Technology is key for electronics
recycling
Palo Alto, CA— The emerging area of electronic
waste (e-waste) recovery is attracting increasing attention as governments
of several developed countries issue directives to address the environmental
hazards posed by existing methods to dispose waste electrical and
electronic equipment (WEEE). Conventional methods, such as disposal
in landfills and incineration, are both damaging to the environment
due to the leaching and emission of certain toxic substances respectively.
“Japan and some European nations have been
forerunners in the recycling of e-waste,” remarks Technical
Insights research analyst Hari Ramamoorthy. “Very soon, recycling
directives for e-waste will be prevalent in many major countries
and the various technologies developed for this purpose will be
adapted globally.”
Growing initiatives in countries such as China
and Taiwan have also opened up a potentially profitable market for
electronic waste recovery in Asia and could help identify more environment-friendly
methods of disposing the toxic and hazardous substances found in
e-waste.
One of the areas holding maximum growth potential
within electronics recycling is plastics recycling. However, recovery
techniques for this particular area are still emerging, especially
with regard to separating high-value plastic streams from the mixed
plastics present in electronic waste.
This challenge can be attributed to the presence
of different types of brominated flame retardants in the plastic
stream, which complicate the very process of recycling. While advanced
technologies could help achieve this separation and consequently,
effective plastics recycling, they are sure to face intense competition
from traditional processes used in recovering energy from plastics.
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