Minerals Engineering 111 (2017) 209–221

Contents lists available at ScienceDirect

Minerals Engineering
journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/mineng

Improving urban mining practices for optimal recovery of resources from e- MARK
waste
⁎
Fiseha Tesfayea, , Daniel Lindberga, Joseph Hamuyunib, Pekka Taskinenb, Leena Hupaa
a
Åbo Akademi University, Johan Gadolin Process Chemistry Centre, Piispankatu 8, FI-20500 Turku, Finland
b
Aalto University, School of Chemical Engineering, Department of Chemical and Metallurgical Engineering, Vuorimiehentie 2 K, FI-00076 Espoo, Finland

A R T I C L E I N F O A B S T R A C T

Keywords: In this article, current progress in urban mining related to e-waste recycling is reviewed and associated state-of-
Solid waste the-art recycling technologies are evaluated. As sufficient volume of e-waste is a limiting factor for its recycling
Recycling economy, the need for the establishment of effective e-waste collection mechanisms, particularly for small sized
Resource efficiency End-of-Life (EoL) devices, is emphasized in terms of the need for effective government policies, increased public
Circular economy
awareness, economic incentives, establishing industry-funded co-regulatory agreements, etc. Feasible options for
Environment
e-waste recycling through pyro- and hydro-metallurgical process routes are reviewed. Deficiencies in e-waste
recycling chains are highlighted, and recommendations to improve the current very low collection rate of small
sized EoL devices such as mobile phones are made. Optimization of the recovery of the critical metals and energy
through different processing options is discussed.

1. Introduction issues related to hazardous materials from the WEEE.

Manufacturing of recyclable products and efficient recovery of re-
sources such as chemicals, materials, and energy from waste streams
are the key enablers of the circular economy. In this framework, the EU
aims to be able to recycle 65% of its municipal waste by 2030
(European Commission, 2015). In order to facilitate this move, besides
designing recyclable products, planning effective waste collection me-
chanisms and developing innovative recycling technologies are essen-
tial.
Today, increasing metals demand, the scarcity of primary resources
and earth’s intrinsic limitations pose a challenge to the valuable metals
production system. In order to supplement scarce natural resources,
urban mining such as the recovery of critical metals from waste of
electronic and electrical equipment (WEEE) through sustainable re-
cycling processes is evolving. The United Nations Environment Program
(UNEP) is also calling for an urgent re-think of metals recycling prac-
tices as global demand for these critical metals continues to soar. The
sustainable recycling practices enhance the critical metals production
while managing environmental issues related to hazardous waste and
emissions. Therefore, improvements in waste collection, treatment, and
recycling in an energy efficient and environmentally friendly manner
contribute both to a healthy economy and environment. Fig. 1 shows
integrated urban mining at the core of a circular economy model that
closes the metals loop, recovers energy, and manages environmental
WEEE represents one of the largest sources of waste in the world
with the highest growth rate per year (Cucchiella et al., 2015; Tuncuk
et al., 2012). The recovery of precious metals and energy from these
products therefore represents a significant economic opportunity.
However, current recycling technologies and business models have
limited ability to recover these resources, and associated recovery rates
remain relatively low (Cucchiella et al., 2015). In order to address the
scarcity of the critical metals’ primary resources and environmental
issues, developing innovative technologies, and business strategies for
processing complex feed materials from e-waste streams in more energy
efficient and environmentally friendly manner is essential.
In this article, current progress in urban mining is reviewed and the
associated major metals recycling technologies are evaluated. The need
for the establishment of effective End-of-Life (EoL) electrical and elec-
tronic equipment (EEE) collection mechanisms is highlighted in terms
of government policies, increased public awareness, economic in-
centives, and installation of separate collection facilities at public
places. Main features of the hydro- and pyro-metallurgical process
routes including their advantages and disadvantages are evaluated.
Recommendations to optimize the recovery of the critical metals and
energy are discussed in detail.

⁎
Corresponding author.
E-mail address: fiseha.tesfaye@abo.fi (F. Tesfaye).

http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.mineng.2017.06.018
Received 29 April 2017; Received in revised form 17 June 2017; Accepted 21 June 2017
Available online 30 June 2017
0892-6875/ © 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
F. Tesfaye et al. Minerals Engineering 111 (2017) 209–221

has been found to have the highest recycling economic value

Fig. 1. Schematic diagram for an ideal circular economy model that closes the metals
loop, recovers energy, and contributes to the environmental protection.
(Cucchiella et al., 2015). In 2014, the study also suggested that the
potential revenue that could be achieved from efficient recycling of the
generated WEEE from the selected 14 EEE (LCD notebooks, LED note-
books, CRTTVs, LCDTVs, LEDTVs, CRT monitors, LCD monitors, LED
monitors, cellphones, smart phones, PV panels, HDDs, SSDs and tablets)
in EU alone to be €2.15 billion, and in future with increasing volumes of
mobile phones, CRT monitors, and LCD notebooks the revenue may rise
to €3.67 billion. Smart phones, mobile phones, CRT monitors, and LCD
notebooks and TVs represent the e-waste streams with the greatest
economic recovery value (Cucchiella et al., 2015). However, as e-waste
is also classified as hazardous material, it should be handled properly.
After collection, the e-waste has to be transported to disassembling
plants where materials separation and sorting processes are conducted.
This process includes removal of hazardous substances (Nowakowski,
2017).
Recovering materials from e-waste is more profitable than proces-
sing primary raw materials largely due to the energy efficiency asso-
ciated with e-waste recycling. According to Boliden Rönnskär
(Skelleftehamn, Sweden), extracting metals from e-waste requires only
from 10 to 15% of the total energy required in metals extraction from
ore concentrates. According to the Commodities Research Unit of UK
report in 2011, EU is globally the leading e-waste recycler with a rate of
35% per year, e-waste recycling rate of USA is 27% per year (Namias,
2013).

1.1.1. Classification and composition of e-waste

1.1. E-waste According to the Association of Plastics Manufacturers in EU
(APME), average materials consumption in EEE are 38 wt% ferrous,
The production of EEE is one of the fastest growing domains of the 28 wt% non-ferrous, 19 wt% plastics, 4 wt% glass, 1 wt% wood, and
manufacturing industry globally. In response to the fast advancement in 10 wt% others (APME, 1995). The United Nations University (UNU,
technology, the demand for EEE has increased dramatically. The high 2017) reported that the electronic industry consumes about
diversity of EEE coupled with a rapid obsolescence of products, due to 290.30 tonnes of Au and 6803.89 tonnes of Ag every year. Thus, despite
advancement in technology that lead to continuous supply of devices its common classification as a waste, e-waste constitutes considerable
with better features, and an increasing level of household equipment amounts of secondary resource. As shown in Table 1, the average
have led to an exponential increase in e-waste (Research and Markets, grades of Cu, Au, Ag, and Pd in e-waste are significantly higher than
2015). The EU WEEE directive classifies e-waste as electrical or elec- those grades in mined ores.
tronic equipment which is discarded including all components which Metals in e-waste can be grouped into five major categories as de-
are part of the product at the time of discarding (European Parliament, scribed in Table 2. The extraction of precious metals, platinum group
2003; BIO Intelligence Service, 2013). The EU WEEE directive cate- metals, and base metals from e-waste is a major economic drive due to
gorizes e-waste into ten different classes from large household appli- their associated value. Printed circuit boards (PCBs) are the most pre-
ances to automatic dispensers. Currently, between 2.72 · 107 and cious part in e-waste streams. PCBs are found in electrical and electro-
4.54 · 107 tonnes of e-waste per year is generated globally with major nics appliances such as TVs, computers and mobile phones. For ex-
share from USA, China, EU, and Australasia, and this number is rising ample, flat screens contain one or more PCBs equipped with electronic
by about 3–5% annually (Cucchiella et al., 2015; UNU, 2017). Recently, components and connectors. Considerable amounts of precious metals
UN reported that United Kingdom (UK), United States of America are contained both in the components and connectors as well as in the
(USA), EU, and China generated about 1.18 · 106, 0.91 · 107, 1.00 · 107, solders (Buchert et al., 2012). For example, PCB from an LCD TV con-
and 1.00 · 107 tonnes of e-waste in 2012, respectively (Research and stitutes 575 mg of Ag, 138 mg of Au, and 44 mg of Pd (Buchert et al.,
Markets, 2015; UNU, 2017). UN also estimated the global volume of e- 2012). In general, precious metals in PCB account for more than 80% of
waste in 2012 to have been 4.54 · 107 tonnes (Research and Markets, the total intrinsic value even though their composition in e-waste is less
2015), of which USA and China contributed for 32% of the total (UNU, than 1 wt% (Park and Fray, 2009). PCBs are also embedded into other
2017). In EU e-waste has been projected to increase by 45% between
1995 and 2020 (European Parliament, 2003). Table 1
Driven by rising incomes and high demand for new gadgets and Weight distribution of PMs, PGMs, and BMs in e-waste (Kumar et al., 2017; Hagelüken,
appliances, countries in the Emerging Market Economies such as China 2006).
and India are expected to become significant e-waste producers in the
E-waste Fe Al Cu Plastics Ag (ppm) Au (ppm) Pd (ppm)
next decade (Robinson, 2009). A new UNU (UNU, 2017) research
(wt (wt (wt (wt%)
shows that the average increase in e-waste across 12 East and South- %) %) %)
East Asian countries, including China, between 2010 and 2015 was
63% (∼7.71 · 106 tonnes), with a total of 1.18 · 107 tonnes of e-waste, TV-board 28 10 10 28 280 20 10
PC board 7 5 20 23 1000 250 110
which is 2.4 times the weight of the Great Pyramid of Giza.
Mobile phone 5 1 13 56 3500 340 130
E-waste has a complex composition of ferrous, non-ferrous, plastic Portable audio 23 1 21 47 150 10 4
and ceramic materials. It is characterized by its significant amount of DVD-player 62 2 5 24 115 15 4
valuable metals. The presence of valuable metals in e-waste such as Au, Calculator 4 5 3 61 260 50 5
Ag, Pt, Ga, Pd, Ta, Te, Ge, and Se makes it attractive for recycling. Average EEE – – 13.8 – 1009 127 51.6
Ore/mine – – 0.6 – 215.5 1.01 2.7
Based on an economic assessment made on selected 14 EEE in EU, Au

210
F. Tesfaye et al.
Table 2
Classification of main elements in e-waste that should be either recovered or handled
properly (Hagelüken, 2006).
Group Designation Major elements
Precious metals PMs Au and Ag
Platinum group metals PGMs Pd, Pt, Rh, Ir, and Ru
Base metals BMs Cu, Al, Ni, Sn, Zn, and Fe
Metals of concern MCs Hg, Be, In, Pb, Cd, As, and Sb
Scarce elements SEs Te, Ga, Se, Ta, and Ge
e-waste such as controllers in washing machines, but with lower per-
centages of key materials (Reuter et al., 2013; Copani and Rosa, 2014).
Researchers (Ogunniyi et al., 2009) summarized data reported be-
tween 1991 and 2006, and observed that PCBs are composed of max-
imum 40 wt% metals, 30 wt% plastics, and 30% ceramics. PCBs are
coated with base metals (BMs) such as Sn, Ag or Cu to make them
conductive. Polymers and industrial plastics are the other major con-
stituents of PCBs that contain polyethylene, polypropylene, epoxies,
and polyesters. Large numbers and various kinds of small components
are attached to PCBs. During the recycling process, generally, PCBs are
crushed into small sizes (< 2 mm) and various techniques including
magnetic, electrostatic, electrowinning, and selective dissolution are
implemented to separate the components (Ogunniyi et al., 2009;
Puckett et al., 2002; Luda, 2010; Moltó et al., 2009; Wienold et al.,
2011; Jie et al., 2008; Veit et al., 2006; Li et al., 2007; Lu et al., 2008).
Isolation of hazardous metals from e-waste and the optimization of the
recovery of PMs are the most important goals in the recycling process.
The loss of PMs during the recycling chain will adversely affect eco-
nomics of the process. After PMs, Cu is the next highest valuable metal
to be extracted from e-waste (Hagelüken, 2006).
2. Objectives and methodology
The current article focuses on a comprehensive and selective review
of optimal recovery of valuable metals and energy associated with e-
waste recycling. The present critical metals recycling industry as well as
the challenges for future improvements in the industrial processes are
described. Recommendations for improved metals and energy re-
coveries from small sized e-waste such as smart phones and tablets are
made. The need for revolutionary move for increased collection of small
sized EoL EEE for recycling is emphasized from EU consumers’ point of
view. Contents in this article may serve as useful sources for the re-
cycling industry, investors, scientific community, and policy makers
regarding profitable and environmentally friendly e-waste manage-
ment.
211
Minerals Engineering 111 (2017) 209–221
3. E-waste collection for recycling
The first phase in the recycling chain is collection and consolidation
of e-waste. This phase of the recycling chain is basically logistics;
however, it requires a high awareness level of consumers who need to
return EoL EEE to proper collection centers for recycling. Efficiency in
municipal waste collection plays a vital role in urban mining. Generally,
the collection can be done in different scenarios including stationary
and mobile methods, each with different variants. The responsibility of
e-waste organizations and waste collection companies is to assure all
resources required for these activities considering cost minimization
(Nowakowski, 2017). The equipment must be collected separately and
any treatment is done after delivery to the disassembling plant. The
stationary collection points include municipal waste collection centers,
various shops, service points and places where special environmentally-
focused events are organized. Other forms of collection are provided
along streets as the curbside collection or by resident requests
(Nowakowski, 2017). The forecast of a type of the e-waste to be col-
lected is difficult. It can vary depending on the lifestyle of specific area,
season, etc. A detailed report from Defra shows that the differences
between different administrative areas can be significant (DEFRA,
2007).
Environmental issues should be taken into consideration during a
container-loading sequence which may involve LCD, plasma, and CRT
TVs, and monitors. These items should be handled with care to avoid
the release of hazardous substances in compliance with EN 50625-1 -
Collection, logistics and treatment requirements for e-waste. A special
container for CRT TV transportation was proposed by (Gamberini et al.,
2009). Total e-waste collection rate in Europe are mainly on good or
even excellent levels when compared to the current annual collection
requirement of 4 kg per inhabitant. However, when collected amounts
of e-waste are compared to the EEE amounts put into the market
(POM), as shown in Fig. 2, there is still room to improve the collection
rates (Ylä-Mella et al., 2015).
3.1. Awareness and incentives for recycling
Raising awareness is presently key to successful e-waste manage-
ment and recycling. A survey made in Finland by Ylä-Mella et al. (2015)
may indicate that EU consumers’ awareness of the importance and
existence of waste recovery system is high. For small sized EoL devices,
particularly, this awareness has not been translated into recycling be-
havior due to inadequate waste management system that promote the
return of < 10 kg EoL devices such as mobile phones and tablets. We
use the term EoL to emphasize on those EEE neither discarded nor in
use, but remain in possession of end-users.
To achieve good collection rates of e-waste, the most important
Fig. 2. Collection rate of e-waste in EU and Norway in 2010
as a percentage of the average weight of EEE put on the
market (POM) in the three preceding years (2007–2009),
data adopted from Environmental Data Centre on Waste
(2014).
F. Tesfaye et al.
factor is ensuring the participation of consumers. Providing up-to-date
information and increased publicity on prevailing recycling practices is
needed, in order to raise public awareness related to e-waste recycling.
Managing small sized EoL devices such as mobile phones should be
done through establishment of industry-funded co-regulatory agree-
ments, good government policies, effective advertisement for public
awareness, economic incentives, and installation of separate collection
facilities at public places such as shopping centers. Economic incentives
may include providing free collection services including transportation
of EoL equipment to collection or recycling centers. A good example is
Finland’s major recycling company, Kuusakoski Oy, which provides free
collection services with some coupons for those consumers calling for
EoL equipment delivery. Consumers can also return their EoL EEE to the
retailers in association with buying a new corresponding device.
In 2007 about 2.273 kt of mobile phones became obsolete in
Germany, of which by 2010 only ∼5% of all mobile phones were sent
to controlled recycling facilities (Buchert et al., 2012). According to
Nokia’s consumer survey in 2011, only 9% of respondents claimed to
have delivered their used mobile phones to a proper recycling system
(Tanskanen, 2012). It can also be assumed that this value applies to
smartphones and note books. A telephone company in Finland (DNA
Plc., 2017) which gives rebate for returned partly or fully functioning
mobile phones, sets a target to collect up to 20% of used mobile phones
in the near future. As with flat screens and notebooks, the whereabouts
of the remaining devices cannot be stated with certainty. However, in
general, it can be assumed that a large proportion of the mobile phones
which are not collected are stored by the consumers over longer periods
of time, resulting in delayed EoL management. In addition, the ease
with which small sized devices can be binned plays a role in the im-
proper disposal via municipal waste.
4. E-waste recycling protocols and processing technologies
The major reasons for e-waste processing are increasing resource
and energy efficiencies as well as eliminating the hazardous effects of e-
waste on the environment. E-waste recycling consists of three main
steps: collection, preprocessing, and recovery of valuable materials and
disposal of non-recyclable residues (Meskers et al., 2009). For the re-
covery of metals from e-waste, various treatment options based on
conventional physical separation, hydro- and pyro-metallurgical pro-
cesses are available. The recycling methodology broadly comprises
shredding, sorting, grading, compacting, baling, or processing segre-
gated plastics and metal components, followed by separation, identifi-
cation, and testing as relevant (Ari, 2016). Each step is critical for the
recovery of metals, and the recycling economy in general. E-waste
collection is mainly facilitated through good policies, and increased
social awareness, etc. The goal of the EU WEEE directive is to increase
the collection rate of e-waste from 65% by 2012 to 85% by 2016
(European Parliament, 2003; BIO Intelligence Service, 2013). Compo-
nents of e-waste are sorted at the collection facility where useable ones
are returned to the consumer supply chain.
4.1. Preprocessing and physical separation
Preprocessing of e-waste is one of the most important steps in the
recycling chain. It involves manual dismantling of the discarded
equipment to isolate individual components. Dismantling enhances
sorting of components into batches rich in specific valuable metals.
During the early stage housing, wiring boards, and drives, and other
components are disassembled in the manner shown in Fig. 3. Me-
chanical processing is an integrated part of this stage where e-waste is
shredded into pieces using e.g. hammer mills (Meskers et al., 2009).
Metals and non-metals are separated during this stage using techniques
like those used in the mineral dressing, e.g., screening, magnetic, eddy
current, and density separation techniques. Compaction can be applied
to fine-grain materials, such as, filter dusts that occur during the
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Minerals Engineering 111 (2017) 209–221
Fig. 3. A typical dismantling facility where parts of e-waste are separated into different
bins based on their materials content, adopted from Benefits of going green (2017).
shredding and crushing of e-waste. These kinds of materials contain
valuable metals such as Cu and Au. Mixing the fine-grained materials
with reaction agents and fluxes, and then palletization of them creates
appropriate feed material for a smelting process to recover the valuable
metals (Friedrich, 2017).
The non-metallic fractions of PCBs are mainly composed of ther-
moset resins and glass fibers. Thermoset resins cannot be re-melted due
to their chain structure. However, chemical processes that include ga-
sification, pyrolysis, supercritical fluid de-polymerization, and hydro-
genolytic degradation can be applied for producing chemicals and fuels
(Guo and Xu, 2009). In pyrometallurgical processes these non-metallic
fractions directly serve as sources of fuels and reducing agents.
In this preprocessing step the application of pyrolysis allows the
release materials which are attached to organic matters. This process
enables enrichment of the metallic fraction while removing halides and
hazardous organics without loss of the valuable metals. Thermal energy
released in the process can be recovered through integrated steam
networks. Reduced carbon and energy contents during pyrolysis means
also making the subsequent pyrometallurgical processes more con-
trollable. Another advantage of the pyrolysis step prior to the smelting
process is the recovery of critical metals, particularly, In and Ga via
volatilization (Friedrich, 2017).
4.2. Recycling processes
Pyrometallurgical processing techniques such as conflagrating,
smelting in a plasma arc furnace, drossing, sintering, melting, and
various solid-liquid-gas reactions at high temperatures for recovering
BMs and PMs from e-waste are the conventional methods used in the
past two decades. In these processes, scraps are crushed and liquefied in
a furnace or in a molten bath to remove plastics, in which the refractory
oxides form a slag phase together with other metal oxides. Recently, Cui
and Zhang (2008) reviewed the process of metals recovery from e-waste
streams, including hydro- and pyro-metallurgical processes. They re-
ported that hydrometallurgical processes are more predictable and
controllable compared to pyrometallurgical processes. However, hy-
drometallurgical process routes have certain limitations in recovering
PMs efficiently, at industrial scale. Therefore, industrial scale optimal
recovery of PMs can be better achieved through pyrometallurgical
process steps, which make these process routes more economical and
eco-efficient compared to the hydrometallurgical process routes (Cui
and Zhang, 2008).
Through the pyrometallurgical process routes Noranda in Quebec,
Canada, recycles about 0.91 · 105 tonnes of e-waste per year
(Veldbuizen and Sippel, 1994). During this process, materials entering
the reactor are immersed in a molten metal bath at about 1250 °C,
which is churned by a mixture of O2-rich air (up to 39% oxygen), this
F. Tesfaye et al.
effectively reduces energy consumption due to combustible substances
in the feed. In this process, impurities including Fe, Pb, and Zn are
converted to oxides, forming silica-based slag aided by the agitated
oxidation zone, followed by cooling and milling of the slag for further
recovery of metals prior to its disposal. The PMs containing Cu matte is
tapped and transferred to converters to obtain liquid blister copper. The
PMs including Au, Ag, Pt, and Pd together with SEs and Ni constitute
about 0.9%, which are finally recovered through electrorefining process
at the anodes.
Pyrometallurgical processing for the recovery of metals from e-
waste is widely applied by Boliden Rönnskär (Skelleftehamn, Sweden)
(Lehner, 1999). E-waste blended with Pb-concentrates is processed in a
Kaldo reactor (Cu-rich e-waste in E-Kaldo reactor) with skip-hoist as-
sisted feeding and the required oxygen for combustion in oil-oxygen
burner is provided through an oxygen lance in the system, while off-
gases are subjected to additional combustion air at around 1200 °C
(Leirnes and Lundstrom, 1983). A standard gas handling system re-
covers thermal energy through the integrated steam network. The
mixed Cu-alloy produced by the Kaldo furnace is processed in a copper
converter for recovery of valuable metals (such as Cu, Ag, Au, Pd, Ni,
Se, and Zn), while the dust content (containing Pb, Sb, In, and Cd) is
subjected to other processing operations to recover the metals.
4.2.1. Hydrometallurgical process routes
Various investigators studied the extraction of PMs and BMs from e-
waste using hydrometallurgical process routes (Veit et al., 2006;
Chehade et al., 2012; Dhawan et al., 2008, 2009; Delfini et al., 2011).
These process routes are based on traditional hydrometallurgical
technology of metals extractions from their primary ores with only
minor modifications to suit secondary raw materials. Similar steps of
acid (mostly organic or sulfuric) or caustic leaching are employed for
selective dissolution of PMs from e-waste. The pregnant solution is
purified for the enrichment of metal content. Selectivity of the process
ensures that gangue materials are separated from valuable metals. The
isolation of metals of interest is conducted through solvent extraction,
adsorption and ion exchange processes. Finally, metals are recovered
from solution through electrorefining (electrometallurgy) or chemical
reduction processes (Safarzadeh et al., 2007; Ritcey, 2006; Yang, 1994;
Shamsuddin, 1986; Tavlarides et al., 1985). According to (Paretsky
et al., 2004), hydrometallurgical processes have some advantages over
pyrometallurgical processes due to the more exact, predictable and
controllable processes.
Solvents especially halides, cyanides, thiourea (most recently), and
thiosulfates are used for the leaching of PMs from their ores. Factors
including redox potential, pH, temperature, and stirring control the
dissolution of metals from their primary ores. The recovery of PMs from
the leached solution is carried out by cementation, solvent extraction,
adsorption on activated carbon, and ion exchange methods. Similar
techniques could be employed for extracting metals from e-waste,
however, its complex nature makes the process complicated compared
to extraction from ores. Experimental work on leaching reagents for the
recovery of metals from e-waste is summarized by Tuncuk et al. (2012).
A hydrometallurgical method for recovering PMs from e-waste has
been proposed by Park and Fray (2009). In their study they have used
aqua regia as leachant with a fixed ratio of 1/20 between metals and
leachant was exercised. They extracted Ag and Pd during the first stage
with 98% and 93% recovery, respectively. They applied a liquid-liquid
extraction method with toluene resulted in a recovery of 97% Au (Park
and Fray, 2009). By applying thiourea leaching on e-waste for 120 min
(Ficeriová et al., 2008), they reported to have achieved recovery of 97%
Au and 94% Ag. HNO3, H2SO4, and HCl-based solutions are commonly
employed for dissolving PMs from e-waste. From the leachants, PMs are
recovered by employing methods similar to those used in the mineral
industry. A two-stage process based on oxidative acid leaching of base
metals (Cu, in particular) followed by leaching of precious metals using
cyanide, thiosulfate, thiourea or halide as lixiviant(s) can be suitably
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Minerals Engineering 111 (2017) 209–221
developed for the hydrometallurgical treatment of e-waste (Tuncuk
et al., 2012).
4.2.2. Pyrometallurgical process routes
State-of-the-art smelters and refineries can extract valuable metals
from secondary sources and separate or contain hazardous substances
efficiently. It is for this reason that current e-waste recycling at in-
dustrial scale is mainly done through pyrometallurgical process routes
(Antrekowitsch et al., 2006). Such recycling facilities can close the loop
of valuable metals while reducing environmental impacts arising from
large quantities of e-waste. In these process routes, after dismantling
and separation, incineration, pyrolysis, and smelting in furnaces are
typical processes. In these pyrometallurgical smelting processes, metals
are separated by exploiting their chemical and metallurgical properties,
e.g., PMs are segregated into a solvent metal phase (Cu or Pb). Partial
recovery and purity of PMs are achieved within these pyrometallurgical
routes. Therefore, subsequent hydrometallurgical and electrochemical
techniques are necessary to extract pure metals from BMs. Plastic
components of e-waste cannot easily be recycled due to the presence of
flame retardants, pigments and assorted types of plastics. However,
smelting processes can utilize the energy content of the plastics. Energy
usage is reduced due to the combustion of these plastics and other
flammable materials in the e-waste feed, which partially substitute the
role of coke and oil as a reducing agent and energy source (Cui and
Zhang, 2008; Van Schaik and Reuter, 2014).
The metal fractions separated during preprocessing of e-waste are
composed of Fe, Al, Cu, Pb and PMs. After Fe and Al, Cu and Pb are the
main constituents of a typical e-waste. Therefore, it is logical to send e-
waste to smelters that accept Cu/Pb scraps. Currently, Cu and Pb
smelters work as e-waste recyclers for the recovery of Pb, Cu, and PMs.
In these pyrometallurgical processes, e-waste/Cu/Pb scraps are feed
into a furnace, in which metals are collected in a molten bath and
oxides form a slag phase layer.
Both primary and secondary copper smelters are adopted to extract
PMs from e-waste partly due to their well-stablished gas cleaning units.
In this case, Cu smelting processes are more environmentally friendly
compared to Pb smelters where cleaning of generated toxic fumes are
not fully established (Anindya et al., 2013). Copper smelting facilities
situated near urban areas minimize the cost of e-waste transportation,
and therefore lower the recycling costs. In these processes, PMs are
recovered through conventional electrorefining processes where they
are segregated in anode slimes (Anindya et al., 2013). These Cu
smelting routes which either produce matte or black copper are usually
used for e-waste recycling. In the primary copper smelting, copper
matte (∼40–60% Cu) and blister copper (∼98.5% Cu) are produced.
Furthermore, blister copper is refined to produce anode copper (∼99%
Cu). In the black copper processing route (secondary copper smelting)
crude copper is produced during a reduction process in electric arc
furnaces and is refined by oxidation process in a converter. The black
copper smelting process consists of reduction and oxidation cycles.
Impurities are mostly segregated into the vapor phase and are dis-
charged in the off gas (Anindya et al., 2013).
4.2.3. Limitations of hydro- and pyro-metallurgy process routes
Laboratory scale hydrometallurgical processes have been success-
fully used to recover PMs from e-waste. However, these processes have
limitations that restrict their industrial scale application. These lim-
itations include low speed of the process and relatively less profitability
due to time and other resources compared to the pyrometallurgical
processes (Cui and Zhang, 2008; Hilson and Monhemius, 2006; La
Brooy et al., 1994). The mechanical processing of e-waste for efficient
dissolution is time consuming may cause a loss of up to 20% PMs. There
are also losses of PMs during dissolution and subsequent steps. In ad-
dition, leachants such as cyanide and concentrated acids are hazardous
and should therefore be used with extreme safety conditions. Chloride
containing acids also consume large amounts of water for washing the
F. Tesfaye et al.
Table 3
Summary of selected pyrometallurgical processes for recovering valuable metals from e-waste. TSL: top submerged lanced (Khaliq et al., 2014).
Industrial processes Metals recovered
Umicore’s process Au, Ag, Pd, Pt, Se, Ir, Ru, Rh, Cu, Ni, Pb,
In, Bi, Sn, As, and Sb
Outotec’s Ausmelt TSL and Kaldo Zn, Cu, Au, Ag, In, Pb, Cd, and Ge
Furnaces
Boliden Rönnskär smelters Cu, Ag, Au, Pd, Ni, Se, Zn, and Pb
Noranda process Cu, Au, Ag, Pt, Pd, Se, Te, and Ni
Boliden Rönnskär smelters tests Cu and PMs
Umicore’s trials Au, Ag, Pd, Pt, Se, Ir, Ru, Rh, Cu, Ni, Pb,
In, Bi, Sn, As, and Sb
Dowa mining Kosaka Japan Cu, Au, and Ag
LS-Nikko’s recycling facility, Korea Au, Ag, and PGMs metals
Day’s patent PMs, Pt, and Pd
Aleksandrovich patent PGMs and Au
Aurubis recycling Germany Cu, Pb, Zn, Sn, and PMs
chlorides away, making it unfavorable for industrial scale applications.
Halide leaching needs special equipment made of stainless steel and
rubbers due to strong corrosive acids and oxidizing conditions. The use
of one of the most efficient leachant for Au, thiourea, is limited in Au
extraction due to its high cost and consumption. Moreover, further
developments are required to improve the current technology of
thiourea-based Au leaching. The consumption of the alternative lea-
chant thiosulfate is comparatively higher and the overall process is
slower, which limits its application for Au extraction from both ores and
e-waste.
Although a large investment is required for installing integrated e-
waste recycling plants with optimal recovery of valuable metals and
controlled and safe hazardous gas treatment, pyrometallurgical pro-
cesses are generally considered as more economical, eco-efficient and
maximize the recovery of PMs (Hagelüken, 2006; Cui and Zhang,
2008). One of the limitations in this process is that Al and Fe cannot be
recovered since they oxidize and dissolve into the slag. In addition,
smelting cannot recover components such as chips or bare fiberglass
boards. Even though plastics that cannot also be recovered in this
process, they replace fossil fuels as a source of energy. Smelting of flame
retardants and polyvinyl chloride (PVC) present in e-waste leads to the
formation of dioxins, requiring special emission controls. During
smelting, instant burning of fine dust of organic materials can occur
before reaching the metal bath. In such cases, agglomeration may be
required to effectively harness the energy content and also to minimize
the health risk posed by these fine dust particles. Ceramic components
and particularly alumina and aluminum in e-waste if not effectively
removed before smelting can cause increased volume of slag generated
during the smelting process in furnaces. This increased volume of slag
can cause loss of PMs from BMs. Generally, as the e-waste feed mate-
rials are complex, advanced process control and optimization of the
smelting and refining processes are required.
4.3. Environmental benefits and energy saving
The e-waste stream contains many hazardous materials such as Hg,
Cd, Pb, Cr, As, Be, poly/brominated flame retardants, ozone depleting
chemicals such as chlorofluorocarbon (CFC) (Balde et al., 2015). Disposal
of these hazardous materials in landfills or incinerating them in the tra-
ditional methods produce harmful effects to the environment. Therefore,
the recycling industry plays a vital role in the environmental protection
by taking the hazardous waste into a controlled processing system.
Minerals Engineering 111 (2017) 209–221
Main process features
Isasmelt smelting, copper leaching & electrowinning and PMs refinery
Copper scrap and e-waste recycling with various refining steps downstream
Smelting in Kaldo reactor, upgrading in Cu and high PMs recovery by copper refining
Smelting of e-waste and Cu concentrate. Electrorefining for metal recovery
PC scrap feeding to Zn fuming process, plastics are used as reducing agents, PMs are
segregated in Cu and are recovered at later stage
Plastics from e-waste is tested as sources of energy and reducing agent during smelting
E-waste TSL smelting in a secondary copper process
Recycling in TSL smelting followed by electrolytic refining
Smelting in plasma arc furnace at 1400 °C. PMs collected in BM. Ag and Cu used to collect
metals
Scrap combustion in a BM with carbon reduction
Smelting of Cu and e-waste in TSL, black Cu processing and electrorefining
Recycling metals from e-waste also provide significant energy
saving compared to most processes for metals extraction from primary
resources. According to Cui and Forssberg (2003), the recycling of Al,
Cu, Fe, Pb, and Zn saves 95%, 85%, 74%, 65%, and 60% of the total
energy required to extract them from their ores, respectively. Therefore,
recycling of metals from e-waste has direct impact in reducing the
greenhouse gas emissions due to the reduction of the usage of energy
sources such as burning coke. It has also been reported that recycling of
10 kg Al not only provides a 90% energy saving but also prevents 20 kg
of CO2(g) and 0.11 kg of SO2(g) emission, as well as 13 kg less gen-
eration of bauxite residues (Kumar et al., 2017).
5. Selected smelters and processes for recycling e-waste
Currently, industrial processes for recovering metals from e-waste
are based on combined pyro-, hydro-, and electro-metallurgical pro-
cesses. In pyrometallurgical processes, e-waste is often blended with
other materials and incorporated into the primary/secondary smelting
processes. Copper smelting is the main process route for e-waste re-
cycling where PMs are collected in copper matte or black copper. In the
final stage of Cu production, i.e., in the electrorefining process, pure Cu
metal is produced and the PMs are separated as anode slimes where
they are recovered through electrometallurgical and/or hydro-
metallurgical processes. Currently, various industrial processes are used
globally to extract metals from e-waste including the Umicore integrate
smelting and refining facility in Belgium, the Noranda process in
Canada, Boliden Rönnskär smelters in Sweden, Kosaka recycling plant
in Japan, the Kayser (Aurubis) recycling system in Austria, and the
Metallo-Chimique N.V plants operating in Belgium and Spain. A sum-
mary of selected industrial processes with their list of valuable metal
recoveries is given in Table 3.
5.1. The Boliden Rönnskär and Noranda e-waste recycling
Boliden Rönnskär (Skelleftehamn, Sweden) is world’s largest re-
cycler of Cu and PMs from e-waste (Borell, 2015). Most of the e-waste
sent to Rönnskär comes from EU and North America (Park and Fray,
2009). Fig. 4 shows metals production flowsheet of Boliden Rönnskär
with integrated e-waste recycling in its Cu and Pb hydro- and pyro-
metallurgical processes. The main steps in the Boliden Rönnskär smel-
ters are drying, roasting, smelting, converting, and refining, as sche-
matically shown in Fig. 4. A variety of scrap from the non-ferrous and
214
F. Tesfaye et al.
Fig. 4. Process flow sheet of the Boliden Rönnskär (Skelleftehamn, Sweden) smelter, modified from Borell (2015). The feed materials, useful end products, and the integrated e-waste
materials flow are encircled with red, green, and dashed lines, respectively. (For interpretation of the references to color in this figure legend, the reader is referred to the web version of
this article.)
electronic industry is introduced into the process at different stages
depending on the purity and requirement of the final product. For in-
stance, high Cu containing scrap is fed into the converting process di-
rectly through the E-Kaldo plant, but the low-grade e-waste is fed into
the Kaldo furnace together with Pb-concentrate, as shown in Fig. 4. As
of 2012, the annual production capacity of Boliden Rönnskär’s (Skel-
leftehamn, Sweden) smelters is ∼1.18 · 105 tonnes of e-waste (Borell,
2015). The feed material of the Kaldo converter consists of blended Pb-
concentrates and e-waste that are combusted with the supply of oxygen
and oil.
The Kaldo furnace at Boliden Rönnskär, to which the e-waste is fed,
produces mixed Cu-alloys (black copper) to be treated in a copper
converter to produce a blister copper. The blister copper is then cast
into anodes and refined to recover the valuable metals including Cu,
Ag, Au, Pt, Pd, Ni, Se, and Zn. The volatile metals such as Pb, Sb, In, and
Cd are deported into the off-gas stream that is recovered by a separate
process step. The off gases are treated for sulfuric acid and SO2(g,l)
production.
The Noranda (Royn-Noranda, Canada) process is another major
commercial pyrometallurgical plant that recycles e-waste. The feed
materials to this process are composed of e-waste and Cu-ore con-
centrates. In this recycling facility ∼0.91 · 105 tonnes of e-waste per
year are recycled (Veldbuizen and Sippel, 1994). In this plant, blends of
e-waste and copper concentrate is fed into the molten bath at 1250 °C
and the process temperature is maintained by injecting oxygen. Energy
usage in the Noranda reactor is reduced due to the combustion of
plastics in the e-waste feedstock. During the oxidation process, im-
purities including Fe, Pb, and Zn are converted into oxides, and dissolve
into a silica-based slag, and PMs are segregated in liquid copper. The
slag is cooled and processed for the recovery of metals before disposal.
The blister copper is refined in the anode furnace and cast into anodes
with purity of 99.1% Cu. The remaining residue (0.9%) contains va-
luable metals including Au, Ag, Pt, Pd, Ni, Se, and Te. Finally, PMs are
recovered through electrorefining process.
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Minerals Engineering 111 (2017) 209–221
6. Case study: recycling small sized EoL EEE
In 2014 more than 1.8 · 109 cell phones were sold globally (Scott,
2014). According to the current small sized EoL EEE handling practices,
within a few years (< 5 years) ∼ 44% of them could end up “hi-
bernating” in drawers, ∼49% will be resold and passed on, ∼4% may
end up in landfills, and only ∼3% may reach proper recycling facilities.
The same recycling practices applies to the latest smartphones, note-
books, and tablets too; although as a relatively new product group they
have not yet reached the EoL stage in large quantities. When an ef-
fective EoL small sized EEE collection is applied, basically, they will
make the most profitable e-waste recycling. Valuable materials content
of smart phones can be compared to tablets, perhaps with even higher
percentage of the valuable metals for a given weight (Buchert et al.,
2012; Geyer and Blass, 2010). Generally, smart phones, notebooks, and
tablets, together with desktops and servers, are one of the most valuable
e-waste categories (Reuter et al., 2013). Even if structurally and func-
tionally different, notebooks seem to gradually lose market shares in
favor of tablets. From the recycling point of view, this trend could be
positive as tablets have a higher content of valuable metals than no-
tebooks (for a given weight), which exist in both the screen and the
embedded PCBs. However, their compactness makes recycling more
complex (Buchert et al., 2012), which requires modifications in the
prevailing recycling processes. The most valuable components in these
products are PCBs, Hard Disk Drives (HDDs), LCD, and LED screens
(Reuter et al., 2013; Copani and Rosa, 2014).
Smart phones, like tablets, are also quickly substituting the tradi-
tional mobile phones especially among the younger consumer group. In
2010, ∼7.7 · 106 smartphones were sold in Germany alone, with
growth up by 161% compared to those sold in 2009 (Buchert et al.,
2012). According to a market report from (Statistic Brain, 2015)
3.6 · 109 smart phones and 2.0 · 107 e-book readers were sold globally in
2015. The average lifespan of videogame console, laptops/notebooks,
tablets, and mobile phones is about 5 years (Ely, 2014). According to
F. Tesfaye et al.
these lifespan data the EEE sold in 2015 will produce the corresponding
volume of e-waste by 2020. Given the rapidly advancing technology,
supplying products with even better features, the sold devices may
become obsolete earlier than the estimated lifespan.
However, given their small sizes, which do not require much space
for storage, there is still a tendency by customers to keep the small sized
EoL EEE under their desk instead of returning them to controlled re-
cycling centers. This leads to a lack of using potentially reusable com-
ponents embedded in these equipment, and lack of the appropriate
volume for a profitable recycling. The reasons given by consumers also
suggest that this trend can be changed. For example, the reasons often
given by consumers for not returning EoL mobile phones are mainly ‘I
don’t know where to return’ and/or ‘I have not got to do it yet’ (Ylä-
Mella et al., 2015). The lack of volumes makes recyclers less interested
in treating these products, which is why specific processing technolo-
gies are not yet available at industrial level.
6.1. Composition of critical metals in the small sized e-waste
The estimated composition of critical metals embedded in smart-
phones sold in Germany in 2010 is presented in Table 4. Statistical
reports from Sheffield Hallam University shows that each mobile phone
sold in 2014 contains about 300 mg of Ag and 30 mg of Au. This means
for every 10,000 mobile phones 3 kg and 0.3 kg of Ag and Au, re-
spectively, is contained. The Au and Ag used to manufacture the phones
sold in the same year worth more than $2.5 billion (Scott, 2014). A
telephone company in Finland (DNA Plc., 2017) reported the average
metal contents in a tonne of mobile phone scrap (excluding batteries) as
3.5 kg of Ag, 0.34 kg of Au, 0.14 kg of Pd, and 130 kg of Cu. These
average compositions of different mobile phones reported by DNA Plc.
(2017) are higher than the amounts presented in Table 4, which is only
for the composition in smartphones. In 2012 the United Nations Uni-
versity (UNU, 2017) reported that 290.30 tonnes of Au and more than
6803.89 tonnes of Ag are being used annually to produce PCs, cell
phones, tablets and other new electronic and electrical products
worldwide, which add up to more than $21 billion in value each year.
6.2. Collection of the small sized EoL EEE
The major efforts in managing the collection of small sized EoL
devices such as mobile phones should be directed towards establishing
industry-funded co-regulatory agreements. In order to collect the ap-
propriate volume of small sized EoL devices for recycling strict gov-
ernment policies, effective advertisement for public awareness, eco-
nomic incentives, installing separate collection facilities at public places
and shopping centers, and dedicated social events related to municipal
waste management are important, as illustrated in Fig. 5. Most devel-
oped countries have legislations mandating EEE manufacturers and
importers to collect EoL EEE based on the principle of extended pro-
ducers responsibility. For example, based on the EU WEEE directive, the
Finnish waste legislation that entered into force in 2005 prescribes
producers of EEE to organize the recycling and waste management for
Table 4
Compositions of selected valuable metals in smartphones, with the corresponding amount
of the valuable metals in all smartphones sold in 2010 in Germany (Buchert et al., 2012).
Metal Metal per Metal potential from Components
smartphone in (g) smartphones sold in Germany
in 2010 in (g)
Co 6.300 4.85 · 107 Battery
Ag 0.305 2.35 · 106 PCB
Au 0.030 2.31 · 105
Pd 0.011 8.50 · 104
Nd 0.050 3.85 · 105 Loudspeaker
Pr 0.010 7.70 · 104 magnet
216
Minerals Engineering 111 (2017) 209–221
wastes arising from the products placed on the market by the producers,
and producers are liable for the costs of the waste management. Even
though this extended producers responsibility works well for big sized
EoL EEE such as refrigerators, it is not effective in collecting small sized
EoL EEE such as smart phones.
An example for some of the efforts that should be made to collect
mobiles is a Finland’s telephone company (DNA Plc., 2017) which of-
fers a rebate when an old mobile is exchanged for a new one. At their
store, the rebate value of a device is checked, and the IMEI number of
the returned mobile phone is entered in the returns system. Non-func-
tioning mobiles are delivered to their e-waste recycling partners. They
are also targeting to collect up to 20% of used mobile phones in the near
future.
6.3. Recycling of the small sized e-waste
There is no conventional recycling technology that processes all
sorts of e-waste. Various metallurgical process routes are currently
being implemented to recover metals from e-waste streams.
Nevertheless, due to the complexity and variety of e-waste and ever
changing compositions with advancing technologies for EEE produc-
tion, new processes or improvements in the current recycling technol-
ogies are required. Alternative process flow sheets proposed to process
small sized e-waste such as mobile phones, notebooks and tablets are
presented in Fig. 6. In the dismantling phase, it is important to remove
the cobalt-containing Li batteries which should go to separate to battery
recycling plants. Currently, mobile phones are normally fed into pyr-
ometallurgical plants such as in Umicore's facility in Belgium
(UMICORE, 2007), including the Li batteries. This process primarily
recovers BMs and PMs. Li batteries which contain one of the critical
metals in EU, Co, in compounds such as LiCoO2 need to be processed
separately. In the pyrometallurgical process of mobile phones, after the
removal of Li batteries, direct incineration and smelting is advanta-
geous to increase the recovery of both PMs and energy.
Metals recovery from Li batteries has been recently studied by
several authors (Li et al., 2013; Shin et al., 2005), for which the general
process flowsheet is also presented in Fig. 6. Most Li battery systems use
an electrolyte containing high-grade lithium salts such as lithium hex-
afluorophosphate (LiPF6) and cathode compounds such as LiCoO2,
LiNiO2 or LiMn2O4, and graphite as the anode (Chagnes and Pospiech,
2013). Li batteries with the anode-cathodes combination of graphite-
LiCoO2 powers most of the current portable electronic devices (Li et al.,
2013). Therefore, Li batteries of mobile phones, notebooks and tablets
are sources of one of the critical metals in EU, Co. Currently, there is
intense research on strategies to recycle Li batteries based on selective
leaching and selective recovery by solvent extraction (Li et al., 2013).
Leaching permits efficient dissolution of spent electrodes. The appli-
cation of bioleaching processes is also under investigation as an alter-
native process route. Currently, solvent extraction is the most favorable
technology and this review shows that efficient metal separation can be
achieved. At present, there are no recycling processes that can recycle
the next generation Li batteries, with complex cathode materials such
as LiNi1−xCoxO2, LiNi1/3Mn1/3Co1/3O2, LiMn1.5Ni0.5O4,
LiMn1.42Ni0.42Co0.16O4, Li3V2(PO4)3, LiMnPO4, LiCoPO4 and LiFePO4.
This also strongly indicates that research in the area of Li batteries
recycling extends into the future. There is a need to develop cost ef-
fective and efficient processes to recover selectively such combinations
as: Li-Ni-Co, Li-Mn-Co, Li-Mn-Ni, Li-Mn-Ni-Co, Li-V, Li-Mn, Li-Co and
Li-Fe.
7. Discussion
7.1. Improving e-waste collection for recycling
Sufficient volume is a limiting factor in e-waste recycling economy.
A detailed techno-economic analysis of (Ghodrat et al., 2016) on
F. Tesfaye et al.
valuable metals recovery from e-waste through embedded black copper
smelting route suggests that the minimum plant capacity for econom-
ically feasible process is above 3.0 · 104 tonnes per year. This critical
volume could be slightly lower when contributions of energy sources in
e-waste such as plastics are fully considered in the processing costs, as
suggested by Cui and Zhang (2008) and Van Schaik and Reuter (2014)).
A profitable urban mining approach attempts to recycle as many ma-
terials as possible, thus, efficiency in waste collection is vital. Effective
e-waste recycling that involves high collection rate and optimal re-
covery of values also helps to minimize the amount of hazardous ma-
terials to be disposed in landfills. Fig. 7 shows e-waste collection, reuse,
and recycling in the context of the circular economy that eliminates or
Fig. 6. Schematic process flow sheets for e-waste recycling that consist of mobile phones, notebooks, tablets, etc. Dashed line arrows indicate optional processing steps. Li batteries
recycling process was adopted and modified from Li et al. (2013).
217
Minerals Engineering 111 (2017) 209–221
Fig. 5. Mechanisms to enhance the collection rate of small sized EoL
devices.
reduces disposal in landfills while enhancing resource efficiency. Ac-
cording to the UN Environment Programme (UNEP) (UNU, 2017),
currently, up to 90% of the world’s e-waste worth nearly $19bn is either
illegally traded or end up in landfills each year. In its revised legislative
proposals on waste, EU sets a maximum of 10% municipal waste dis-
posal in landfills by 2030 (European Commission, 2015).
E-waste collection for recycling can mainly be facilitated by ap-
propriate government policies, effective advertisement to increase
public awareness, and installation of separate collection facilities at
public places. Government policies regulate the behavior of both or-
ganizations and societies regarding what they can do to enhance re-
cycling. Raising consumers’ awareness regularly will eventually lead to
F. Tesfaye et al.
Fig. 7. Schematic of e-waste collection, reuse, and recycling; including the < 10% (European Commission, 2015) target set by the EU for municipal waste disposal in landfills.
more environmentally sound behavior and, ultimately, improves e-
waste collection efficiency. The responsibility of e-waste organizations
and waste collection companies is to ensure the availability of all re-
sources required for these activities, such as bins, containers, collection
vehicles and staff, taking into account cost minimization. Fig. 5 illus-
trates some of the mechanisms that can be applied to significantly in-
crease the quite low small sized EoL EEE collection rate to above the
critical volume of e-waste for a profitable recycling. Efforts in managing
small sized EoL devices such as mobile phones should also be through
establishing industry-funded co-regulatory agreements. Financial in-
centives may also be used to stimulate recycling behavior, such as
providing rewards for each returned item, in cooperation with EEE
stores. This has already been proven i.e., the rebate offered by DNA Plc.
(2017) for customers returning their partially or fully working mobile
phones when purchasing a new one enhanced collection of small sized
EoL devices.
One of the many reasons that lead to consumer retention of the
small sized EoL devices such as smart phones that handles mobile
banking and other personal data is insecurity. Effective education and
assurance of uninstalling software of the EoL devices to be offered by
retailers to their customers will ultimately make customers feel secured
to hand in their EoL devices. This will eventually result in high col-
lection rates of the EoL devices. Fig. 8 shows the engagement of cus-
tomers in the producers-retailers-recyclers loop. Strong cooperation in
the loop will lead to:
• permanent change in consumers’ attitude which makes it un-
acceptable to throw EoL devices among mixed waste,
• efficient management of flows of collected EoL devices (reuse, re-
cycle, recovery).
The most important measure to initiate recycling of mobile phones,
notebooks, and tablets is clearly to raise the current very low collection
rate. There are nowadays some promising processes for recovering Co
from the Li batteries as shown in Fig. 6. However, because of the lack of
volumes, recyclers are not interested in treating these product group
and specific processes are not yet further developed. Based on the
prevailing recycling practices and our observation, we suggest the
process flowsheet with two processing options to be adopted for re-
cycling small sized e-waste such as cell phones, smart phones, note-
books and tablets, as illustrated in Fig. 6. E-waste recycling using the
proven Cu smelting routes enables the recovery of not only Cu but also
the PMs by up to 95% (Buchert et al., 2012). Great emphasis should also
218
Minerals Engineering 111 (2017) 209–221
be placed on the recycling of the large amounts of Li batteries, which
powers almost all small sized EEE, separately (Hagelüken, 2005).
In e-waste recycling the complexity and inhomogeneity of the input
material also offer several challenges. Less noble trace elements such as
SEs tend to be lost in the slag and are consequently almost impossible to
recover. Recoveries of SEs, which exist as traces in the e-waste, require
special recovery technology (Ari, 2016). Other traces of critical metals
in e-waste such as Ta, Ga, In, Nd, and Pr need basic research including
quantification of their composition in e-waste as well as whether their
recovery through the conventional recycling processes is feasible
(Buchert et al., 2012).
7.2. Selection of processing routes: pros and cons
Currently, e-waste recycling is predominantly done through pyr-
ometallurgical process routes (Antrekowitsch et al., 2006). The steel
industry takes the ferrous fractions for the recovery of Fe, and the
secondary aluminum industry takes the Al containing fractions. Thus,
combining recycling plants for recovery of metals such as Fe, Al, Cu,
and PMs nearby cities with utilization of waste energy from the plants
to provide heating and electricity to the cities seems an attractive op-
tion for sustainability. However, it is worth noting that during me-
chanical separation of Fe, Al and plastics containing parts from e-waste,
there is a risk of losing the PMs. Particularly PMs are closely tied up
with the non-ferrous metals and plastics in the PCBs. Thus, the accep-
tance of Fe, Al, and plastics in the Cu smelting process routes may
enhance the overall recovery of PMs. In the case of mobile phones re-
cycling, for the same reason of losing PMs with Fe, Al, and plastics,
Huisman and Stevels (2006) reported that the direct smelting route for
mobile phones without dismantling is a more eco-efficient solution
compared to the indirect smelting of disintegrated mobile phone com-
ponents. However, the Li batteries should be separated before smelting
in the furnace to enhance the recovery of Co via a separate process
(Hagelüken, 2005). Most of the integrated e-waste recycling plants di-
rectly use PCBs in the smelting furnaces, which have many advantages
including:
• maximized segregation of PMs into the Cu fraction, resulting in their
optimal recovery, and
• reduced energy demand for smelting since plastic components in e-
waste partially replace coke as an alternative source. The non-me-
tallic components also serve as reducing agents.
F. Tesfaye et al.
When recycling through pyrometallurgical process routes, it is also
recommended to apply pyrolysis in the preprocessing steps. Pyrolysis
helps to release metals which are attached to organic matters and en-
riches metallic fractions while removing halides and hazardous or-
ganics with no loss of the valuable metals. Thermal energy released in
the process can be recovered through integrated steam networks.
Reduced carbon and energy contents during pyrolysis makes the sub-
sequent pyrometallurgical processes easier to control (Friedrich, 2017).
Critical metals, particularly, In and Ga can also be recovered in the
pyrolysis step via volatilization (Friedrich, 2017). A complete under-
standing of pyrolysis mechanisms can help to develop fully integrated
autothermal smelting operations.
In general, efficient (> 95%) recovery of precious metals cannot be
achieved through pyro- or hydro-metallurgy, but can be achieved
through a combination of smelting in furnaces at high temperatures,
followed by hydro- and/or electro-metallurgical processes. Practically,
PMs are better recovered with a combination of pyro-, hydro-, and
electro-metallurgical processes. Pyrometallurgical integrated process
routes are beneficial for segregating and upgrading valuable metals in
the BMs from e-waste. These are further treated by hydrometallurgical
processes to recover PMs. Industrially, IsaSmelt, Kaldo, Rotary, and
Plasma Arc Furnaces are used for segregating the critical metals in the
BMs.
8. Conclusions
E-waste contains a significant amount of valuable metals, and also
hazardous substances. Therefore, it is considered both as economically
sound secondary resource and an environmentally problematic. Also,
due to its increasing volume at an alarming rate and the strict en-
vironmental regulations, the traditional methods of managing e-waste
with disposing in landfills, burning in incinerators or exporting abroad
for disposal are no longer options. Fortunately, the presence of critical
metals in e-waste and increasing demand for the metals as well as
complexities of the currently available primary resources make e-waste
recycling an attractive option. Moreover, it is efficient in terms of re-
source management by closing the metals loop, once high recoveries
can be achieved effectively. Consequently, urban mining such as the
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Minerals Engineering 111 (2017) 209–221
Fig. 8. Schematic of effective small sized EoL EEE collection
with a full engagement of consumers in the producer-re-
tailer-recycler loop.
recovery of PMs from e-waste streams through sustainable recycling
processes have emerged. The sustainable recycling practices address the
scarcity of primary resources and reduce consumption of energy while
managing environmental issues related to hazardous substances in the
e-waste stream. Therefore, recycling of e-waste is important for both
resource efficiency and waste management. However, e-waste recycling
is limited due to challenges such as insufficient collection, higher
transportation cost or lack of integrated and automatic smelting and
refining facilities nearby urban areas. Practically, the most limiting
factor is volume of the collected e-waste, for which feasible options for
recycling can be significantly limited.
In the current study, Deficiencies in e-waste recycling chains are
highlighted, and recommendations for improved metals and energy
recoveries from small sized e-waste such as smart phones and tablets
are made. The need for the establishment of effective e-waste collection
mechanisms are emphasized from EU perspective in terms of appro-
priate government policies, effective advertisement for public aware-
ness, and installation of separate collection facilities at public places.
Optimization of the recovery of materials and energy from e-waste,
while addressing environmental issues is a vital outcome.
Currently, pyro- or hydro-metallurgical or a combination of both
processes are used for recovering valuable metals from e-waste.
Fundamentally, hydrometallurgical process routes are similar to those
used in the minerals processing industry, which include leaching and
metal extractions from leachates. Pyrometallurgical process routes are
considered to be more economical and eco-efficient particularly for the
recovery of PMs, which result in considerable loss when applying only
hydrometallurgical processes. One of the benefits of pyrometallurgical
process routes is that the non-metallic fractions can be used as fuels and
reducing agents. Application of pyrolysis prior to the pyrometallurgical
processes is recommended due to the possibility to recover metals like
In and Ga by volatilization, enrichment of metallic parts while re-
moving halides and hazardous organics with no loss of the valuable
metals, and reduction of organics content for a more controllable
smelting (Friedrich, 2017), with partial recovery of energy. The thermal
energy that is generated in the pyrolysis and pyrometallurgical pro-
cesses can be effectively recovered through integrated steam networks.
Limitations in applying the pyrometallurgical processes include
F. Tesfaye et al.
difficulties to recover Fe and Al, as they oxidize in the process, and
meeting the strict control of emissions. Pyrometallurgical processes are
also less selective compared to hydrometallurgical ones, a factor that
should be considered in flow sheet design. Generally, both process
routes have advantages and disadvantages, which therefore should be
chosen for specific feed materials and desired products.
Acknowledgements
The authors are grateful to the Academy of Finland for financial
support. This work was made under the project “Chemistry of biomass
impurities at reducing conditions in future thermal conversion con-
cepts” as part of the activities of the Johan Gadolin Process Chemistry
Center at Åbo Akademi University.
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