IMPC 2016: XXVIII International Mineral Processing Congress Proceedings - ISBN: 978-1-926872-29-2

CHALLENGES AND A POSSIBLE SOLUTION FOR THE RECYCLING OF TANTALUM

FROM WASTE ELECTRICAL AND ELECTRONIC EQUIPMENT

*F. Roemer, T. Elwert, and D. Goldmann

Clausthal University of Technology. Institute of Mineral and Waste Processing, Waste Disposal and
Geomechanics. Department of Mineral and Waste Processing
Walther-Nernst-Strasse 9
38678 Clausthal-Zellerfeld, Germany
(*Corresponding author: felix.roemer@tu-clausthal.de)

ABSTRACT

Tantalum is an important minor metal for the production of high performance capacitors.
Approximately 60% of the annual tantalum production is used in this application. Despite its high price of
298 US$/kg (average price 2010–2014), at the moment, no recycling from end-of-life products takes place.
In the established recycling processes of waste electrical and electronic equipment (WEEE), tantalum is
lost in the slags of copper smelting, where it is highly diluted. An economic recovery is not possible at that
point. Although tantalum must therefore be extracted from the WEEE stream before it enters smelting, no
industrial recycling processes exist. The main reasons are its low concentration in the WEEE stream, lack
of information about tantalum bearing devices, technical difficulties of extraction, and conflicts of interests
regarding the recycling of other valuable metals in WEEE. In this paper, the results of a cooperation
research project are presented. The aforementioned challenges are addressed and a novel tantalum
recycling process is developed. Small pilot scale experiments show that a mechanical processing route can
produce marketable tantalum-concentrates of 30% tantalum with yields between 60 and 70%. This is
reached through a manual pre-sorting of potentially tantalum bearing products followed by a combination
of an optimized comminution, sieving, air classifying, eddy-current (EC), and two stage magnetic
separation. Key to the implementation of this process was a detailed survey of the tantalum concentrations
in different products carried out by the industrial partner.

KEYWORDS

Tantalum, capacitors, waste electrical and electronic equipment, recycling

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INTRODUCTION

Tantalum (Ta) is an important minor metal for the production of high performance capacitors that
are used on printed circuit boards (PCB). Approximately 50–60% of the annual Ta production is utilized
for electrical applications (Roskill Information Services, 2012). The Ta supply has gained more attention
over the last years as it was included in the Dodd-Frank Act in the US in 2010 and considered one of the
critical metals for the supply of European industries from 2011-2013 (European Commission, 2014; U.S.
Congress, 2010). The main reason for this is that a large share of the Ta production stems from geo-
politically unstable areas in Africa. It was proven to finance militia groups, especially in the Democratic
Republic of Congo. This and the closing of several mines led to high prices after 2010 (298 US$/kg,
99.95% Ta2O5, average 2010–2014; Roskill Information Services, 2012; Deutsche Rohstoffagentur, 2015).
As waste electrical and electronic equipment and Ta consumption are expected to continue to grow at an
annual rate of 4-5%, WEEE recycling could become more important for the winning of Ta (Baldé, Wang,
Kuehr, & Huismann, 2015; Roskill Information Services, 2012). Despite its value, criticality, social issues,
and its major consumption in electronic products, Ta is hardly recycled from waste electrical and electronic
equipment (WEEE) in industrialized countries (Gille & Meier, 2012; International Resource Panel, 2013).
In this paper, a Ta recycling process will be presented that incorporates the most typical steps in WEEE
recycling, namely: pre-sorting, comminution, density separation, magnetic separation, and eddy-current
(EC) separation. The generated Ta-concentrate then undergoes further upgrading in order to meet the
requirements of the potential Ta customers. This includes selective comminution, classification, and
thermal oxidation. The results are acquired from a cooperation research project of the Department of
Mineral and Waste Processing of Clausthal University of Technology and the Elektronik-Produkt
Recycling GmbH (ELPRO), a German WEEE recycler.

TANTALUM CAPACITORS

Design

Although different Ta capacitors have been developed, only the most common type will be
introduced. This is the solid tantalum electrolytic capacitor (STEC or capacitor in the following) as a
cuboid-shaped surface mounted device (SMD) on PCBs. The capacitors in the investigated control units
(see Section: Materials and Methods) usually have side lengths between 2 and 6 mm and are either yellow
or black.

The main components of STECs are a sintered Ta body functioning as the anode and a gap filling,
surrounding cathode usually made from MnO2 or polymers. The two materials are seperated by a very thin
dielectric Ta2O5-layer. The functional block is incased with epoxy and connected to the PCB with
leadframes. Whereas the Ta anode is directly connected to the leadframe via a Ta wire, conductive layers
(Ag, C) have to be applied to the cathode. The capacitors may contain up to 40% Ta. Analysis showed up
to 1% Ag. MnO2 is substituted by polymers in many STECs (Gill, 2003; Mineta & Okabe, 2005). Ta
capacitors gain their comparatively high capacity from their high surface due to sintering (sinter powder <
10 µm), the extremely thin dielectric layer and its high permittivity. Ta shows very beneficial properties in
this regard, but may be substituted by the chemically similar niobium.

Recycling of Tantalum Capacitors

Many approaches for the recycling of production wastes have been developed that usually focus
on decomposition of the molded resin and application of typical methods for the ignoble refractory metals
(Park, Okabe, & Waseda, 1998; Mineta & Okabe, 2005; Vutova, Vassileva, Georgieva, Mladenov, Mollov,
& Kardjiev, 2010; Katano, Wahima, & Nakagome, 2014). Nevertheless, there is hardly any STEC
recycling from WEEE (Gille & Meier, 2012; International Resource Panel, 2013). There are many
technical barriers in regaining an adequate Ta-concentrate from WEEE in which Ta is generally highly
diluted (Rombach & Friedrich, 2014). Also, due to its low content, Ta constitutes a very small value in
WEEE compared to mass and precious metals (Rommel & Kreibe, 2015). In today’s practice, Ta is lost in
mechanical processing or metallurgical treatment due to the techniques applied and thermodynamic

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reasons. Following the copper winning route of WEEE, Ta transfers to the slag due to its ignoble character
and cannot be won back economically (van Schaik & Reuter, 2012; International Resource Panel, 2013;
Rombach & Friedrich, 2014).

Ta must therefore be separated prior to metallurgical treatment of WEEE and fed into designated
Ta metallurgy processes. In general, non-oxidized high quality scrap can be remelted (typically electron
beam or vacuum furnace) whereas lower quality as well as finely grained or oxidized scraps must be fed
into the primary hydrometallurgical Ta process (Gille & Meier, 2012; Rombach & Friedrich, 2014). In the
case of STECs from WEEE, only the second route seems plausible due to inevitable impurities. Due to
technical reasons such as kinetics and potential gas development, the Ta-concentrate from WEEE must be
freed from organics, oxidized, and finely crushed prior to the primary hydrometallurgical process. Ta-
content should exceed 20%.

Due to the higher awareness regarding Ta over the last years, some studies concerning Ta
recovery in the mechanical processing of WEEE have been conducted without reaching industrial
application (Fujita, Ono, Dodbriba, & Yamaguchi, 2014). Also, both automated and manual dismantling
were investigated in German experiments known to the authors. Although the automated approach seems
technically feasible and manual dismounting is already applied in some special cases, these strategies will
not be applied at an industrial level in the near future. Both concepts bear high requirements regarding the
homogeneity and quality of the input material as well as high investment or labor costs. Moreover, the Ta-
rich WEEE stream is rather small, so a dedicated Ta recycling process seems unfeasible. The most realistic
approach to recycle Ta from WEEE therefore is the adaption of the common mechanical processing of
WEEE in order to generate a Ta-fraction that can be directed to dedicated Ta recycling routes with low
losses of other valuable components. A manual pre-sorting of potentially Ta-bearing devices (see section
Materials), as implemented by the industrial project partner, seems mandatory as most WEEE contains
little Ta if any (i.e. fridges, lamps).

MATERIAL AND METHODS

Material

The industrial partner carried out a comprehensive study to identify Ta-rich devices. Amongst
others, 110 different automotive control units from different manufacturers were identified. These were
collected and served as input material for the experiments. The control units contained 400 ppm Ta on
average, had maximum dimensions of 400x400x50 mm, and weighted 300-1200 g. Three casing groups
could be identified: ferrous sheet metal, cast aluminum, and plastic. In collaboration with ELPRO, a
representative mixture of casings was defined at 50% aluminum, 35% iron, and 15% plastic for the
experiments.

Equipment

A SKET impact crusher type 500 × 500 was used for the comminution experiments. Energy input,
machine geometry, influence of the casing and quality of STEC liberation were investigated using 10 kg of
material for each experimental run. Material > 63 mm was crushed for a second time as discharge screens
are common in WEEE comminution. For selective comminution during concentrate upgrade, a roll mill of
KHD Humbold Wedag (1 mm gap width) was employed. Investigations on density separation were
conducted with an Alpine 1-40 MZM zigzag classifier with 2 kg of material for each setting. Bulk material
was then processed with a small industrial scale Alpine zigzag classifier (100 × 100 mm tube cross-
section). For material preparation in the final process, a piston jig (5 L) was used. Magnetic separation was
initially tested with an adjustable electro magnet. Bulk processing was conducted with a weak-magnetic
overbelt separator (XRE Plate) of ERIEZ. An electromagnetic circular separator (EMBR 100, SKET) was
engaged for magnetic separation in strong magnetic fields. EC-separators applied were NE50100E50094,
Steinert and BWSA-900_2100_13, Exner Technology. The grain shape separator is self-constructed and
separates elongated from cubic materials via an adjustable gap over which only the previously aligned
elongated grains can be transported.

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Analytics

Prior to analysis, the sample was incinerated according to the German standard DIN 18128:2002-
12. To analyse Ag, Al, Cu, Fe, Mn, Nb, Ni, Si, Sn, Ta, and Zn, inductively coupled plasma optical
emission spectrometry (ICP-OES) type Varian Vista MPX was employed. Au and Pd were analysed with
atomic absorption spectroscopy Varian AA 240. Digestion of samples was carried out with aqua regia (Au,
Ni, Pd, Sn, Zn), HF and aqua regia (Cu, Fe, Mn, Nb, Ta), HCl (Al), and HNO3 (Ag). Li2B4O7 melt
digestion in combination with HCl leaching was used for Si. A measurement error of up to 20%, 10% and
5% was calculated for grains greater than 30 mm, 10 mm and 2 mm, respectively.

RESULTS AND DISCUSSION

Figure 1 summarizes the developed approach. It can be divided into three main parts that will be
described individually in the following chapters. First, the adapted WEEE recycling process aims at
generating Ta-concentrates with very low losses of other valuable fractions of WEEE. Second, additional
processing steps for the non-conductive-fraction are introduced as the Ta content of this fraction tends to be
too low for the Ta-industry. This may not be necessary if the input stream has a constantly high Ta content.
Last, the preparation steps for the concentrate before feeding into the primary Ta-industry are depicted.
Although they primarily serve the fulfillment of product requirements regarding grain size and chemical
properties, they can enhance product beneficiation as well.

Adapted WEEE Additional Processing

Recycling Process of the Non-
Control Units
Conductive Fraction

Grain Shape Elongated

Pre-Sorting Ta-poor Devices
Separation Material

Strong
Impact Crusher x < 2 mm and
Magnetic IC-Fraction
and Screening x > 6 mm
Separation

Air Leightweight Piston Jig Plastic,

Classification Material Separator Composits

Fe-Fraction
Two Stage Selective
Magnetic Comminuition Plastic, Metals
Magnetic
Separation and Screening
Ta-Conc.

Eddy-Current- Thermal
Al-Cu-Fraction
Separation Treatment

Non-Magnetic Preparation of Conc.

Final Ta-Conc. before Feeding into
Ta-Conc.
the Ta-Industry

Figure 1 – Overview over the developed tantalum recycling process

Modified WEEE Recycling Process

Adapted Comminution

Goal of the experiments was the optimized accumulation of STECs in the fraction 2-6 mm. The
screen cuts were chosen (and experimentally validated) because of the edge lengths of STECS in control
units (see Design section). Also, smaller grain sizes would lead to increasing processing difficulties in later

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steps. Experiments showed a high dependency of effective comminution on energy input. Best results were
achieved for a rotor peripheral speed of 26.2 m/s. 75 wt% Ta could be brought to the fraction 2-6 mm with
a total mass recovery of 3.2% and 1% Ta-content in the product.

Figure 2 shows the typical Ta transfer to the fraction 2-6 mm in dependence on the rotor velocity.
In this context, a perfect comminution would liberate all STECs without destroying them. The optimum at
26.2 m/s shows that STECs are grinded at higher rotor velocities and not liberated at lower ones. At the
chosen velocity, STECs that could not be transferred to the target fraction majorly did not disengage from
the PCBs and are lost.

100
Ta Transfered to 2-6 mm 80
60
Fraction [%]

40
20
0
0 20 40 60 80
Rotor Peripheral Speed [m/s]

Figure 2 – Typical distribution of tantalum to the fraction 2–6 mm after comminution of selected WEEE
with an impact crusher in dependence on rotor velocity

As the largest part of the casings and the PCBs remained larger than 6 mm, 94.4% of the shredded
WEEE can be fed into conventional WEEE routes at adequate disintegration for further processing. The
Ta-rich fraction consisted of STECs, plastic, casing material, PCBs, electrical parts such as integrated
circuits (IC), capacitors, processors, and wiring. Some STECs are broken or have lost their leadframes
and/or their resin casing, but all have been disengaged from PCBs. Although this comminution effectively
generates a Ta-rich material for further processing, the Ta-losses are still quite high. As accompanying
experiments showed, the electrical devices should be shredded separately according to their casings for
lower Ta-losses (down to 15%), because the comminution conditions can be adjusted individually.
Nevertheless, as Ta-rich WEEE is a rather small material stream, the separate shredding seems
uneconomic.

100 %
Mass Distribution Zigzag

80 %
Classifier [%]

60 %

40 %

20 %

0%
3 5 7 9 11
Air Velocity [m/s]
Heavy Fraction Light Fraction
STECs in Heavy Fraction STEC Casings in Heavy Fraction

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Figure 3 – Distribution of heavy and lightweight material as well as STECs and resin chunks in
dependency of the upstream velocity in an upstream classifier

Density Separation

In order to further concentrate Ta and separate the Cu-, Ag-, and Au-rich PCB fraction, a density
separation was conducted. It was found that 50-60% of the material could be removed with an Alpine 1-40
MZM classifier at 7 m/s upstream velocity leading to a Ta concentration of around 2.1%. Hardly any Ta
was lost. Only small Ta traces on disengaged STEC resin casing (1–1.5 g/cm³) are discharged into the
lightweight-fraction. Complete STECs (2.5 to 4 g/cm³) and Ta bodies (ca. 4–6 g/cm³) remain in the
heavyweight-fraction. Also, a large part of the Cu (15%), Ag (21.5%), and Au (76.2%) is removed from
the stream into the lightweight-fraction. They, especially the Au, constitute a large value (see Figure 4),
hence this product should be returned to conventional WEEE recycling or even directly introduced into Cu
pyrometallurgy. Figure 3 sums up the experimental data of the density separation.

Magnetic Separation

It was found that approximately two thirds of the investigated STECs showed reactions to
magnetic fields. An analysis indicated that the leadframes of these STECs consist of a Fe-Ni-alloy, whereas
the others are copper based. These magnetic STECs are easily lost during magnet separation (Fe-fraction)
or EC-separation (Al-Cu-fraction). Therefore, a two-stage magnetic separation was tested. In the first step,
ferromagnetic parts were removed with a weak magnetic field of 0.2 T at which STECs remain in the non-
magnetic material stream. 20% of the feed material was transported to the Fe-fraction that mainly consists
of casing material, coil cores, magnets, pins, screws, etc. Because of material linkages, i.e. copper and iron
in coils, some other materials entered the Fe-fraction as well. Ta-losses varied greatly (up to 15% Ta
transferred to the Fe-fraction during bulk processing) and were mainly caused by agglomeration around
magnets and magnetically soft materials. This can be suppressed to some extent by lowering the
throughput.

In the second stage of magnetic separation, a stronger magnetic field (0.6 T) was used to generate
a Ta-concentrate with Ta contents of 12–19%. The Ta-concentrate primarily consisted of STECs.
Nevertheless, also in this concentrate other components like coils, diodes, and ICs could be found leading
to a Cu content of up to 20%. Also, the Ag content may reach 0.5% which can be explained by the silver
layer in the STECs. In the case of the experiment described exemplarily in this paper, approx. 60% of the
entire Ta of the original 2-6 mm fraction could be directed to this weak magnetic Ta-concentrate. Treating
similar materials, usually up to 45% of the Ta could be recovered.

Eddy-Current Separator

EC-separation experiments were initially conducted with a conventional EC-separator. Although

much of the conductive material could be lifted out, many metal pieces remained in the “non-conductive”
material stream, especially below 4 mm. This typical problem can be explained by the shape and the size of
the feed material. First, the sample contains many wires, pins, plates, and elongated aluminum casing parts,
in which eddy-currents are less easily induced. Second, the EC-force scales only with the fifth power of
particle size as the mass scales with the third (Settimo, Bevilacqua, & Rem, 2004).

The sorting quality could be improved significantly by using a barrier EC-separator that was
developed to specifically sort out small particles. The main differences are the position of the magnetic
rotor in the middle of the conveyer belt and its magnet assembly as well as its adjustable angle regarding
the feed material. The angled magnetic rotor rotating towards the feed in combination with the belt
arrangement allows for better separation by conductivity through multiple entries into the functional zone
called barrier (Exner, 2009).

With this barrier EC-separator, 48–53% of the material could be separated as conductive material
at 20° magnetic rotor angle, 30 Hz as rotor frequency, and 0.7 m/s conveyor belt velocity with no loss of

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Ta. The analysis of the conductive material showed that it mainly consists of Al (ca. 60%), Cu (ca. 30%),
Sn, and Zn (both 1.5–2%), as well as plastic. The Ta content of the material after separation by
conductivity is 4–6%. The remaining material is a mixture of heavy plastic pieces, elongated metals such as
wires, pins, and electric components, like ICs and STECs.

Additional Process Steps for the Non-Conductive Fraction

By adapting the conventional WEEE recycling process, a large portion of the STECs could be
concentrated in a magnetic Ta-product with little contamination. Nevertheless, further processing is
necessary as approx. 40% of the tantalum remains in the non-conductive fraction/Ta-concentrate.

Using a grain shape sorter, 42% of the material (mainly Al, Cu, and plastic) could be removed
from the concentrate in form of wires, pins, plates, and other elongated pieces with Ta-losses < 1%. In
order to further reduce Cu, Ag, and Au, an IC-concentrate was removed from the stream by a strong
electro-magnetic circular separator. A concentrate with 35% Cu, 0.7% Ta, 0.4% Ag, 780 ppm Au, and 130
ppm Pd was generated. Finally, a jig separation was employed to split the material into a plastic- and
aluminum-rich lightweight-fraction (46.5% at 0.7% Ta-loss) and a second Ta-concentrate with 10–12% Ta.
Other components were Cu (55.6%), Al (14%), Fe (0.6%), Ag (0.4%), Au (280 ppm), and Pd (240 ppm).
The low relation between Ta and Ag content shows that many of the STECs have lost their casing and
conductive layer.

Preparation of Concentrates before Feeding into Primary the Ta-Industry

Before the Ta-concentrate can be fed into the primary Ta-industry, it must be comminuted, freed
from organic substances and oxidized. It was observed that these operations can serve further beneficiation
of the material. Alternatively, other recycling approaches for STEC production wastes could be used as
developed by Mineta and Okabe (2005), for example. Regarding the remaining material in the process,
STECs are comparatively brittle. Therefore, a selective comminution using a roll mill was successfully
tested with the concentrates. The Ta was transferred almost completely to the fraction below 2.5 mm with
approx. 37% of the total mass after two comminution steps. Figure 4 shows that Ta could be separated
from a large share of the Fe, Cu, Ag, and plastic in the case of the non-conductive Ta-concentrate. The
results can be explained by the ductility of plastic and metal pieces that do not break as easily as the
STECs.

100%
Cumulative Recovery [%]

80%
Ag
60%
Cu
40%
Fe
20% Ta
0% Total
0 1 2 3 4 5 6
Grain Size [mm]

Figure 4 – Element and mass recovery after selective comminution of the non-conductive Ta-concentrate

Loss on ignition experiments according to DIN 18128 were conducted to break up the organic
compounds (mainly resin and casings). It was observed that the Ta bodies of the STECs become more
brittle during this thermal treatment and, apparently, partly disintegrate. They are easily transferred to small
grain fractions yet under mild crushing in a mortar. This can probably be attributed to oxidation effects that

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would have a special impact on sinter grain linkages causing destabilization. Figure 5 shows how the Ta is
distributed in the selectively comminuted non-magnetic material after incineration.

Whereas only 24% of the Ta was found in the fraction below 500 μm before treatment,
incineration and mild particle disengagement leads to approximately 67% of the Ta below 500 μm (also see
Figure 4). Further research is needed to optimize the sorting by classification after incineration/ oxidation
regarding air supply, time, and temperature, but it has been proven that the Ta body can be transferred
selectively into the fine grained fraction. This effect can be used to remove further impurities from the
concentrate such as Cu and Ag. Nevertheless, not the entire Ta content of the STECs will disintegrate and
transfer to the fine grain sizes, especially in the case of the Ta metal wires.

After selective comminution and oxidation, the combined concentrate contains 20–30% Ta and
fulfills the requirements of the Ta-industry in this regard. It may have to undergo further oxidation
processes as well as Ag (< 1%) and Au (< 700 ppm) recovery steps. The main impurities are Si (12–23%),
Cu (9–20%), Mn (1–2%), and Fe (< 10%).

100%
Cumulative Recovery [%]

80%

60% Ta

40% Ag
Cu
20%
Total
0%
25 250 2500
Grain Size [μm]

Figure 5 – Element and mass recovery after loss on ignition and selective comminution, non-magnetic
fraction

Mass and Value Distribution

7000 0.7 Pd (23418.9 US$/kg)

Value per 1 kg 2 - 6 mm Material

Mass Distribution [%]

6000 0.6 Nb (31.6 US$/kg)

Au (38,010.2 US$/kg)
5000 0.5
Ag (517.6 US$/kg)
4000 0.4
Al (1.7 US$/kg)
3000 0.3
[US$/t]

Fe (0.1 US$/kg)
2000 0.2 Cu (5.8 US$/kg)
1000 0.1 Ta (231.5 US$/kg)
0 0 Fraction Mass

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Figure 6 – Mass and value distribution of the adapted WEEE recycling process and additional process steps
for the non-conductive material (Average high-grade concentrate prices 2010–2014; Deutsche
Rohstoffagentur 2015)

Figure 6 shows the mass and value distribution of the adapted WEEE process together with the
additional process steps. The material values are calculated with concentrate prices and do not represent
real world prices as they do not figure in important factors, such as: incompatibilities in metallurgy, further
processing steps, impurities, and additional value metals. They do, however, illustrate how the value
distributes approximately amongst the created fractions.

As Figure 6 demonstrates, most of the investigated metals do not contribute significantly to the
value (Fe, Al, Nb, Pd, Ag, and Cu). The main value carrier of the 2–6 mm fraction, Au, is removed to the
zigzag lightweight-fraction together with a large share of the material (78% Au recovery, 52% of the total
mass). In addition, 12% of the Au can be found in the IC- and piston-jig-fraction. These fractions can be
directed towards conventional WEEE recycling. Ta is found in two concentrates. Whereas the magnetic
concentrate could be directed towards Ta recovery with little value-loss, the non-magnetic concentrate may
require further processing although Ta already constitutes the most valuable metal in the fraction in this
example.

CONCLUSIONS

An approach towards the recovery of Ta from automotive control units is presented in this paper.
Although further investigations and optimizations are required, a Ta recovery process could be developed
and demonstrated in small pilot scale. Mechanical processing (comminution, sorting regarding density,
shape, size as well as magnetic and electrical properties) and thermal treatment have been employed to
produce a Ta-concentrate that may be fed into primary Ta production. An overview of this process can be
found in Figure 1, value and mass distributions are presented in Figure 6.

Pre-concentration through manual sorting prior to processing seems to be a prerequisite for Ta

recycling. For this, Ta-rich devices must be identified and sorting instructions generated. Comminution
also plays a key role as the non-destructive liberation of the STECs is required for further processing steps.
75% of the Ta could be transferred to the fraction 2–6 mm. 96.8% (98.4% after density separation) of the
WEEE material was removed and therewith could be redirected to conventional recycling.

During sorting, Ta was collected in two concentrates with low losses (< 10%). 80% of the Au, the
most valuable metal in the WEEE stream, could be collected in by-products. Ta constitutes the most
valuable component in the designated Ta-concentrates that reach up to 30% Ta. 60–70% of the entire Ta
could be recovered this way. Further investigations and optimization are required especially regarding Ta-
losses during comminution, the recovery of precious metals, and scale-up on the basis of the acquired
results.

The presented experiments demonstrate that Ta recycling from WEEE is possible in principle.
Nevertheless, many challenges remain. On the one hand, investment as well as process costs must be
projected and profitability assessed. On the other hand, sufficient input material for the recycling process
must be supplied. As only automotive control units were considered in this paper, following studies should
include other WEEE streams like mobile phones, computers and uncased PCBs.

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

The authors would like to thank the Elektronik-Produkt Recycling GmbH for their cooperation
and the German Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Energy for funding the project
(KF2559903KO4) that led to the presented results. Another thanks goes to Alexander Gaun and Torben
Kokott who conducted the experimental work.

REFERENCES

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