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elements. Materials such as gold and palladium can be mined more effectively from e-waste compared to mining from ore [28]. By contrast, e-waste contains PBDEs, which are flame retardants that are mixed into plastics and other components. Circuit boards found in most of the electronic devices may contain arsenic (As), cadmium (Cd), chromium (Cr), lead (Pb), mercury (Hg), and other toxic chemicals. Typical printed circuit boards treated with lead solder in electronic devices contain approximately 50 g of tin-lead solder per square meter of circuit board [7]. Obsolete refrigerators, freezers, and air conditioning units contain ozone depleting Chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs). The prominent materials such as barium, cadmium, copper, lead, zinc, and other rare earth metals are contained in end-of-life (EOL) cathode ray tubes (CRTs) in computer monitors, and televisions. For example, items such as leaded glass provide protection against X-rays produced in the picture projection process in CRTs [6]. The average lead in CTR monitors is 1.6-3.2 kg. Thus, the US and other developed countries in the EU and Japan have banned the disposal of cathode ray tubes in landfills because of their toxic charac- teristics. A critical challenge in designing and developing strategies to manage e-waste is the changing composition of the many constituents due the advancement of technology, particu- larly in the electronic components [24]. It is against this background that e-waste recycling and disposal methods ought to keep pace with the changing composition of e-waste. Several factors influence the composition of e-waste, including economic conditions, availability of a reuse market, and infrastructure of the recycling industry, waste segregation programs, and regulation enforcement. Figure 1 illustrates the distinctive materials ina WEEE.  E-waste generated from the different diverse sources is normally collected as a whole unit or sub-unit of functional equipment. In many instances across the globe, whole units of e-waste

Figure 1 elements. Materials such as gold and palladium can be mined more effectively from e-waste compared to mining from ore [28]. By contrast, e-waste contains PBDEs, which are flame retardants that are mixed into plastics and other components. Circuit boards found in most of the electronic devices may contain arsenic (As), cadmium (Cd), chromium (Cr), lead (Pb), mercury (Hg), and other toxic chemicals. Typical printed circuit boards treated with lead solder in electronic devices contain approximately 50 g of tin-lead solder per square meter of circuit board [7]. Obsolete refrigerators, freezers, and air conditioning units contain ozone depleting Chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs). The prominent materials such as barium, cadmium, copper, lead, zinc, and other rare earth metals are contained in end-of-life (EOL) cathode ray tubes (CRTs) in computer monitors, and televisions. For example, items such as leaded glass provide protection against X-rays produced in the picture projection process in CRTs [6]. The average lead in CTR monitors is 1.6-3.2 kg. Thus, the US and other developed countries in the EU and Japan have banned the disposal of cathode ray tubes in landfills because of their toxic charac- teristics. A critical challenge in designing and developing strategies to manage e-waste is the changing composition of the many constituents due the advancement of technology, particu- larly in the electronic components [24]. It is against this background that e-waste recycling and disposal methods ought to keep pace with the changing composition of e-waste. Several factors influence the composition of e-waste, including economic conditions, availability of a reuse market, and infrastructure of the recycling industry, waste segregation programs, and regulation enforcement. Figure 1 illustrates the distinctive materials ina WEEE. E-waste generated from the different diverse sources is normally collected as a whole unit or sub-unit of functional equipment. In many instances across the globe, whole units of e-waste