Dismantling consumer products

Using familiar products, the aim is to note component shapes, to see how they are assembled, and measure the variation in thickness. Recycling can also be considered the ease of dismantling depends on whether the product was intended to be repaired, or to be scrapped if faulty. Screws may be hidden under adhesive labels, and the location of snap-fit parts may be difficult to find. 

A new plastic kettle can be bought for less than 30, or a discarded one used. Preferably use a cordless kettle, which can be lifted from the powered base. The following four activities can be extended if necessary, by consideration of aesthetics, weight, and ease of filling and pouring. 

Briefly touch the kettle s outer surface when the water is boiling 

Although the initial temperature of the kettle s outer surface may be 90 °C, the low thermal conductivity of the plastic body compared with that of your finger, means that the skin surface temperature takes more than a minute to 

Dismantle the kettle and make a vertical section through the body with a hacksaw. Use callipers to measure the body thickness at a range of locations, and mark the values on the plastic. 

---

Today, only a few plants remain that produce smokeless briquettes from carefully selected coals and additives for special applications such as burning in home fireplaces. These briquettes are consumer products requiring a pleasing appearance and are sold shrink wrapped in small quantities in specialty stores. Most of the large industrial plants were dismantled and scrapped. 

The concern of Marias company is to determine how to dismantle the products used by consumers and how to create new eco-efhcient products from the old ones using eco-efficient processes to do so. Everyone in her company has to think creatively about new applications for these used components and about ways to reduce the environmental impact of the recycled materials. Hence, "Old Products into New Eco-Friendly Products is the mantra of the company and Maria is serious about upholding it in all aspects of her work. 

Babich MA, Thomas TA, Hatlelid KM (2006) CPSC staff preliminaiy risk assessment of flame retardant (FR) chemicals in upholstered fumituie foam. Consumer Product Safety Commission. https //www.cpsc.gov/libiary/foia/foia06/brieftiihffl.pdf. Accessed 08 May 2013 Batterman SA, Chernyak S, Jia C et al (2009) Concentrations and emissions of polybrominated diphenyl ethers from U.S. houses and garages. Environ Sci Technol 43 2693-2700 Bi X, Thomas G, Jones KC et al (2007) Exposure of electronics dismantling workers to polybrominated diphenyl ethers, polychlorinated biphenyls, and organochlorine pesticides in South China. Environ Sci Technol 41 5647-5653 Birnbaum LS, Staskal DE (2004) Brominated flame retardants cause for concern Environ Health Perspect 112 9-17... 

In plutonium-fueled breeder power reactors, more plutonium is produced than is consumed (see Nuclearreactors, reactor types). Thus the utilisa tion of plutonium as a nuclear energy or weapon source is especially attractive to countries that do not have uranium-enrichment faciUties. The cost of a chemical reprocessing plant for plutonium production is much less than that of a uranium-235 enrichment plant (see Uranium and uranium compounds). Since the end of the Cold War, the potential surplus of Pu metal recovered from the dismantling of nuclear weapons has presented a large risk from a security standpoint. 

By mid-1996, ERCOM Composite Recycling GmbH had mechanically recycled over 1 million SMC parts. Production scrap accounted for 750,000 parts and post consumer scraps 250,000 (from the Mercedes Recycling System MeRSy, BMW repair shops and Deutsche Telekom dismantling plants). As a result, over 2 million parts containing recyclate were put back into service in automobiles, including spare wheel well (Audi 320,000), noise barrier shield (VW 250,000), truck bumpers and front end panels (Mercedes Benz 600,000), sunroof frames (350,000), and other components (450,000). 

---