
Jun 18, 2014·Environmental Science & Technology·H M Dhammika BandaraMarion H Emmert
Jul 17, 2014·Environmental Science & Technology·Benjamin SprecherGert Jan Kramer
Sep 23, 2014·Environmental Science & Technology·Komal HabibHenrik Wenzel
Feb 27, 2015·Environmental Science & Technology·Rolf WidmerPatrick A Wäger
Apr 2, 2015·Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America·T E GraedelBarbara K Reck

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Citations

Dec 29, 2015·Environmental Science & Technology·Xianlai ZengJinhui Li
Aug 29, 2019·Environmental Science & Technology·Zhi CaoGang Liu

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