HOW IT WORKS? - Computer Recycling
Recycling of metals of the platinum group a European perspective.
Effective recycling systems for materials containing pgm ensure a sustainable supply.
Rodenbacher Chaussee 4, D-63457 Wolfgang Hanau, Germany.
The high technical recyclability of platinum group metals means that more than 95 recovery can be performed once the scrap containing pgm reached a state of the art refining facilities exist technical challenges, but the main barriers to recycling PGMs include ensure the collection of waste and the capacity and technical capabilities of recycling channels worldwide economic and legislative drivers are also important the seven conditions for effective recycling and their impact in Europe are discussed in this article; industrial applications are to lead the way in terms of recycling rates while motor areas, especially electronics are currently far behind New business models are recommended to allow waste containing precious metals to be considered a resource precious and ensure the sustainability and safety of MGP offers for the future.
MGP platinum group metals play a key role in modern society, as they are of particular importance for clean technology and other high-tech equipment important applications beyond the known areas of catalysis of chemical processes and control auto emissions include computer information technology, consumer electronics and sustainable energy generation such as PV solar cells and fuel, among other Table I the driving forces for the full use development of MGP their extraordinary and sometimes exclusive properties, making them essential components in a wide range of applications that can play a role in building a more sustainable society.
Some important areas of application for platinum group metals.
Competition between applications leads to increased pressure on supply One way to ensure an adequate supply is to increase the exploration and extraction of geologic deposits of PGMs February 1 Increase the efficiency of the supply chain primary may provide additional gains and much has been achieved here already, but the complete recycling efforts are an essential part of effective management lifecycle to enable the increased use of high recycled metals in the future.
Metals are not consumed instead, they are transferred from one event to another metal combinations in the products often differ from those of primary deposits, resulting in new technological challenges for their effective recovery.
consumer packaged components such as computer motherboards products contain about 200 250 grams per tonne gold g t 1 and t 1 about 80 g palladium; mobile phones contain up to 350 g or t 1 and t 1 130 g palladium; and automotive catalytic converters may contain up to 2000 pgm gt 1 in the ceramic catalyst brick, the active part of This converter is significantly higher than the content of gold or pgm in primary ores gt average 10 1 Values high intrinsic metal recycling make it attractive from an economic point of view, and because of the much higher concentration compared to the extraction of minerals, it also helps to reduce the environmental load of supplies significantly metal in particular regarding the impact on the climate even more valuable for recycling MGP are used in jewelry because they are generally concentrated to a higher level.
Such challenges exist, particularly for complex products such as vehicles and efficient recycling of computers requires a well regulated recycling chain composed of different specialized players, starting with the collection of old products, followed by the sorting dismantling and pre-processing of the relevant fractions, and finally metal recovery latter requires sophisticated operations, metallurgical large scale such as Umicore, its integrated smelter-refinery in Antwerp, Belgium Figure 1, is now recovering and returning supplies on the market through its main route process in seven precious metals and ten bases and additional metals special metals are recovered in special processes rechargeable batteries or photovoltaic residues high quality March 4 Johnson Matthey at its refineries in Brimsdown and Royston, UK, recovers platinum, e palladium, iridium, rhodium and ruthenium as well as gold and silver from secondary materials using traditional refining way It also uses Smopex to recover other metals where economics required method or in the cleaning of effluents May 6.
Umicore, its integrated smelter-refinery in Antwerp, Belgium.
Recycling Technology has made significant progress Figure 2 7 9 Other improvements are constantly made to increase the yields of the recycling process, as well as extend the range of metals that can be recycled.
recycling recovery of PGE number of patents over the last decade.
The biggest challenges are the inadequate collection of consumer goods and ineffective handling in the recycling chain The life cycle structure of consumer goods is fundamentally different from that of industrial platinum products such as process catalysts for the latter, the property remains mostly with the industrial user, the product location is well known and handling throughout the life cycle takes place in a professional, transparent this is known as a system of closed-loop recycling.
However, ownership of consumer goods tend to move frequently, products such as mobile phones and cars are moved around the world, manufacturers lose track of their devices and the flow of goods becomes impossible to trace this forms an open loop in which recycling can not be guaranteed even after an article reached the recycling chain, the first steps in particular are not always treated with reputable organizations.
For the efficient recycling of a product, material or metal, seven conditions must be met.
Technical recyclability of the combination of metallic or all precious metals and many other metals can be recovered from, for example, a printed circuit board if the state-of-the-art processes are used.
Accessibility relevant components An automotive catalyst to the ground or the PC motherboard is easily accessible for removal, while a circuit board used in automotive electronics, for example, in the engine management system is generally not as long as these circuit boards are isolated or dismantled before the car is put into the mill, precious metals they contain are easily recyclable.
The economic viability so intrinsically or external created a PC motherboard dismantled a positive net worth, so recycling is viable by itself, however, a hard disk with pgm ultrathin disassembled PC typically has a negative net worth due the cost of processing the recovery of platinum and ruthenium or it would currently not economically viable unless paid for or subsidized outside.
recovery mechanisms to ensure that the product is available for recycling If collection mechanisms are not in place, items such as old PCs or mobile phones may end up being stored in households or thrown in the trash for landfilling or incineration of municipal waste the precious metal they contain would effectively lose the recycling chain.
Entry into the recycling chain and will remain until the final stage Items such as PC motherboards, mobile phones or cars containing catalysts are often sent legally or illegally to countries without adequate infrastructure for recycling at their end of life This can also cause precious metals lost in the recycling chain.
setting optimum technical and organizational up the chain of recycling complete recycling channels exist in Europe, but it is important that items such as computers or mobile phones are not mixed with other electronic waste and low quality ducted in a withdrawal without grinding process of circuit boards containing precious metals is the same for the catalyst containing pgm in a car or fuel cell.
sufficient capacity along the chain to do the complete recycling occurs as soon as conditions 1 6 are met, the only requirement is to ensure sufficient capacity to handle the material volume available for recycling precious metal refiners ready to invest in building these capabilities provided there is a sufficient safety of food later on the conditions 5 and 6 are therefore crucial to trigger timely investment in a growing market primarily for the recycling of precious metals.
End of life products and materials will reach different stages of this sequence conditions; more they get, the easier it is to find appropriate measures to exploit this potential recycling.
Figure 3 10 shows a schematic representation of a life cycle of a typical product containing pgm, highlighting the points where the precious metal losses can occur Each of these provides an opportunity to improve the process or adding incentives that encourage recycling will take place.
life cycle of products containing metals, including MGP, and the factors affecting their losses at various stages 10.
The following case studies illustrate briefly the current recycling rate of pgm materials for industrial, automotive and consumer electronics All figures refer to global averages.
Industrial applications such as catalysts used in fine chemical production or petrochemical processing and equipment pgm used in the glass industry are the current reference for the pgm recycling, with recycling rates of 80 to 90 although the catalyst life can be several years before entering the recycling recycling chain in this case is solely determined market and is part of the life cycle of the product Each of the conditions 1 7 are met, strongly supported the economic importance of pgm materials involved, limiting the need for primary metal supply in these industries covering small life cycle of loss and maintain market growth and new applications.
End recycling rates of life for the MGP in automotive applications reach a global average of 50 60 A recent United Nations Program UNEP report 11 shows that this is much more than most other metals, but leaves still room for improvement on the rate of recycling seen in most industrial applications automotive platinum pgm recycling in Europe is partly affected by legislation such as the EU end of life vehicles Directive ELV 12, but the main economic engine is like all pgm applications, technical recyclability are not a problem but in the automotive applications, the pgm catalyst containing only a subsystem of a larger product, namely the car, which is driven by its own market mechanisms to its end of life European automotive catalyst recycling mostly fails Status May 13 Many vi Eilles cars are exported to countries outside of Europe, which lack an appropriate recycling chain, and it is only because of the excellent recyclability and the intrinsic economic value of recycling auto catalysts that better loss pgm here not even the rules of cross-border shipments of waste to limit the export of original scrap cars could give new impetus to recycling rates in Europe.
Recycling rates are now, 5 10 MGP in electronic applications The main driver for recycling is legislation such as the directive Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment EU WEEE 14 largest electronics MGP palladium is used in cards circuits and market mechanisms at the end of life of products such as computers, televisions, mobile phones, automotive electronics, etc. play an important role in the rate of collection and recycling of printed circuit boards in them as in the case of automotive catalysts, a great challenge occurs when the condition 5 end of life electronics are exported of Europe, but the condition 4 in which items are stored by consumers or removed by municipal waste collection is also key conditions 2 and 3, accessibility and economic viability of components for recycling, can be a problem in some cases, as a condition 6, improper handling in the recycling stream.
Legislation such as the European WEEE directive helps to boost the recycling of electrical and electronic products, but enforcement is currently weak greater transparency and better monitoring of the end of the chain of life would improve recycling rates of these products and, above all, a change in direction of the current legislation away from the mass and a more pragmatic approach to the introduction of standards of treatment and one of the recycling chain certification system would help increase recycling rates PGM and other metals that are present in small quantities.
The main reason for differences in recycling rates in these three case studies is less about market against legislative and conductors connected to which a product reaches step in the sequence of the conditions listed above, it is important to note in all applications of technical recyclability are not a problem because yields of more than 95 can be obtained if the product or pgm-containing component in this example, a circuit board reaches a state-of- the-art precious metals refinery, therefore, neither the manufacturers nor the pgm pgm refiners can act to improve the situation; it is the life cycle of the whole system and interactions of stakeholders in this system will make the difference.
The waste recycling potential containing precious metals can be considered as an urban mine, and can complement the main source of supply pgm mining However, to fully utilize this potential source of secondary supply, changes the following will take place.
Attitudes must change waste management management of resources to ensure the collection and proper treatment of end of life products and encourage the application of the legislation This is especially important when economic or environmental factors are currently absent.
Targets should be adapted accordingly, with emphasis on the quality and efficiency of recycling processes and the recovery of precious metals and other critics, rather than on the total mass of materials such as plastic or steel.
the recycling of practice should reflect the new requirements in place of traditional structures of a scrap metal business, the high-tech recycling can sit next to the production of clean technologies and renewable energy production in terms of structures of the company, the appearance and cooperation of stakeholders, with greater emphasis on transparency and business ethics.
The vision of the manufacturers need to change rather than a burden imposed by legislation, recycling can be seen as an opportunity for manufacturers to increase sustainable access to raw materials for future production.
To close the consumer product recycling loop, there will need to be a gradual shift towards more industrial style practices, which means that new business models will be put in place to provide strong incentives for products back to their end of life This may include filing fees on new products; product service systems, such as leasing; or other approaches for emerging technologies such as fuel cells 15 and photovoltaic energy, the development of structures in a closed loop from the start will be crucial, and manufacturers who implement successful models can secure their MGP supply for the future.
Effectively recycling our end of life products today is insurance for future efficient recycling systems would therefore make an important contribution to the conservation of natural resources of metals and ensure adequate supply of PGMs and other rare metals future generations It would also mitigate the volatility of metal prices and limit climate impact of metal production, which is energy intensive, especially in the case of precious metals extracted from ores containing low concentrations of the desired metals.
The technique recyclability of MGP combined with existing structures within the pgm industry as a whole means that it has reached a leading position in the management and recycling of durable metal, thanks in part to the high value of MGP in some areas more room for improvement, and this can be put into practice by involving all stakeholders and with the appropriate political support to the relevant legislation.
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Dr. Christian Hagelüken is Director EU government affairs at Umicore He has over 20 years of experience in the recycling of precious metals, covering various fields of work auto and chemical catalysts electronic waste and recycling of fuel cells .
Platinum Group Metals Recycling A Johnson Matthey European perspective Technology Review, recycling, platinum, group.