Appliances, recycling

DUPONT AMERICAN PLASTICS COUNCIL GE PLASTICS APPLIANCE RECYCLING CENTERS OF AMERICA... 

The Home Appliances Recycling Law came into full force in 2001 and is to be revised within a few years. In such processes, not only the plastic cases, but also printed circuit boards are recycled, the Law for Recycling End-of-Life Vehicles passed through the Parliament, 2002. Clearly this law should promote the recycling of automotive shredder residue. 

The Eiuropean Union WEEE (waste electrical and electronic equipment) legislation (Ref 111), several years in the making, mandates that, effective 2006, producers (i.e., companies whose names appear on the product) must be responsible for the take-back and disposition of their products at the end-of-life (EOL) of the product. The legislation is designed to tackle the fast increasing waste stream of electrical and electronic equipment. In Japan, the Home Appliance Recycle Law of 2001 mandates that 60% of the e-waste must be recycled. In the U.S., recycling programs are in place in many states and localities. 

Worn-out appliances must be recycled or finally disposed of in an environmentally sound way, by the most technically up-to-date means. The ORDEA also contains criteria for the environmentally sound disposal of worn-out appliances. 

Stripping of electrical and electronic waste appliances must be carried out properly. During the processing of waste appliances (e.g., in shredders), it is essential to avoid that components highly contaminated with hazardous substances end up in fractions that are intended for recycling. It is furthermore necessary to ensure that the disposal of treatment residues (e.g., shredder residues) is not impeded by the presence of hazardous substances. As a rule, components containing particularly hazardous substances are to be removed manually. Future disposal processes, such as pyrolysis, may allow recycling of appliances without prior removal of hazardous substances, in which case it will be possible to do without the disassembly of hazardous components.411... 

The objectives for disposal of electronic waste appliances are (a) stripping of hazardous substances (b) reduction of pollutant and metal contents in the plastic fraction, thus permitting recycling or incineration in waste incineration plants or cement works (c) recovery of nonferrous metals and (d) attainment of commercially recyclable scrap quality. 

The objectives sought to be achieved through disposal of refrigeration and air conditioning waste appliances are (a) separate disposal of the CFCs from the circulation system and the insulating material (b) further stripping of hazardous substances (e.g., mercury switches) and (c) recovery of ferrous metals, the priority in metal recycling. 

Following stripping of hazardous substances, air conditioners and dehumidifiers can be further dismantled either manually or in a shredder. Figure 29.1 shows the flow diagram of management, separation, recycle, and disposal of used refrigeration appliances.4... 

Nickel-cadmium rechargeable batteries are being researched. Alternatives such as cadmium-free nickel and nickel hydride systems are also being researched, but nickel-cadmium batteries are unlikely to be totally replaced. Nickel-cadmium batteries can be reprocessed to reclaim the nickel. However, currently, approximately 80% of all nickel-cadmium batteries are permanently sealed in appliances. Changing regulations may result in easier access to these nickel-cadmium batteries for recycling. 

Finally, despite the attempt to recycle, much of the dismantled components of the e-waste appliances end up being dumped in open landfills as supported by Sepulveda et al. [22],... 

Once the most interesting elements in e-waste appliances and the most common pathways of recycling them have been established, the content of the selected additives (Pb and PBDE) in these parts for computers and televisions is explained in more detail below. 

In previous subsections, the amounts of the targeted e-waste appliances and their content in the selected additives have been presented for the case of China. The next step is to define scenarios in order to determine the distribution of the additives (Pb and PBDEs) among the informal recycling processes. Furthermore, the estimation on the predicted emissions to the environmental targeted compartments is also done. 

To minimise hazardous additives in used goods and to improve their recyclability, it is, for example, required to strictly label appliances containing hazardous substances and to improve safe handling of those goods. For persistent hazardous substances like fluorinated compounds, inventories covering production, trade, transportation, applications and disposal are extremely helpful to identify sources and sinks in the technosphere and in the environment and their impact. 

To progress in the household, entertainment office appliance industry, thermoplastics must improve their performance characteristics, ease of processing, productivity and recycling, for example ... 

Major uses of PS are in packaging and containers, toys and recreational equipment, insulation, disposable food containers, electrical and electronics, housewares, and appliance parts. Expandable PS is used to pack electronic equipment, such as TVs, computers, and stereo equipment. Legislation was put in place in some states to insure the recycling of PS. Interestingly some of this legislation was written such that all PS had to be recycled within some period of time, such as a year. This legislation was changed to reflect the real concern of fast food containers when it was pointed out that less than 10% PS is used in this manner and that well over twice as much was used as house insulation that should not be recycled every year or so. 

During the manufacture of appliance cabinets, a thermoplastic synthetic resin sheet, usually made of PS, is either co-extruded with a barrier layer or laminated to a barrier layer to make the inner liner. To successfully recycle the trim or scrap, the protective polymer film... 

The energy recovery system selected dictates the extent that solid waste must be prepared. Some systems require nothing more than the removal of massive noncombustibles, such as kitchen appliances from the refuse, while other processes require extensive shredding, air classification, reshredding, and drying, In conjunction with fuel preparation, it is usually worthwhile to reclaim metals and glass for recycling. 

Perhaps because of the simple process, making aluminum cans from recycled materials takes 95 percent less energy than it takes to make cans from raw materials. Because of this efficiency, billions of cans are recycled every year.17 In addition, aluminum car parts, windows, doors, and appliances are also recycled regularly. 

Figure 4.2. (A) Workers are dismantling electric appliances in Taizhou. In 1980s, dismantling the scrap transformers containing PCBs as dielectric fluids has severely polluted the environment. (B) Open backyard burning of wires and other parts to recycle copper or other metals is very typical although it is illegal. The activity has been considered the major source of PCDD/Fs in the region in recent years.

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