Module 5 E -waste management notes

applied chemistry (Acharya College Of Engineering)

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MODULE 5: E-Waste Management
Introduction, sources of e-waste, Composition, Characteristics, and Need of
e-waste management. Toxic materials used in manufacturing electronic and
electrical products, health hazards due to exposure to e-waste,recycling and
recovery, different approaches of recycling (separation, Thermaltreatments,
hydrometallurgical extraction, pyrometallurgical methods, direct recycling).
Extraction of gold from E-waste. Role of stake holders in environmental
management of e-waste (producers, consumers, recyclers, and statutory
bodies).

E-Waste – Sources, Composition, Effects, Treatment,

Disposal System
Today’s Electronic Gadgets, Tomorrow’s E- Waste. It’s no secret that E-Waste is
increasing at an alarming rate with each passing day.
In this post we will discuss in detail about what is Electronic Waste (E-Waste),
sources, causes, composition, its effects, and treatment and disposal system.
What is E-Waste

Electronic Waste or E-Waste describes rejected electrical or electronic devices.

All items of electrical and electronic equipment and its parts that have beendiscarded by
the user as waste without the purpose of re-use or re-cycle is called Electronic Waste.

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Introduction
Any item which is considered as Electronic Waste has a Lifetime Profile which differs
for different categories of Electrical and Electronic devices.
Lifetime Profile includes the information about hazardous quantity present in
discarded items, economic value and the effects on environment and health of people
if they are not recycled appropriately.
Electronic Waste is dismantled and sorted manually in developing countries
unlike developed nations which make use of sophisticated machinery and
provides PPE (Personal Protective Equipment) for thepeople who risk their lives
in extraction of different materials from Electronic Waste.

Sources of E-Waste

Any appliance that runs on electricity has the potential to cause damage to theenvironment
if it is not disposed properly. Common things of electrical and electronic waste are:

Large household appliances like refrigerators/freezers, washing machines,

dishwashers, televisions.
Small household appliances which include toasters, coffee makers, irons, hairdryers.
Information Technology (IT) and Telecommunications equipment namely personal
computers, telephones, mobile phones, laptops, printers, scanners, photocopiers etc.
Lighting equipment such as fluorescent lamps.
Electronic or Electrical tools i.e. handheld drills, saws, screwdrivers etc.
Toys, leisure and sports equipment.
Monitoring and control instruments.
Automatic dispensers.

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Causes of E-Waste

The main causes of Electronic Waste are:

Advancement in Technology.
Changes in style fashion and status.

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Effects of E-Waste
The effects of improper disposal of E-waste on the environment pose very realthreats and
dangers to the global environment at large. Improper disposal of these wastes affect the soil,
air and water components of the environment.

End of their helpful life.

Not taking precautions while handling them.

Composition of E-Waste

Composition of E-Waste includes materials like:

Valuable metals like gold, platinum, silver and palladium.

Useful metals like copper, aluminium, iron etc.
Hazardous substances like radioactive isotopes and mercury.
Toxic substances like PCB’s and Dioxins.
Plastic like High Impact Polystyrene (HIPS), Acrylonitrile Butadiene Styrene (ABS),
Polycarbonate (PC), Polyphenylene oxide (PPO) etc.
Glass material like Cathode Ray Tube glass made up of SiO2, CaO, Na.

For instance, a mobile phone contains more than 40 elements, base metals such as Copper
(Cu) and Tin (Sn), special metals such as Lithium (Li), Cobalt (Co), Indium (In) and
Antimony (Sb) and precious metals such as Silver (Ag), Gold (Au), and Palladium (Pd).

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 Effects of E-Waste on Air: Most common result of E-waste on air is through air
pollution. Burning of e waste can release hydrocarbons within the atmosphere that
pollutes the air.
E-Waste Negatively Impacts Soil: E-waste can have a negative effect on the soil. As e-
waste breaks down, it releases toxic heavy metals. Such heavy metals include lead, arsenic,
and cadmium. When these toxins penetrate thesoil, they influence the plants and trees.
Thus, these toxins can enter the human food supply, which can lead to birth defects as well
as a number of other health complications.
Effects of E-Waste on Water: Heavy metals like mercury, lithium, lead present in
electronics (found in mobile phone and computer batteries), etc., when not disposed
properly, these heavy metals penetrate from soil to groundwater which then run to the
surface as streams or small ponds of water.

Collection, Treatment and Disposal System

Various methods of treatment and disposal system includes:

Land Filling– Disposal of Electronic Waste is mainly through land filling. Mostly, the
discarded electronic goods finally end-up in landfill sites alongwith other municipal
waste or are openly burnt releasing toxic and carcinogenic substances into the
atmosphere.
Incineration– In this complete combustion process, the waste material is burned in
specially designed incinerators at a high temperature (900-1000oC). It reduces waste
volume and some environmentally hazardous organic substances are converted into less
hazardous compounds.
Recycling of E-Waste – Recycling involves dismantling, processing and end processing.
Comparatively, the value of recycling from the element could be much higher in
comparison to other treatments.
Re-use– It includes direct second hand use or use after slight modifications tothe original
functioning equipment like Inkjet cartridge is used after refilling. Old working computers
can be donated to schools or organization working in the field of education.
Computers beyond repairs can be returned back tothe manufacturers. This can considerably
reduce the volume of E-Waste generation converted into less hazardous compounds.

Effects of e-waste on environment and humanhealth

Improper handling and processing of e-waste may lead to entry oftoxicants in human
food chain as well as the environment by contamination of water, air and soil E-waste
is rich in toxic metals, polyaromatic hydrocarbons (PAH), PCBs, polybrominated
diphenylethers (PBDEs) and some other pollutants like polyvinyl chloride phthalates

Several studies have been done on the effects of e-waste contaminants such as metals
(Cd, Pb, Cr, Be, Hg), organic pollutants (PAH, PCB etc.) on soil enzymatic activity,
soil community and altering physical and chemical properties of soil.

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 A number of studies have found that children contain significantly higher concentration
Pb and Cd resulting in lower cognitive skills and also results in respiratory problem.

Metals like antimony, arsenic, chromium, cadmium, etc. may cause harmful effects on
humans when they enter in the body via several means. These metals accumulate in the
plants and then in animals and humans through the food chain. When comes in contact
with humans for example lead (Pb) adversely affects behaviour and learning
capabilities.

The metals such as Fe, Ni, Cr, As, Zn, Pb, and Cd etc. These aberrations are
indicative of the fact that leachates of e-waste are capable of inducing somatic
mutation and cytotoxicity.

Different approaches of recycling (separation, Thermal treatments,

hydrometallurgical extraction, pyrometallurgical methods, direct
recycling).

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Pyrometallurgical Processing

Pyrometallurgical Processing Pyrometallurgical processes are the most common method

for the recovery of precious metals from e-waste.
Usually, the metals are in a complex matrix with other non-metallicmaterials and it is
very difficult to recover them through physical separation methods.
The pyrometallurgical methods are beneficial to segregate and concentrate the metals
from e-waste.
This process consists of melting electronic wastes in a high-temperaturefurnace or in a
molten bath to remove the plastics and the refectory oxides by forming slags and metal
oxides.
It is mostly used to recover the Cu content of e-waste and other metals
that dissolve in molten copper such as Ag, Au, Pt, and Pd

Pyrometallurgical Method

A pyrometallurgical process mainly includes smelting, incineration and alkali fusion.

 Pyrometallurgical processes are economical, eco-efficient and could maximize the

recovery of precious metals, whereas they have the following limitations
 Recovery of Metals from Electronic Waste – Plastic components ofthe e-waste
cannot be easily recovered, as there are a mixture of flame-retardants, pigments
and different types of plastics.
 However, the plastics could partially replace coke as a source of energy during
the smelting process and hence help to reduce theenergy usage.
 Fe and Al cannot be easily recovered as they are transferred to theslag phase as
oxides.
 Some e-waste components such as silicon chips or bare fiberglass boards
cannot be recovered.
 Smelting of the halogenated flame retardants and Polyvinyl Chloride (PVC)
components of e-waste could produce dioxins, requiring specialemission control
measures to minimize environmental pollution.
 The pyrometallurgical processes are normally followed by a hydrometallurgical
and electrochemical processing to fully separatethe precious metals.
 Installation of integrated e-waste recycling facilities with the maximum
recovery of precious metals requires high investment.
 The fine dusts of the non-metallic components of e-waste may burn instantly
before reaching the metal bath, a potential fire hazard risk. Agglomeration of fine
dusts might be required to mitigate this risk.
 The volume of the produced slag increased by the presence of ceramic
components in e-waste feedstock, which could result in losing precious
metals during the recovery process.
 The smelting/refining processes are difficult to handle due to the complex
compositions of the feeding materials.
 The pyrometallurgical processes have high energy demand and costs
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Hydrometallurgical processing
The process can be broken down into leaching, solutionconcentration/purification and metals
recovery
The general procedure of the hydrometallurgical processing is as follows:

(1) Physical treatment: Prior to the hydrothermal processes, physical treatments such as
sorting, dismantling and size reduction are performed toproduce the granular form of the
waste materials

(2) Leaching:
(a) The leaching process involves the extraction of a soluble component froma solid by
using a leaching agent (acid, alkali, etc.)
(b ) The valuable metals are converted into soluble salts, while impurities remain
insoluble and be removed with the gangue materials.

(c) the most common leaching agents for the recovery of precious metals are cyanide,
halide, thiourea and thiosulfate.

(d) The efficiency of the leaching depends on the particle size, amount of the leaching agent
used, temperature and contact time between the solid and the liquid

(3) Separation and purification: The solutions are then subjected to the separation and
purification processes such as adsorption, solvent extraction, precipitation of impurities,
ion-exchange, etc., to isolate and concentrate theprecious metals

(4) Precious metals recovery: The metals are finally obtained by treating thesolutions by
electro refining processes, chemical reduction or crystallization.

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Extraction of gold from E-waste.

Bioleaching

Method of E-waste Gold Recovery

There are many possible alternatives to extracting precious metals such ascopper, gold,
palladium and silver from e-waste.
Also, Aqua regia has received a lot of attention in recent years.
In the leaching of gold due to its complete dissolution and fast rates.
As it is strongly oxidising and corrosive in nature, it is unsuitable for full scale
operations. It is a suitable leachant for use in fundamental research.
The nitric acid acts as a powerful oxidising agent to form Au 3+ ions, while the
hydrochloric acid provides a large excess of Cl− ions to form H[AuCl4]. Following are
the chemical equations:

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 Au(s) + 3HNO3(aq) + 4HCl(aq) ⇌ H[AuCl4](aq) + 3NO2(g) + 3H2O(l)

Au(s) + HNO3(aq) + 4HCl(aq) ⇌ H[AuCl4](aq) + NO(g) + 2H2O(l)

As an oxidising acid, HNO3 has been shown to act as a two-stage leachant,selectively

dissolving copper, nickel and gold.
Initially, a dilute HNO3 (0.1 M) leach step results in suppression of copper leaching but
enhanced nickel leaching due to its higher chemical reactivity; increasing the
concentration of HNO3 (to 1.0 M) results in high recovery ofboth copper and gold
(98%).
The oxidation of waste Printed Circuit Boards (PCBs) using supercritical water (i.e. T
> 647 K, P > 218 atm) and sodium hydroxide as a first step. It’sdone by following the
removal of harmful organic species originating fromthe degradation of toxic matter such
as brominated flame retardants fromwaste PCBs has been reported.
Later on, this process was modified to enhance the leaching of copper along with
precious metals such as gold and many others too.
In this latter case, HCl was used as the leaching for the initial recovery of copper,
followed by iodine–iodide (oxidant and complexing agent,respectively) for subsequent
dissolution of the precious metals.

Advantages
Cheaper to operate.
Less maintenance
More eco-friendly than other traditional methods.
Disadvantages
Slow process when compared to others.
Sometimes, toxic chemicals are also produced.

What are the responsibilities of each stakeholder?

CPCB: The Central Pollution Control Board isresponsible for the following
activit ies-:
Setting up the guidelines:
It provides technical guidelines for different stakeholders (Segregation, collection,
disposal, co-processing) and different types of plastic waste (Non-recyclable
fraction, thermoset plastic waste).
It also provides guidelines about how to comply with these guidelines byproviding an
action plan.
Holding stakeholder consultations:
This is an important activity that CPCB carries out regularly. The participants
represent the entire spectrum of plastic waste management including the ULBs,
PCBs, representatives from industry associations like FICCI/CII, brand owners,
NGOs, Recyclers. Most of these consultations result in addressing the issues faced
by the stakeholders.
The guidelines published for the Compliance related documentation isone such
result of such consultations.
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 (a) Coordination with State PCBs: It coordinates with the state pollutioncontrol
boards to ensure regular monitoring of the stakeholders performing EPR.
(b) Data compilation: The CPCB receives quarterly reports from all the PIBOs
performing EPR. It also performs queries and researches to verify & compile this
data to prepare national-level reports.
SPCB: The State pollution control board is responsible for the following
activities-:
Implementation of CPCB guidelines:
The SPCB makes sure the guidelines provided are followed by the stakeholders performing
EPR. This body conducts frequent inspections to ensure this implementation is done
properly.
Action Plan:
The SPCB undertakes the task of scrutinizing the action plans submitted by thePIBOs to
ensure its adherence to the guidelines provided by the CPCB.

Industry authorizations:
The processors, brand owners, recyclers and co-processors need permission from the
government to operate. This consent to operate is issued by the SPCBand needs to be
revised at expiry.
Monthly communication:
The SPCB communicates all the information involving notifications, guidelines &
amendments from the CPCB to the PIBOs.
EPR Agency:
Their basic responsibilit y is to carry out the EPR activity on behalf oftheir
client’s i.e. the PIBOs and it involves the following things.
Collection of Plastic Waste:
Identifying sources of plastic waste like ULBs, Bulk generators etc. Checking the quality of
the material i.e. whether it contains segregated plastic waste only instead of mixed municipal
solid waste. Signing official agreements with the Source for collection of plastic waste.

Scientific disposal:
Identifying recyclers/processors who have valid Consent to operate from the respective State
Pollution Control Boards. The agency needs to sign agreementswith these processors for
scientific disposal of plastic on behalf of its clients.

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Documentation:
The agency needs to maintain documentation on behalf of the PIBOs for the fulfilment of
EPR which includes Purchase bills, weight receipts, Lorry receipts, photos of the material,
photos of the vehicle, E-way bills, material received acknowledgement from the
processors, and the disposal certificates.
Compliance reports:
The agency is also supposed to submit all the necessary documentation/proofs that are
required by the PIBO for the preparation of Action Plan, quarterly report. These proofs can
be the agreements that the agency has with the sources of waste, processors etc.

Producer and Brand Owners:

Their role is important for financing the EPR activity. Their responsibilit ies include
Registration:
First step in EPR is registering with the respective pollution control boards with accurate
information about their plastic consumption.
Collection system:
The company needs to set up a mechanism for take-back/collection of plastic waste and its
scientific disposal. It can do this in 3 ways mentioned in this link. (Include a link to the banner
article)
Elimination of zero-value plastic:
Innovation in packaging, especially by the Producers, which helps phasing out of non-
recyclable plastic.
Communication with government bodies:
Regular communication with the CPCB/SPCBs in the form of monthly EPR Activity,
Quarterly reports, participating in the stakeholder consultations at CPCB.
ULB & other Collection centres:
ULBs generally work alongside the informal waste picker networks or
organisations unifying these waste pickers. Both these can work either
individually or together to meet the target of efficient collection.
Establishment of Infrastructure:
It’s the primary responsibility of the ULBs to set up the infrastructure for segregation,
collection, storage and disposal of plastic waste. Such an infrastructure can also be
provided by individual organisations who unify the informal waste pickers.

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Scientific disposal:

Creating facilities for the promotion of recycling/processing units locally creates avenues for
decentralized and low-cost recycling of waste. This can be a government facility or a private
but government authorised one.
Recycler & Co-Processor:
These are the endpoints in the chain of plastic waste where the plastic gets
recycled or processed and attains the end of life. Their responsibilit ies are as
fo llows
Authorisation: Having a valid consent to operate from the state pollution controlboards and
following all the standards of processing/recycling, and the pollutioncontrol norms.
Registration: Registering themselves with the PCBs and Local bodies as recyclerswhich can
be done by issuing Udyog Aadhar Memorandum.
Regular communication with the government: Recyclers have to communicate with PCBs
about their involvement in EPR activity, the details about the plastic processed, the details of
the clients on whose behalf the plastic is processed. Consumer: The journey of plastic gets
divided into two halves when the plasticreaches the consumer. It is this point where the
plastic takes the form of wastewhen the consumer throws it away in the dustbin.
So the responsibility of the consumer is to follow a sustainable lifestyle centered around the
3 Rs-Reduce, reuse and recycle.

Reduce: The amount of plastic entering the environment can be controlled by the consumer.
Also, the type of plastic being consumed can be controlled by the consumer in the supply
chain. Consumer should responsibly use the products that are packed in recyclable plastic
only.
Reuse: Consumer must prefer to reuse the plastic as it is an inert, long-lastingmaterial and
can be used multiple times.
Recycle: Consumer must ensure that the plastic waste is segregated, not soiledand disposed
properly to ensure recycling with maximum value.

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