IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/eee/rensus/v112y2019icp317-323.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Eco-friendly and cost-effective strategies for metals recovery from printed circuit boards

Author

Listed:
  • Pietrelli, Loris
  • Ferro, Sergio
  • Vocciante, Marco

Abstract

The possible optimization of metal recovery from Printed Circuit Boards (PCBs) and Central Processing Units (CPUs) has been investigated. Usual practice is to recover primarily the metals with the highest market price. In contrast, the present work shows how strategic considerations of the value share (%) of metals content and data regarding the environmental impact of their recovery can instruct about the best strategies to adopt, pointing at the metals to be recovered as a priority depending on the case. An accurate PCBs’ characterization carried out through microwave digestion with a mixture of HNO3, HF and HCl, is a first essential step of the procedure. Then, metals are recovered through chemical leaching with different chemical substances, exploiting both chemical and physical steps. A proposal is presented to improve the environmental and economic sustainability of the treatment of PCBs, which provides for the initial recovery of Cu, Pb and Sn from the whole boards, through leaching with 6M HNO3, followed by the recovery of gold and other precious metals from the board components once removed and appropriately crushed. Although unusual, the recovery procedure can be adapted accordingly, allowing greater profits, easier management and higher metals recovery rates.

Suggested Citation

  • Pietrelli, Loris & Ferro, Sergio & Vocciante, Marco, 2019. "Eco-friendly and cost-effective strategies for metals recovery from printed circuit boards," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 112(C), pages 317-323.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:rensus:v:112:y:2019:i:c:p:317-323
    DOI: 10.1016/j.rser.2019.05.055
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1364032119303788
    Download Restriction: Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1016/j.rser.2019.05.055?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Graedel, T. E. & Bertram, M. & Fuse, K. & Gordon, R. B. & Lifset, R. & Rechberger, H. & Spatari, S., 2002. "The contemporary European copper cycle: The characterization of technological copper cycles," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 42(1-2), pages 9-26, August.
    2. Perrine Chancerel & Christina E.M. Meskers & Christian Hagelüken & Vera Susanne Rotter, 2009. "Assessment of Precious Metal Flows During Preprocessing of Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment," Journal of Industrial Ecology, Yale University, vol. 13(5), pages 791-810, October.
    3. Yu, Jinglei & Williams, Eric & Ju, Meiting, 2010. "Analysis of material and energy consumption of mobile phones in China," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 38(8), pages 4135-4141, August.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Gazi Murat Duman & Elif Kongar, 2023. "ESG Modeling and Prediction Uncertainty of Electronic Waste," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(14), pages 1-20, July.
    2. Marco Vocciante & Valery Meshalkin, 2020. "An Accurate Inverse Model for the Detection of Leaks in Sealed Landfills," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(14), pages 1-16, July.
    3. Nassani, Abdelmohsen A. & Awan, Usama & Zaman, Khalid & Hyder, Shabir & Aldakhil, Abdullah Mohammed & Abro, Muhammad Moinuddin Qazi, 2019. "Management of natural resources and material pricing: Global evidence," Resources Policy, Elsevier, vol. 64(C).

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Daniela Cordova-Pizarro & Ismael Aguilar-Barajas & David Romero & Ciro A. Rodriguez, 2019. "Circular Economy in the Electronic Products Sector: Material Flow Analysis and Economic Impact of Cellphone E-Waste in Mexico," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 11(5), pages 1-18, March.
    2. Taelim Choi & Randall W. Jackson & Nancey Green Leigh & Christa D. Jensen, 2011. "A Baseline Input—Output Model with Environmental Accounts (IOEA) Applied to E-Waste Recycling," International Regional Science Review, , vol. 34(1), pages 3-33, January.
    3. Guo, Tianjiao & Geng, Yong & Song, Xiaoqian & Rui, Xue & Ge, Zewen, 2023. "Tracing magnesium flows in China: A dynamic material flow analysis," Resources Policy, Elsevier, vol. 83(C).
    4. Yoshida, Aya & Terazono, Atsushi & Ballesteros, Florencio C. & Nguyen, Duc-Quang & Sukandar, Sunandar & Kojima, Michikazu & Sakata, Shozo, 2016. "E-waste recycling processes in Indonesia, the Philippines, and Vietnam: A case study of cathode ray tube TVs and monitors," Resources, Conservation & Recycling, Elsevier, vol. 106(C), pages 48-58.
    5. Ghodeswar, Archana & Oliver, Matthew E., 2022. "Trading one waste for another? Unintended consequences of fly ash reuse in the Indian electric power sector," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 165(C).
    6. Lai, Kee-hung & Wong, Christina W.Y., 2012. "Green logistics management and performance: Some empirical evidence from Chinese manufacturing exporters," Omega, Elsevier, vol. 40(3), pages 267-282.
    7. Neves, Sónia Almeida & Marques, António Cardoso & de Sá Lopes, Leonardo Batista, 2024. "Is environmental regulation keeping e-waste under control? Evidence from e-waste exports in the European Union," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 216(C).
    8. Horațiu Vermeșan & Ancuța-Elena Tiuc & Marius Purcar, 2019. "Advanced Recovery Techniques for Waste Materials from IT and Telecommunication Equipment Printed Circuit Boards," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(1), pages 1-23, December.
    9. Jamie Wordsworth & Nadia Khan & Jack Blackburn & Jason E. Camp & Athanasios Angelis-Dimakis, 2021. "Technoeconomic Assessment of Organic Halide Based Gold Recovery from Waste Electronic and Electrical Equipment," Resources, MDPI, vol. 10(2), pages 1-12, February.
    10. Lu, Yan & Xu, Zhenming, 2016. "Precious metals recovery from waste printed circuit boards: A review for current status and perspective," Resources, Conservation & Recycling, Elsevier, vol. 113(C), pages 28-39.
    11. Yang, Tian-Jian & Zhang, Yue-Jun & Huang, Jin & Peng, Ruo-Hong, 2013. "Estimating the energy saving potential of telecom operators in China," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 61(C), pages 448-459.
    12. Dias, Pablo R. & Schmidt, Lucas & Chang, Nathan L. & Monteiro Lunardi, Marina & Deng, Rong & Trigger, Blair & Bonan Gomes, Lucas & Egan, Renate & Veit, Hugo, 2022. "High yield, low cost, environmentally friendly process to recycle silicon solar panels: Technical, economic and environmental feasibility assessment," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 169(C).
    13. Ben Bridgens & Kersty Hobson & Debra Lilley & Jacquetta Lee & Janet L. Scott & Garrath T. Wilson, 2019. "Closing the Loop on E‐waste: A Multidisciplinary Perspective," Journal of Industrial Ecology, Yale University, vol. 23(1), pages 169-181, February.
    14. Spatari, S. & Bertram, M. & Gordon, Robert B. & Henderson, K. & Graedel, T.E., 2005. "Twentieth century copper stocks and flows in North America: A dynamic analysis," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 54(1), pages 37-51, July.
    15. Manivannan S Velmurugan, 2016. "The energy consumption and health hazards of mobile phones," Energy & Environment, , vol. 27(8), pages 896-904, December.
    16. Fu, Xinkai & Ueland, Stian M. & Olivetti, Elsa, 2017. "Econometric modeling of recycled copper supply," Resources, Conservation & Recycling, Elsevier, vol. 122(C), pages 219-226.
    17. Spatari, S. & Bertram, M. & Fuse, K. & Graedel, T. E. & Rechberger, H., 2002. "The contemporary European copper cycle: 1 year stocks and flows," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 42(1-2), pages 27-42, August.
    18. Torsten Hummen & Stefanie Hellweg & Ramin Roshandel, 2023. "Optimizing Lifespan of Circular Products: A Generic Dynamic Programming Approach for Energy-Using Products," Energies, MDPI, vol. 16(18), pages 1-27, September.
    19. Truttmann, Nina & Rechberger, Helmut, 2006. "Contribution to resource conservation by reuse of electrical and electronic household appliances," Resources, Conservation & Recycling, Elsevier, vol. 48(3), pages 249-262.
    20. van Berkel, Rene, 2007. "Eco-efficiency in primary metals production: Context, perspectives and methods," Resources, Conservation & Recycling, Elsevier, vol. 51(3), pages 511-540.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:eee:rensus:v:112:y:2019:i:c:p:317-323. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Catherine Liu (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.elsevier.com/wps/find/journaldescription.cws_home/600126/description#description .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.