Urban Mining: A Process Designed to Recover Au from E-waste

Fernanda Nicolle Pinheiro Nicolai; Sebastiana Luiza de Bragança Lana

doi:doi:10.11648/j.ijsdr.20190502.11

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Urban Mining: A Process Designed to Recover Au from E-waste

Fernanda Nicolle Pinheiro Nicolai, Sebastiana Luiza de Bragança Lana

Published in International Journal of Sustainable Development Research (Volume 5, Issue 2)

Received: 27 March 2019 Accepted: 9 May 2019 Published: 1 July 2019

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Abstract

Electronic waste (e-waste) is today the fastest growing solid waste in the world, due to its unique characteristics like planned obsolescence, high technology and a fast growing consumer market. It can contain over 100 highly toxic and potentially hazardous substances to human health and to the environment. However, e-waste is a valuable secondary source of high quality finite raw minerals suitable for “urban mining” in which the materials contained should not be lost. The recovery materials from e-waste, also called Reverse Logistics (RL), which includes the insertion and application of sustainable Design, is an environmental and commercial measure of great importance that can only bring benefits to all involved. Unconventional pre-treatments techniques to separate gold-rich components and other parts of e-waste from motherboards, Printed Circuit Boards (PCBs) and cell phone plates has not been extensively explored in literature. The aim of this paper is to describe a set of thermo-mechanical and manual techniques in pilot scale to separate gold-rich parts from the others of the e-waste mentioned above. Another goal of this research is to obtain the total mass of gold deposited on the three samples of selected connector tabs from PCBs. Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM) technique was performed and the results were analyzed. With this procedure, the total gold mass could be evaluated.

Published in	International Journal of Sustainable Development Research (Volume 5, Issue 2)
DOI	10.11648/j.ijsdr.20190502.11
Page(s)	30-40
Creative Commons	This is an Open Access article, distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted use, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, provided the original work is properly cited.
Copyright	Copyright © The Author(s), 2019. Published by Science Publishing Group

Keywords

E-waste, Urban Mining, Recycling Designing Process, Separation Techniques, Gold (Au) Recovery, SEM

References

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[2]	Camila Reis de Oliveira, Andréa Moura Bernardes, Annelise Engel Gerbase. Collection and recycling of electronic scrap: A worldwide overview and comparison with the Brazilian situation. Waste Management, Brazil, v. 32, p. 1592–1610, 2012.
[3]	Cristian Hagelüken, Umicore Metals Refining AG & Co. Improving metal returns and eco-efficiency in electronics recycling – a holistic approach for interface optimization between pre-processing and integrated metals smelting. IEEE International Symposium on Electronics & Environment. San Francisco, v. 8-11, p. 218-223, May of 2006. DOI: 10.1109/ISEE.2006.1650064.
[4]	Pejman Hadi, Chao Ning, Weiyi Ouyang, Meng Xu, Carol S. K. Lin, Gordon McKay. Toward environmentally-benign utilization of nonmetallic fraction of waste printed circuit boards as modifier and precursor. Waste Management, Hong Kong, v. 35, p. 236–246, 2015.
[5]	Map of the United States with Legislation. http://www.ecycleclearinghouse.org/content.aspx?pageid=10.
[6]	Martin Goosey, Rod Kellner. A Scoping Study End-of-Life Printed Circuit Boards. Department of Trade and Industry, UK. Shipley Europe Limited. http://www.cfsd.org.uk/seeba/TD/reports/PCB_Study.pdf.
[7]	Jens Brobech Legarth, Leo Alting, Gian Luca Baldo. Sustainability issues in Circuit Board Recycling. Proceedings of the Ieee International Symposium on Electronics and the Environment. Denmark, p. 126-131, 1995. DOI: 10.1109/ISEE.1995.514963.
[8]	Jirang Cui, Lifeng Zhang. Metallurgical recovery of metals from electronic waste: A review. Journal of Hazardous Materials: Science Direct, Norway, v. 158, p. 228 – 256 February 8 of 2008. DOI: 10.1016/j.jhazmat.2008.02.001.
[9]	M. C. Vats, S. K. Singh. Assessment of gold and silver in assorted mobile phone printed circuit boards (PCBs): Original article. Waste Management, India, v. 45, p. 280–288, 2015. DOI: 10.1016/j.wasman.2015.06.002. http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/26112260.
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[12]	William D. Callister Jr, Ciência e Engenharia de Materiais. Fifth Edition, 2002. Rio de Janeiro: Editora LTC – Livros Técnicos e Científicos Editora S. A., chapter 1, p. 1-5.
[13]	Patent US4426225 A: Gold recovery method - 1984, 4,426,225. http://www.google.com.br/patents/US4426225.
[14]	Association of Paper Collectors, Cardboards and Recyclable Materials (ASMARE) in Belo Horizonte city, Minas Gerais State, Brazil. http://asmare.org/.
[15]	Shunli Zhang, Eric Forssberg. Mechanical separation-orients characterization of electronic scrap. Resources, conservation and recycling, number.21, p. 248 – 269, 1997. DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/S0921-3449 (97)00039-6.
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APA Style

Fernanda Nicolle Pinheiro Nicolai, Sebastiana Luiza de Bragança Lana. (2019). Urban Mining: A Process Designed to Recover Au from E-waste. International Journal of Sustainable Development Research, 5(2), 30-40. https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ijsdr.20190502.11

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ACS Style

Fernanda Nicolle Pinheiro Nicolai; Sebastiana Luiza de Bragança Lana. Urban Mining: A Process Designed to Recover Au from E-waste. Int. J. Sustain. Dev. Res. 2019, 5(2), 30-40. doi: 10.11648/j.ijsdr.20190502.11

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AMA Style

Fernanda Nicolle Pinheiro Nicolai, Sebastiana Luiza de Bragança Lana. Urban Mining: A Process Designed to Recover Au from E-waste. Int J Sustain Dev Res. 2019;5(2):30-40. doi: 10.11648/j.ijsdr.20190502.11

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@article{10.11648/j.ijsdr.20190502.11,
  author = {Fernanda Nicolle Pinheiro Nicolai and Sebastiana Luiza de Bragança Lana},
  title = {Urban Mining: A Process Designed to Recover Au from E-waste},
  journal = {International Journal of Sustainable Development Research},
  volume = {5},
  number = {2},
  pages = {30-40},
  doi = {10.11648/j.ijsdr.20190502.11},
  url = {https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ijsdr.20190502.11},
  eprint = {https://article.sciencepublishinggroup.com/pdf/10.11648.j.ijsdr.20190502.11},
  abstract = {Electronic waste (e-waste) is today the fastest growing solid waste in the world, due to its unique characteristics like planned obsolescence, high technology and a fast growing consumer market. It can contain over 100 highly toxic and potentially hazardous substances to human health and to the environment. However, e-waste is a valuable secondary source of high quality finite raw minerals suitable for “urban mining” in which the materials contained should not be lost. The recovery materials from e-waste, also called Reverse Logistics (RL), which includes the insertion and application of sustainable Design, is an environmental and commercial measure of great importance that can only bring benefits to all involved. Unconventional pre-treatments techniques to separate gold-rich components and other parts of e-waste from motherboards, Printed Circuit Boards (PCBs) and cell phone plates has not been extensively explored in literature. The aim of this paper is to describe a set of thermo-mechanical and manual techniques in pilot scale to separate gold-rich parts from the others of the e-waste mentioned above. Another goal of this research is to obtain the total mass of gold deposited on the three samples of selected connector tabs from PCBs. Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM) technique was performed and the results were analyzed. With this procedure, the total gold mass could be evaluated.},
 year = {2019}
}

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TY  - JOUR
T1  - Urban Mining: A Process Designed to Recover Au from E-waste
AU  - Fernanda Nicolle Pinheiro Nicolai
AU  - Sebastiana Luiza de Bragança Lana
Y1  - 2019/07/01
PY  - 2019
N1  - https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ijsdr.20190502.11
DO  - 10.11648/j.ijsdr.20190502.11
T2  - International Journal of Sustainable Development Research
JF  - International Journal of Sustainable Development Research
JO  - International Journal of Sustainable Development Research
SP  - 30
EP  - 40
PB  - Science Publishing Group
SN  - 2575-1832
UR  - https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ijsdr.20190502.11
AB  - Electronic waste (e-waste) is today the fastest growing solid waste in the world, due to its unique characteristics like planned obsolescence, high technology and a fast growing consumer market. It can contain over 100 highly toxic and potentially hazardous substances to human health and to the environment. However, e-waste is a valuable secondary source of high quality finite raw minerals suitable for “urban mining” in which the materials contained should not be lost. The recovery materials from e-waste, also called Reverse Logistics (RL), which includes the insertion and application of sustainable Design, is an environmental and commercial measure of great importance that can only bring benefits to all involved. Unconventional pre-treatments techniques to separate gold-rich components and other parts of e-waste from motherboards, Printed Circuit Boards (PCBs) and cell phone plates has not been extensively explored in literature. The aim of this paper is to describe a set of thermo-mechanical and manual techniques in pilot scale to separate gold-rich parts from the others of the e-waste mentioned above. Another goal of this research is to obtain the total mass of gold deposited on the three samples of selected connector tabs from PCBs. Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM) technique was performed and the results were analyzed. With this procedure, the total gold mass could be evaluated.
VL  - 5
IS  - 2
ER  -

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Author Information

Fernanda Nicolle Pinheiro Nicolai

Thematic Network in Materials Engineering (REDEMAT), Ouro Preto State University, Ouro Preto City, Brazil
Sebastiana Luiza de Bragança Lana

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APA Style

Fernanda Nicolle Pinheiro Nicolai, Sebastiana Luiza de Bragança Lana. (2019). Urban Mining: A Process Designed to Recover Au from E-waste. International Journal of Sustainable Development Research, 5(2), 30-40. https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ijsdr.20190502.11

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ACS Style

Fernanda Nicolle Pinheiro Nicolai; Sebastiana Luiza de Bragança Lana. Urban Mining: A Process Designed to Recover Au from E-waste. Int. J. Sustain. Dev. Res. 2019, 5(2), 30-40. doi: 10.11648/j.ijsdr.20190502.11

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AMA Style

Fernanda Nicolle Pinheiro Nicolai, Sebastiana Luiza de Bragança Lana. Urban Mining: A Process Designed to Recover Au from E-waste. Int J Sustain Dev Res. 2019;5(2):30-40. doi: 10.11648/j.ijsdr.20190502.11

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@article{10.11648/j.ijsdr.20190502.11,
  author = {Fernanda Nicolle Pinheiro Nicolai and Sebastiana Luiza de Bragança Lana},
  title = {Urban Mining: A Process Designed to Recover Au from E-waste},
  journal = {International Journal of Sustainable Development Research},
  volume = {5},
  number = {2},
  pages = {30-40},
  doi = {10.11648/j.ijsdr.20190502.11},
  url = {https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ijsdr.20190502.11},
  eprint = {https://article.sciencepublishinggroup.com/pdf/10.11648.j.ijsdr.20190502.11},
  abstract = {Electronic waste (e-waste) is today the fastest growing solid waste in the world, due to its unique characteristics like planned obsolescence, high technology and a fast growing consumer market. It can contain over 100 highly toxic and potentially hazardous substances to human health and to the environment. However, e-waste is a valuable secondary source of high quality finite raw minerals suitable for “urban mining” in which the materials contained should not be lost. The recovery materials from e-waste, also called Reverse Logistics (RL), which includes the insertion and application of sustainable Design, is an environmental and commercial measure of great importance that can only bring benefits to all involved. Unconventional pre-treatments techniques to separate gold-rich components and other parts of e-waste from motherboards, Printed Circuit Boards (PCBs) and cell phone plates has not been extensively explored in literature. The aim of this paper is to describe a set of thermo-mechanical and manual techniques in pilot scale to separate gold-rich parts from the others of the e-waste mentioned above. Another goal of this research is to obtain the total mass of gold deposited on the three samples of selected connector tabs from PCBs. Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM) technique was performed and the results were analyzed. With this procedure, the total gold mass could be evaluated.},
 year = {2019}
}

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TY  - JOUR
T1  - Urban Mining: A Process Designed to Recover Au from E-waste
AU  - Fernanda Nicolle Pinheiro Nicolai
AU  - Sebastiana Luiza de Bragança Lana
Y1  - 2019/07/01
PY  - 2019
N1  - https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ijsdr.20190502.11
DO  - 10.11648/j.ijsdr.20190502.11
T2  - International Journal of Sustainable Development Research
JF  - International Journal of Sustainable Development Research
JO  - International Journal of Sustainable Development Research
SP  - 30
EP  - 40
PB  - Science Publishing Group
SN  - 2575-1832
UR  - https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ijsdr.20190502.11
AB  - Electronic waste (e-waste) is today the fastest growing solid waste in the world, due to its unique characteristics like planned obsolescence, high technology and a fast growing consumer market. It can contain over 100 highly toxic and potentially hazardous substances to human health and to the environment. However, e-waste is a valuable secondary source of high quality finite raw minerals suitable for “urban mining” in which the materials contained should not be lost. The recovery materials from e-waste, also called Reverse Logistics (RL), which includes the insertion and application of sustainable Design, is an environmental and commercial measure of great importance that can only bring benefits to all involved. Unconventional pre-treatments techniques to separate gold-rich components and other parts of e-waste from motherboards, Printed Circuit Boards (PCBs) and cell phone plates has not been extensively explored in literature. The aim of this paper is to describe a set of thermo-mechanical and manual techniques in pilot scale to separate gold-rich parts from the others of the e-waste mentioned above. Another goal of this research is to obtain the total mass of gold deposited on the three samples of selected connector tabs from PCBs. Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM) technique was performed and the results were analyzed. With this procedure, the total gold mass could be evaluated.
VL  - 5
IS  - 2
ER  -

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