1. Materials Recycling Prof. Dr. Ir. Ab Stevels, M.A.h.c.
Chair of Applied EcoDesign
Design for Sustainability Lab
Industrial Design Engineering
Delft University of Technology
August 25, 2019

2. Outline Introduction Disassembly Shredding and separation
Material costs and revenues
Secondary material outlets and compatibility
Incineration and landfill
Conclusions
August 25, 2019

3. Recycling Chain Collection Quantity Material and component liberation
Environmental and economic treatment
August 25, 2019 3

4. Processing of Discarded Products
Selection for product Reuse
Disassembly for:
Mechanical
Component Reuse
treatment
Iron
Components
Aluminium
Material Reuse
Materials
Shredding
Copper/ precious metals
Control of
Hazardous Waste
Separation
Hazardous
Mixed plastics
August 25, 2019

5. Disassembly vs. Mechanical Treatment+
Disassembly because of value
(recycling)
Mechanical treatment
Disassembly because of cost
(control hazardous materials)
“What you do is value/cost dependant” € _
August 25, 2019

6. Disassembly
August 25, 2019

7. Disassembly: Minimal Amounts to Achieve Cost Neutral
Minimal amount of material to be disassembled per minute
(data based on West European price level)
Precious metals
Plastics
Gold
0.05 g
PPE
250 g
Palladium
0.15 g
PC, POM
350 g
Silver
5 g
ABS
800 g
Metals
Glass
Copper
300 g
6000 g
Aluminium
700 g
Iron g
August 25, 2019

8. Standard Disassembly Times (seconds)
Screws
6.5
Nuts / bolts
11.5
Glue joints
12.0
Display from PWB
25.0
Screws not directly
10.5
Click, simple
3.5
Clamps
15.5
Cooling plates
26.0
Screws to be broken
18.5
Click, complicated
7.5
Wire connections
2.0
Axis etc.
9.0
Change screw driver
4.0
Nails
13.0
Elco from PWB
4.5
Bending joints
6.0
August 25, 2019

9. Disassembly Benchmark (TV’s)
Gross time (s)
TV1
TV2
TV3
TV4
TV5
Getting ready 18 24 38 32 34
Mains cord/ plug 20 12 16
Unscrew back cover 56 66 28
Clean and sort back cover 42 22 44 14
Take out and sort PWB
Take out and sort speaker 54
Deflection unit 26 30
Get CRT out 72 50 74 70 90
Clean and sort CRT 62 68 46
Clean and sort front cover 58 82
Total
424
380
414
386
372
August 25, 2019

10. Disassembly Analysis Determine Σ Nj * tstandard Identify improvement
With: N = Number of joints j
tstandard = Standard disassembly time per joint
Identify improvement
Change of architecture
Comparison with competitors products
Lower disassembly time = lower assembly time
August 25, 2019

11. Example Disassembly Analysis Portable audio (‘boombox’)
Brand 1
Brand 2
Brand 3
Brand 4
Screws
122 73 82
Connectors 7 14 5
Solder points 16 3
Click 29
Total calc. disassembly time
1074
630
628
796
August 25, 2019

12. Deep level manual dismantling
Key reference:
Best of 2 Worlds project (UNU)
F. Wang, and H. Huisman, “Economic conditions for formal and informal recycling of e-waste in China,” 2008, Proceedings of the 2008 Electronic Goes Green Conference, 2008,
United Nations University. “Sustainable innovation & technology transfer, Industrial sector studies, Recycling – From e-waste to resources, final report,” 2009, pp.27-35
August 25, 2019 12

13. Deep level manual dismantling
Liberate heterogeneous materials and components more effectively (toxic and valuable fractions)
More environmental gain compared to shredding
Low cost in developing countries like China, improve employment
Solutions for disassemble fractions towards professional end-processing shall be prepared
August 25, 2019 13

14. Eco-efficiency Directions (1kg of desktop computer)
(Pts)
Environmental gain
Costs
Environmental burden
Revenues
(€)
€ 0,40/ kg
(revenue)
+ 305 Pts (gain)
Shredding X
€ 0,85/kg
+390 Pts
(gain)
Deep level dismantling
10 Pts
(impact)
+ € 0,10/kg (cost)
Landfill
August 25, 2019

15. Monitoring and accounting system Dynamic management system
Technical roadmap
Preprocessing
manual dismantling to separate the components/fractions until the optimal dismantling depth is reached
Further
processing
Reuse
Base metal – refinery
Normal Plastics - plastics recycling/incineration
PWB – Precious metal recovery (Umicore)
Battery – Professional treatment factory
Electrolyte capacitor (PCB) – Incineration
CRT glass – lead-glass recycling/storage
FR plastics– incineration/plastic recycling
Mercury Lamp – Lamp treatment
Toner cartridge – Professional recycling
LCD - ???
EHS system
Monitoring and accounting system
Dynamic management system
August 25, 2019
August 25, 2019 15

16. Mechanical Treatment
August 25, 2019

17. Mechanical Treatment CRT Containing Appliances
August 25, 2019

18. Mechanical Treatment Non-CRT Containing Appliances
Aluminium
Ferro
Copper
Residue
Other
browngood
Eddy Current
Magnet
Shredder
Sifter
Optional: Plastics 1
(clean from handpicking)
Optional: Plastics 2
(contaminated)
August 25, 2019

19. Maximizing Yield of Mechanical Treatment, I
Recyclers
Revenues for metals (copper, precious metals)
Costs for final waste disposal (mixed plastics/ FR)
Balancing revenues and costs
Example mixed plastics:
The Netherlands: Fraction to copper smelter has high mixed plastics/ FR content due to avoiding high costs at landfill/ incineration
Spain: Fraction to copper smelter has high copper content due to low disposal costs mixed plastics/ FR
August 25, 2019

20. Maximizing Yield of Mechanical Treatment, II
Metal smelters
Rewards for economies of scale
Penalties for unwanted elements (limits)
Rewards for precious metals (threshold)
Example lead when:
Separately disassembled as metal: little value
In copper fraction: dependent on type of smelter: high threshold/ penalties
In mixed plastics stream to incineration: low threshold/ penalties
August 25, 2019

21. Material Costs and Revenues
August 25, 2019

22. Material Costs and Revenues (2007)
Material €/kg Remarks
ABS* 0,82 * Mono stream, without flame retardants,
PVC* 0,43 no metal coatings and stickers
PPE-S/B* 0,91
PC* 1,25
PC-ABS* 0,88
Mixed plastics -0,10 Incineration (AVR)
FR plastics -1,13 Incineration (AVR chemie)
Ferro metals 0,10 Fe-scrap
Picture tubes -0,20 Ceramics
Deflection unit 0,50 Cu-smelter
Wiring 0,40 Cu-smelter
PWB (incl. comp.) 0,10 Cu-smelter
Speakers 0,03 Fe-Cu-scrap
August 25, 2019

23. Upgrading of fractions : “ Go for Gold, (economic & environmental)
Recouping 1 milligram of gold is the monetary equivalent
of recouping (year 2008) :
43 grams of iron grams of nickel
13 grams of ABS plastic grams of silver
10 grams of aluminum grams of indium
04 grams of copper 2.5 milligrams of palladium
0.6 milligrams of platinum
August 25, 2019 23

24. Secondary material outlets and compatibility
August 25, 2019

25. Compatibility Table for Metals
Fraction
Typical knock-out (reduces value to zero or negative)
Typical penalty elements (reduces value strongly)
Copper (Cu)
Hg, Be, PCB
As, Sb, Ni, Al, Bi, Mg
Aluminium (Al)
Cu, Fe, polymers Si
Iron (Fe) Cu
Sn, Zn
Example: Bismuth in a typical copper smelter
< 0,01% (threshold, free of charge)
> 0,01% and <0,03% (penalty: 23 € per 0,01% per ton fraction weight)
> 0,03% (unacceptable, knock-out)
August 25, 2019

26. Copper Recycling: Value and Avoided Costs
copper content
precious metal content
Avoided costs:
lead (usually byproduct)
mixed plastics with flame retardants
Shredding and separation settings determine strongly the value and processing of the copper fraction!
August 25, 2019

27. Aluminium Recycling: Value
Value depends strongly on:
Form
Type of alloy
Knock-out and penalty elements
Shredding and separation settings determine strongly the value and processing of the aluminium fraction!
August 25, 2019

28. Ferro Recycling: Economy of Scale
Contributes to recycle% (weight)
Link to other and larger streams (integrated recycler)
Knock-out and penalty elements
Zinc coatings are getting critical in some countries
August 25, 2019

29. Compatibility Table for Plastics (general)PS
ABS PA PC
PVC PP PE + -
August 25, 2019

30. Compatibility Table for PS-High Impact (specific)
Plastic type
Compatibility
PPE + S/B +
ABS PC
PC + ABS
PP, PE, EPDM -
POM
PBT
PVC
Cross linked rubber, PU
August 25, 2019

31. Plastic Recycling: Conditions for Success
Mono materials
No fillers or additives
Economy of scale
No paper, stickers and metal coatings
August 25, 2019

32. Glass Recycling: Level of re-application
TV screen/ cone glass
no cross contamination
completely metal free
Ceramics
Foam glass
Secondary copper/ lead smelter
Filler material (road paving)
August 25, 2019

33. Incineration: Environmental Effects
Energy recuperation
Temperature of operation (dioxin and furan formation)
Modernity of fuel gas cleaning
Slag composition and further useful application (depends on composition input)
August 25, 2019

34. Landfill: Environmental effects
Type of landfill
Controlled versus uncontrolled landfill
Time of operation
Leaching behavior very complex
Long term effects
Land-use
August 25, 2019

35. Conclusions
Treatment to be done strictly on fraction composition and weight
Costs and revenues of fractions strongly depends on composition and weight
Material compatibility/ value and penalty elements within fractions extremely important
August 25, 2019