Target Markets

            Collection

In the US in excess of 90% of consumer waste is collected curbside, while less than 8% of e-waste for recycling is collected in that manner. The majority of e-waste (47%) is collected at free or pay drop off events, which are sponsored by processors, government organizations or non-profits. The next largest sector is state or waste management drop off points, where due to a legislative act it is now required as well as funded. There are several mail in programs for smaller items, as well as direct purchase programs designed to collect and resell working items. But without state mandated e-waste recycling laws this segment will face the same buy in challenge that plastic, glass, metal, and paper has battled, convenience. Until consumers can put there e-waste at the curb with the rest of their waste there will not be wide spread recycling of e-waste. Additionally since the original electronic product is usually expensive, consumers try and resell the used item or hold onto them even after it stops working. There are an estimated 99 million televisions in the US that are stored away in basements, garages, or spare rooms because the TV’s are either to large to dispose of or felt to have value and have thus not been disposed of.

The collection system of waste in the US is well developed and organized. The curbside recycling is that is “offered” as a part of that is also organized and developed, but only in locations where it is offered. Consumer good recycling is offered as a result of legislative action, and government (federal, state, and local) funding. E-waste is just beginning to see legislation pass that is offering the funding for the foundation for such a market. Switzerland, the global frontrunner in e-waste recycling, has added the added the producer of the electronic item to end of life responsibility. The Swiss system is based on a extended producer responsibility model, in legal and operational implementation. “This places both the physical as well as the financial responsibility of an environmentally sound disposal of end-of-life electronics with the manufacturers and importers of these products”(D. Sinha-Khetriwal et al. / Environmental Impact Assessment Review 25 (2005) 492–504). The US is still years away from a national extended producer responsibility model, but individual states are beginning to legislate this model on certain segments of the e-waste stream. Both Oregon and Washington have adapted a similar model and have implemented them on TV’s, computers, and monitors.  
Sorting and Pre-Processing

Following the collection of consumer e-waste there is an extensive and expense sorting and pre-processing period. With a TV or monitor containing 17 different types of plastic, glass, metal, printed circuit boards, wires, and a variety of other inputs and hazards, all built to stay together not for disassembly. Due to the complexities of the make-up of e-waste it should come at no surprise the challenges in this step. This pre-processing happens in a variety of subsets of manual and mechanical disassembly or a combination of the two.

The manual sorting of WEEE is usually the first step, as it takes individuals trained to test items for the level of functionality, a working TV or circuit board has more value resold whole or part than post processing. Additionally, once it is non-functioning it can be processed and recycled for its valuable materials. The dexterity offered by manual disassembly also offers the ability to insolate hazardous materials and high value components, which has environmental and cost benefits. But is also expensive to do in the US, which explains why the vast majority of the US WEEE is shipped to developing nations like China, India, and Africa for disassembly. This export has created serious social and environmental issues discussed later in this summary.

Automatic sorting, decreases some of these issues, is not as effect or effective in separating the mixed stream of e-waste into the valuable classes of materials. While this technology is increasing in effectiveness, it is also expensive and requires highly trained staff to manage. The automatic sorting is highly effective post e-waste passing through an automated material shredding.

Figure 1 (from escrapemeatlstoopreciousto ignorepdf)

The pre-processing separates the hazardous materials for disposal and liberates the valuable materials for recovery.  As shown in the above figure from research by the  Berlin University of Technology, pre-processing a complex product creates a variety of valuable materials streams.

Smelting

E-waste is made up of a variety of metals, plastics and other substances, about 66% of e-waste by weight consists of metals such as iron, copper, aluminum and gold (Babu et al., 2007). Depending upon the product up to 60 elements can be found in an individual product, which accounts for its metal contents being high than those of its source ores.

The most common materials found in WEEE by weight are iron and steel, followed by plastic, then nonferrous metals, and finally glass (Babu et al., 2007).

Once the e-waste is pre-processed separating out the larger and hazardous materials it is sorted into grades based on content. The materials are still intermixed and in need of processing. While there are many methods to process these materials including acid baths and bacterial leeching (an emerging environmental remediation), smelting is considered the most efficient and environmentally sound method. There is a large segment of e-waste that is processed in developing nations with little regard to environmental and human impacts, including open burns, open acid baths, and manual smelting. These social and environmental issues will be discussed later in this summary.

The use of an integrated smelter and refinery takes pre-processed materials and uses a metallurgical process to extract the various metals into a purified ore state. During this process heat and chemical agents are used to change the oxidation state of the e-waste materials and separate out the different metals. The plastics that are non-recyclable or extractable from the e-waste entering the smelting process can act as an additional energy source, the excess of which can be harnessed for energy production and as a heat source. One such smelter in Switzerland heats 10,000 homes with its excess smelting heat.  The off-gasses from the production can be sent through scrubbers, collecting more materials and the hazardous materials can also be collected from the rock gangue and slag.

As a result this process the environmental footprint of metals recovered from smelting is smaller than primary production of virgin ore (Babu et al., 2007).

Currently there are only five such smelters in the world for e-scrap, none of them in the United States (Audubon). Hence the reason that over 80% of the US e-waste is shipped abroad, granted only a fraction makes it to one of those facilities.