E-WASTE MANAGEMENT

Electronic waste or E-waste describes rejected electrical or electronic devices. All items of
electrical and electronic equipment and its parts that have been discarded by the user as waste
without the purpose of re-use or re-cycle are called electronic wastes. E waste mainly include
the following:
• Large household appliances like refrigerators/freezers, washing machines, dishwashers,
televisions,
• Small household appliances which include toasters, coffee makers, irons, hairdryers.
• Information Technology (IT) and Telecommunications equipment namely personal
computers, telephones, mobile phones, laptops, printers, scanners, photocopiers etc.
• Lighting equipment such as fluorescent lamps.
• Electronic or Electrical tools i.e. handheld drills, saws, screwdrivers etc.
• Toys, leisure and sports equipment.
• Monitoring and control instruments.
• Automatic dispensers
CHARACTERISTICS OF E- WASTE
Any item which is considered as electronic waste has a lifetime profile which differs
for different categories of electrical and electronic devices. Lifetime profile includes the
information about hazardous quantity present in discarded items, economic value, effects on
environment and health of people if they are not recycled appropriately. Electronic waste is
dismantled and sorted manually in developing countries unlike developed nations which make
use of sophisticated machinery and provides PPE (Personal Protective Equipment) for the
people who risk their lives in extraction of different materials from electronic waste.

COMPOSITION OF E- WASTE
• Valuable metals like gold, platinum, silver and palladium.
• Useful metals like copper, aluminium, iron etc.
• Hazardous substances like radioactive isotopes and mercury.
• Toxic substances like PCB’s and Dioxins.
• Plastic like High Impact Polystyrene (HIPS), Acrylonitrile Butadiene Styrene (ABS),
Polycarbonate (PC), Polyphenylene oxide (PPO) etc.
• Glass material like Cathode Ray Tube glass made up of SiO2, CaO, Na. For instance,
a mobile phone contains more than 40 elements, base metals such as Copper (Cu) and
Tin (Sn), special metals such as Li, Co, In, Sb, Ag, Au and Pd
ILL EFFECTS DUE TO EXPOSURE TO E-WASTE

1. Although the recycling is responsible to remove or delay the release of contaminants

into the environment. unscientific ways used for recycling may result in accumulation
in landfills and end up within the environment.
2. Open burning of printed circuit boards and electric cables to recover copper releases
dioxins, persistent organic pollutants, Poly cyclic hydrocarbons (PAHs), PCBs,
persistent halogenated compounds in to the environment.
3. The effluents from E-waste recycling centres and the dumping sites are rich 'With heavy
metals and suspended particulate matters.
4. The use of primitive methods to process E-waste has resulted in contamination of the
soil. Many of the effluents are acidic and responsible for changing the pH of the natural
soil and results in reduction of harvest in commercial agricultural systems.
5. Concentration of Pb. Ba,Cd, Hg, Cr, and Zn is found to be very much higher near
dumping sites. Toxic elements were found to disturb the nitrogen and potassium
absorption by plants which are important component in plant growth and development.
Toxic substances gradually through crops enter in to ecosystem.
6. Most of these heavy metals are carcinogenic. Particulate matter released from open
burning can adsorb metal particles and enter in to human body.
7. People living nearby to E-waste collection, dumping, and incineration sites are direct
victims for the toxic contaminants. There are higher number of incidences with skin
damages, headache, vertigo, chronic gastritis, gastric ulcers, and duodenal ulcers.
8. Contaminants such as heavy metals, dioxins, furans, PAHs, PCBs, and polybrominated
diphenyls are able to create human gastrointestinal irritation and laxative effects,
abnormal sperm quality, chromosome aberration, DNA damage, reduced fecundity, and
adverse birth effects
9. Cd metal can damage kidneys and Pb metal has a direct influence toward central
nervous system as well as deterioration of intelligent quotient in children. Hg is a
potential mutagenic compound and can greatly affect neurons.
10. Placentas collected from mothers who live near e-waste dumping sites have shown very
high concentration of toxic chemicals.
11. Different hazardous chemicals can accumulate in human blood, serum and urinary tract
and finally show synergic effects with a cumulative impact.
RECYCLING OF E-WASTE:
Recycling involves dismantling, processing and end processing. Comparatively, the
value of recycling from the element could be much higher in comparison to other treatments.
Different methods of recycling are schematically represented in the following figure

PRE-PROCESSING FOR RECYCLING

The recycling of e-waste is initiated with physical or mechanical pre-processes. First
step is pre-treatment step. This involves physical removal of toxic materials and unwanted
components. Manual dismantling and separation of components such as PCBs, monitors,
batteries, etc. into various fractions (metals, ceramics, wood, and p aper using hammers,
screwdrivers, and conveyer beds.) The next step is the shredding of the materials mechanically
through grinders to collect fragments of metal bearing components. Then through electrical
separators to separate the metallic and non-metallic components Magnetic separator is used to
separate ferrous metals. fter physical separation, various techniques are employed to recover
metals.
PYROMETALLURGICAL PROCESS: It involves following steps
Smelting: It is process in which e – waste is heated and melted to a high temperature. During
this all metals will melt and co exist with one of the metals as a major component. (Presence
of metals like Fe, Al, Cu, Pb, Sn, Sb, Zn with Cu as main phase) . Thick slabs of the melt will
be prepared and copper is separated from the slab by electrochemical method
Combustion: Here, E-waste is subjected to open burning in 'uncontrolled manner, which
releases all sorts of polluting gases to atmosphere. Hence, method is dangerous for the
environment and increases the health risk
Incineration: is a controlled combustion of the waste with suitable emission units.
Pyrolysis of e-waste: It is a thermal decomposition of e-waste at higher temperatures an
oxygen free environment.
Molten salt process: In this process, the e-waste is fed in with the salt, and salt is melted at
the desired temperature under an inert atmosphere environment.

HYDROMETALLURGICAL PROCESS:
Different steps involved are:
• Pretreatment stage
• Chemical treatment stage
• Metal recovery stage
Pretreatment stage: involves physical separation of metal components from e-waste as
discussed above, followed by smelting of the mixture in some cases. In hydrometallurgical
process, main steps are chemical treatment and metal recovery steps.
Chemical treatment stage: the metals are made to leach into solutions using different leaching
reagents. Different chemicals like cyanides, acids& alkalies, thiosulfate, thiourea, halide
solutions are used for leaching metals like gold, lithium , silver, etc.,
Metal recovery stage: metals are recovered from the leached solutions using through electro-
refining, precipitation, cementation, adsorption, solvent extraction, and ion exchange methods.

EEXTRACTION OF GOLD AND COPPER FROM E-WASTE

Gold and copper metals have good electrical conductivity and chemical stability. They
are extensively used in printed electronic circuit boards, circuits of electronic devices. E waste
contains 10 times more excessive concentration of gold compared to gold ores. Concentration
of Cu in PCB is 20-30 times more than that present in its ore.
PCB contains around 35% Cu, 0.16% Ag, and 0.13% gold by weight. Recovery by
hydrometallurgy is more economical
Extraction Process:
• Hydrometallurgical method of extraction of Cu and Au
Pre treatment stage: E-waste is manually dismantled to separate various fractions like metals,
ceramics, plastics, wood and paper. Gravity separation, electrostatic separation, magnetic
separation are used to separate metals from other fractions.
Chemical treatment stage: Here targeted metals are leached into solution by treating with
appropriate chemical reagents. Acid leaching is the most common method used to extract
copper. H2SO4/HNO3 in the presence of oxidizing agent H2O2 is used in this process.
Cu + ½ O2 + 2H+ → Cu+2 + H2O
Gold components are first dissolved in aqua regia (Mixture of HCl and HNO3 in 1:3 ratio).
Then it is leached with chemicals such as thiosulfate, alkali cyanide, HCl, H2SO4 . Potassium
cyanide (KCN) in presence of O2 with sodium salt of 3-nitrobenzene is best used as leaching
agent
4Au + 8CN- +O2 +2H2O → 4 Au (CN)2- + 4OH-
Metal recovery stage: Electrodeposition, solvent extraction, ion exchange, adsorption,
precipitation are used to recover metals from leached solutions.
Copper metal can be recovered by electrodeposition. Pure copper is made as cathode and inert
anodes are dipped in leaching solution. When current is applied copper is electrodeposited on
cathode. Gold can be recovered from di-cyano-urate complex. Pure gold metal taken as
cathode and inert anode are used. Both are dipped in electrolytic solution. When current
applied, gold is electrodeposited at the cathode.

Reference: Basu Chnadra Online Study Materials