E-Waste Recycling - a relevant contribution to close global material cycles

Transcription

1 Global Symposium on Recycling, Waste Treatment and Clean Technology October 12-15, 2008 Cancun, Mexico E-Waste Recycling - a relevant contribution to close global material cycles Heinz Boeni Swiss Federal Institute for Material Science and Research EMPA Head of unit sustec sustainable technology cooperation Technology and Society Lab heinz.boeni@empa.ch Empa,,

2 Outline Consumption development of ICT goods Use development of metallic resources The relevance of e-waste Summary and Conclusions

3 Consumption development of ICT goods

4 Closing material cycles use/reuse recollection materials recovery/ remanufacture dismantling

5 The explosion of international ICT trade World export of ICT goods Factor Developed Economies Developing Economies World In billions of USD in current prices Source:

6 The explosion of international ICT trade Exports of ICT goods United States China EU-15 Japan In billions of USD in current prices Source: The global production of Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) experiences the greatest expansion of history

7 The role of China China's Export of ICT Goods Other ICT goods Audio&video equipment Electronic components Computer&related equipment Telecommunication equipment In billions of USD in current prices Quelle:

8 Use development of metallic resources

9 Metal production since 1900 From: Johnson et al. (2007) Dining at the periodic table: Metals concentrations as they relate to recycling. Environ. Sci. Techol. 41, 1759ff.)

10 Development of exploration sites since 1995 Source:

11 Price increase for metals base metals precious metals scarce metals Cu Au Pt Ag

12 Resource flows from source to sink NATURAL ENVIRONMENT ANTHROPOSPHERE Production/ refinement Geological sites (SOURCES) Component production Consumer goods production Adapted from: Reller (2007) Presentation held at the Workshop 'Scarce Materials', Davos, September 1-2. Use Recycling Disposal (SINKS)

13 Example Zinc: Applications steel plates alloys (1/3 of total production) anticorrosive (1/2 of total production) tires sun cream Adapted from: Reller (2007) Presentation held at the Workshop 'Scarce Materials', Davos, September 1-2.

14 Zinc: Extraction SOURCE Production / Refinement Components production Consumer goods production Use Recycling SINK Adapted from: Reller (2007) Presentation held at the Workshop 'Scarce Materials', Davos, September 1-2.

15 Zinc: Production and refinement in 2005 SOURCE Production / Refinement Components production Consumer goods production Use Recycling SINK k k k k k k k k k Adapted from: Reller (2007) Presentation held at the Workshop 'Scarce Materials', Davos, September 1-2.

16 Zinc: Components Production SOURCE Production / Refinement Components production Consumer goods production Use Recycling SINK EUROPA NORDAMERIKA US Chemicals, Inc Brush International Cleveld. JLM Marketing Lansco Colors MK Impex Ontario CT, US OH,US FL, US NJ, US CA A-Esse, Cogefin SpA Befesa Zinc Sondika Grillo Zinkoxid GmbH Umicore De Craene, Silox Ferro Quimicas SA Huta Olawa IT ES DE, GB BE, NL BE PT PL Elementis Pigments GB Norzinco DE, FR SÜD-/OSTASIEN ASurendra Oxides N.Delhi Chnia Shandong Chem&Tr. Cnaish Int. Comp. Ltd. Qing Yuan Foreign Trade Qingdao Zhongyue Chemicals IN CN CN CN CN Adapted from: Reller (2007) Presentation held at the Workshop 'Scarce Materials', Davos, September 1-2.

17 Zinc: Consumer goods production SOURCE Production / Refinement Components production Consumer goods production Use Recycling SINK Procter & Gamble Unilever L Oreal Beiersdorf Wella Adapted from: Reller (2007) Presentation held at the Workshop 'Scarce Materials', Davos, September 1-2.

18 Zinc: Use SOURCE Production / Refinement Components production Consumer Goods production Use Recycling SINK North America Europe China/ SE-Asia Japan Adapted from: Reller (2007) Presentation held at the Workshop 'Scarce Materials', Davos, September 1-2.

19 Zinc: Dissipation SOURCE Production / Refinement Components production Consumer goods production Use Recycling SINK Dissipation into Atmosphere Pedosphere Hydrosphere Adapted from: Reller (2007) Presentation held at the Workshop 'Scarce Materials', Davos, September 1-2.

20 The relevance of e-waste

21 Why close material cycles in e-waste? Toxic and valuable substances Recovery of toxic substances Heavy metals (Hg, Pb, Cd), halogens (Br, Cl, F), etc. Decontamination Recovery of basic and precious materials Au, Ag, Pd, Cu, Al, Fe etc. Valorization

22 e-waste categories (according to WEEE Directive) 10 Categories 1 Large household appliances 2 Small household appliances 3 IT and telecommunications equipment 4 Consumer Equipment 5 Lighting equipment 6 Electrical and electronic tools 7 Toys, leisure and sports equipment 8 Medical devices 9 Monitoring and control instruments 10 Automatic dispensers

23 World computer sales Source: IDC Worldwide The global sales of PC is still growing despite of a reduced growth rate in the US, the EU and Japan The markets in developing countries and the markets of laptops are growing faster than predicted

24 Global sales of PC and estimated WEEE generation Source: Greenpeace/Cobbing 2008 Worldwide sales of TVs reached 45 millions 2006, of computers 230 Mio, and of mobile phones 1 billion The estimated 4.1 million tons of computer waste in 2010 contain about 64 tons of gold, tons of copper, but also t of lead and many other toxics (as Arsenic, Cadmium, Mercury and others)

25 Developing countries are catching up Source: Internet users in developing countries grew from 2 to 17 per 100 inhabitants between 2000 and 2007, whereas in developed countries this increase was from 31 to 62 per 100 inhabitants in the same period

26 Average composition of e-waste CRT Glass and LCD 9% Cables 2% Average composition (in weight %) Printed circuit boards 1% Miscellaneous Appliances 4% stripped of pollutants 4% Pollutants 1% Mixtures of metal and plastic 1% Plastics 6% Cables 3% PC/Server Printed circuit boards 9% Pollutants 1% Plastics 14% Mixtures of metal and plastic 12% Metals 53% CRT Glass and LCD 9% CRT Monitor Metals 8% Metals 80% Mixtures of metal and plastic 2% Plastics 36% Iron 40% Metal composition Tin Zinc 2% 4% Lead 12% CRT Glass and LCD 9% Cables 2% Printed circuit boards 11% Notebook Pollutants 8% Copper 14% Plastics 23% Metals 39% Source: SWICO Aluminium 28% Mixtures of metal and plastic 13%

27 Increased variety of metals used Metals used in electrical and electronic equipment Intel circuit board Source: - Berendt et al. (2007) Maßnahmen und Konzepte zur Lösung des Problems konfliktverschärfender Rohstoffausbeutung am Beispiel Coltan. UBA Berlin. - McManus, Intel (in: Johnson et al. (2007) Dining at the periodic table: Metals concentrations as they relate to recycling. Environ. Sci. Techol. 41, 1759ff.)

28 Increased demand for minor metals Ga, In Pd, Pt, Rh Nb, Pt, Ru Ag, Au, Pd, Pt, Ru, Ta, W, In Ga, Ge, In, Ru, Te

29 Static lifetimes of selected metals (database: USGS) New Scientist (2007) Earth s natural wealth: an audit. May 26.

30 Weight shares and value shares weight-% plastics Fe Al Cu Ag [ppm] Au [ppm] Pd [ppm] TV-board 28% 28% 10% 10% PC-board 23% 7% 5% 20% mobile phone plastics 56% and 5% iron 1% dominate 13% 1380 weight portable audio 47% 23% 1% 21% DVD-player 24% 62% 2% 5% calculator 61% 4% 5% 3% value-share Fe Al Cu Ag Au Pd sum PM TV-board 4% 12% 43% 7% 27% 7% 41% PC-board 0% 1% 15% 4% 68% 12% 84% precious metals dominate mobile phone 0% 0% 7% 4% 71% 18% 93% portable audio 3% 1% 77% 3% 14% 2% 19% economical and ecological value DVD-player 15% 4% 36% 5% 37% 4% 46% calculator 0% 6% 11% 6% 74% 3% 83% <1% 1-10% 10-20% 20-50% 50-70% >70% Source: Umicore, Belgium

31 Electronic goods and worldwide mining quantity Global Sales 2006 (Estimation) Mobile phones: 1 billion pieces PCs & laptops: 230 Million pieces Worldwide total mining quantity: x 250 mg Ag 250 t Ag x 1000 mg Ag 285 t Ag Ag: 20,000 t/a 3% x 24 mg Au 24 t Au x 200 mg Au 46 t Au Au: 2,500 t/a 3% x 9 mg Pd 9 t Pd x 80 mg Pd 18 t Pd Pd: 215 t/a 12% x 9 g Cu 9000 t Cu x 500 g Cu 115,000 t Cu Cu: 15 Mt/a 1% 1000 M x 20 g/battery* x 3.8 g Co 3800 t Co 60 M laptop battery* x 75 g Co 4500 t Co Co: 58,000 t/a 15% * Li-Ion Typ ** Li-Ion Typ: > 90% used in new laptops Due to the high quantity of sold items the total amount of resources is relevant, even if the metal quantity per item is very small But: How much can be recovered? Source: Umicore, Belgium

32 Recovery rate organisational and economic challenges Collection system Appropriate finance scheme Awareness of public and private sector to increase collection rate Responsibility of producer, importer, distributor, government etc. Recycling infrastructure Cost intensive technology Comply with environmental and health standards Adjustment of technology, e.g. to new goods, substances, metal scarcity Monitoring Control of flows of bulk, precious and toxic substances control of recovery efficiency Control of costs Source: Umicore, Belgium

33 Recovery rate technical challenges Complexity Different combinations of substances, proximity of toxic and precious metals Increased use of special and precious metals for more functionality Concentration and distribution High concentrations (e.g. Pb in batteries, Al in rims, Cu in Alternator) easy to recover High dissipation (e.g. in LCD monitors) trace elements hard to recover Product design and access to components Easy to access: catalytic convertor, battery, Hard to access: Electronics in cars, Hg backlight in LCD monitors Source: Umicore, Belgium

34 Summary and Conclusions

35 Summary Industrial Revolution in electric and electronic goods: rapid growth, economic relevance Global Dimension of the material cycle: mining, refining, production, consumption, disposal/recycling Substances are highly dissipated, partly in complex products Displacement of resources: from natural excavation sites to waste materials Recycling: economic and ecologic reasonable recovery Responsibility for products: Recycling becomes integral part of product cycle (keyword EPR)

36 Challenges Increasing consumption of metals: e-waste becomes the most important resource in many regions and countries Collection rate: still very low in many countries, high loss of efficiency Recovery technology: increasing importance of trace metals Design for Environment : important for recovery Control of material- and substance-flows and guarantee of quality: high level of informality in developing countries Global cooperation: producer, importer, distributor, government, recycler, NGOs

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