Recycling

Shuting Zhang

Spring 2011

CBE 555

E-waste

Outline• General information • Recycling regarding: - Paper - Glass - Plastics -Aluminum - E-waste etc.

• Recycling is the process of taking a product at the end of its useful life and using all or part of it to make another product.

• The internationally recognized symbol for recycling includes three arrows moving in a triangle. Each arrow represents a different part of the recycling process, from collection to re-manufacture to resale.

Generally Recycling knowledge

(http://www.environment-green.com/)

Nowadays Recycling• General facts - Each person creates about 4.7 pounds of waste every

single day

- In the US 33.4% of solid waste is either recycled or composted, 12.6% is burned in combustion facilities and 54% makes it's way into landfills

- Each ton of mixed paper that is recycled can save the energy equivalent to 185 gallons of gasoline

Recycling in the US

(http://www.lotuslive.org/waste/recycling.php)

MSW= municipal solid waste

Recycling in states

E-waste

E-Waste • Definition Electronic waste, e-waste, e-scrap,

or Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment (WEEE) describes loosely discarded, surplus, obsolete, or broken electrical or electronic devices.

Informal processing of electronic waste in developing countries causes serious health and pollution problems.

-- There are over 20-50 million tons of e-waste generated worldwide each year, constituted by cell phones, computers, music devices and also other electronic devices like microwaves and refrigerators. -- . In the United States alone, people through away over 350,000 cell phones and 130,000 computers a day; over 100 million cell phones per year.

E-waste recycling process

• Current disposal method: --Landfills --Incineration --Acid baths

• Electronics contain over 1000 different materials , many of them toxic

• In the US, end of life electronics end up in landfills or are exported to developing countries

• Developing countries are the worlds dumping grounds for e-waste

Why e-waste will be a problem?

• Landfill disposal allows heave metals to leach into ground water

Example: dark water

• Incineration makes hazardous material airborne Example: workers lungs problem

• Exports materials are handled incorrectly - Most e-waste goes to China, India and Africa - Workers are untrained and uneducated in safe handling of

electronic waste - Not enough environmental protection laws• Acid baths are dangerous and cause water and soil contamination

• Where are e-waste go? How people treated e-wastes.

• http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZHTWRYXy2gE

E-waste Recycling process

• Landfill-Landfill is a site for the disposal of water materials by burial and is the oldest form of waste treatment.

1. Confined to as small area as possible.2. Compacted to reduce their volume.3. Covered (usually daily) with layers of soil.Disadvantages:Harm to the soilNon- biodegradable stuff in the earth

How long it takes disappear?

Diaper 500-600 years

Sock 5-6 months

Styrofoam cup 106 years

Glass bottle 106 years

Leather belt 40-50 years

Wooden block 10-20 years

Paper box 1-2 months

Aluminum can 200-500 years

(From 2008 spring’s PowerPoint)

E-waste Recycling process• Incineration: It is a controlled and complete combustion process, in which the waste

material is burned in specially designed incinerators at a high temperature (900-1000oC).

Advantages: -- reduction of waste volume-- get energy from combustion

Damages:--Contains hazardous gas and organic substances -- e-waste incineration plants contribute significantly to the annual

emissions of cadmium and mercury.-- heavy metals not emitted into the atmosphere are transferred to slag

and exhaust gas residues and can reenter the environment on disposal.

E-waste recycling process• Extraction: The e-waste is mined for the lead, gold, copper and

other metals that are found in the circuit boards, wiring, chips and other parts of electronic devices.

New recycling and recovery technology needed for one of the most troublesome components of e-waste — printed circuit boards (PCBs).

-- In 2005, The United States Geological Survey estimated that in the more than half a billion old phones stored away in people’s drawers, there was more than $300 million worth of gold, palladium, silver, copper, and platinum contained in the precious metals in those cell phones.

Environmental impacts

• Heavy contamination in e-waste recycling regions

--Soil, air, water and sediments all contained high level of contamination

-Trace metals (Lead, Zinc, Nickel, Copper, Mercury and Cadmium)

-Polychlorinated Biphenyls -Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons -Dioxins

Damages:• Black Water

Much of the waste from the work, particularly the ash from the burning of coal, is dumped into city's streams and canals, poisoning the wells and groundwater.

Guiyu, the river has highest number of cancer causing toxins in the world; the river which runs through it contains up to 2,400 times the World Health Organization’s acceptable threshold for lead.

A study in China: Study of dioxin levels among women of child bearing age at an e-

waste recycling site, and compared those levels to women in an area without e-waste recycling.

-- They analyzed levels of dioxins - compounds linked to cancer, developmental defects, and other health problems - in samples of breast milk, placenta, and hair.

• Results: non-recycling area -- significantly higher levels of dioxins -- the daily intake of infants from 6 months of

breast feeding at the recycling site was more than double that of the reference site.

Useful website:

• http://www.countyofdane.com/pwht/recycle/categories.aspx

References:

• http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Electronic_waste• http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/

0,9171,1870485,00.html• http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Computer_recycl

ing