Hostname: page-component-78c5997874-v9fdk Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-15T09:24:17.514Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Ex-ante Life Cycle Assessment of Bioleaching in Indium Recovery from LCD-Waste

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  03 May 2019

Annemarie Falke  and
Michael Höck
Annemarie Falke*
Affiliation:
Technische Universität Bergakademie Freiberg, Institute for Business Administration, esp. Resource Management
Michael Höck
Affiliation:
Technische Universität Bergakademie Freiberg, Institute of Industrial Management
*
*(Email: [email protected])
Get access

Abstract

In light of growing demand and pollution versus a finite amount of resources, electronic waste recycling is a way towards material circularity. New recycling technologies not only face technical difficulties but also need to overcome challenges of feasibility in both economic and environmental aspects. An assessment regarding environmental impacts and economic factors at the early development stages of such technologies is necessary to ensure a successful establishment. A batch lab-scale process using bioleaching to win indium from electronic waste was drafted using recent research in the field. Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) was used to determine the environmental impacts in four different categories at the lowest Technology Readiness Level (TRL). The findings were then compared to two existing chemical leaching processes to put them in perspective. Results show that the electricity consumption is the major contribution to environmental impacts. The assumed bioleaching process has a higher environmental impact than the two chemical processes due to its high duration and resulting high electricity consumption. However, the research has also proven, that an LCA during the conceptual phase has a high uncertainty due to lack of data and knowledge about the process.

Keywords

environmentrecyclingsustainabilitywaste managementIn
Type
Articles
Information
MRS Advances , Volume 4 , Issue 35: Energy and Sustainability , 2019 , pp. 1949 - 1955
Copyright
Copyright © Materials Research Society 2019 

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

REFERENCES

“A New Circular Vision for Electronics, Time for a Global Reboot,” tech. rep., World Economic Forum, 01 2019.Google Scholar
Bisselink, R. J. M. and Panjer, M. A. C., “Indium recovery from secondary sources by electrowinning.” The 66th Annual Meeting of the International Society of Electrochemistry, Oct. 2015.Google Scholar
Virolainen, S., Ibana, D., and Paatero, E., “Recovery of indium from indium tin oxide by solvent extraction,” Hydrometallurgy, vol. 107, no. 1, pp. 56 – 61, 2011.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Rocchetti, L., Amato, A., Fonti, V., Ubaldini, S., Michelis, I. D., Kopacek, B., Vegliò, F., and Beolchini, F., “Cross-current leaching of indium from end-of-life LCD panels,” Waste Management, vol. 42, pp. 180 – 187, 2015.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Alfantazi, A. and Moskalyk, R., “Processing of indium: a review,” Minerals Engineering, vol. 16, no. 8, pp. 687 – 694, 2003.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Hetherington, A. C., Borrion, A. L., Griffiths, O. G., and McManus, M. C., “Use of LCA as a development tool within early research: challenges and issues across different sectors,” The International Journal of Life Cycle Assessment, vol. 19, pp. 130–143, Jan 2014.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Cucurachi, S., van der Giesen, C., and Guinée, J., “Ex-ante LCA of Emerging Technologies,” Procedia CIRP, vol. 69, pp. 463 – 468, 2018. 25th CIRP Life Cycle Engineering (LCE) Conference, 30 April - 2 May 2018, Copenhagen, Denmark.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Villares, M., Isildar, A., van der Giesen, C., and Guinée, J., “Does ex ante application enhance the usefulness of LCA? A case study on an emerging technology for metal recovery from e-waste,” The International Journal of Life Cycle Assessment, vol. 22, pp. 1618–1633, Oct 2017.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Licht, C., Peiró, L. T., and Villalba, G., “Global Substance Flow Analysis of Gallium, Germanium, and Indium: Quantification of Extraction, Uses, and Dissipative Losses within their Anthropogenic Cycles,” Journal of Industrial Ecology, vol. 19, pp. 890–903, 2015.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Isildar, A., Metal Recovery from Electronic Waste: Biological Versus Chemical Leaching for Recovery of Copper and Gold (IHE Delft PhD Thesis Series). ÇRC Press, 1 ed., Oct. 2018.Google Scholar
Jowkar, M. J., Bahaloo-Horeh, N., Mousavi, S. M., and Pourhossein, F., “Bioleaching of indium from discarded liquid crystal displays,” Journal of Cleaner Production, vol. 180, pp. 417 – 429, 2018.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Valix, M., “Bioleaching of Electronic Waste: Milestones and Challenges,” in Current Developments in Biotechnology and Bioengineering: Solid Waste Management (Wong, J. W.-C., Tyagi, R. D., and Pandey, A., eds.), ch. 18, pp. 407 – 442, Elsevier, 2017.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Villares, M., “Applying a life cycle perspective to research on metal recovery from electronic waste using bioleaching,” mathesis, Delft University of Technology, Aug. 2015.Google Scholar
Dodbiba, G., Nagai, H., Wang, L. P., Okaya, K., and Fujita, T., “Leaching of indium from obsolete liquid crystal displays: Comparing grinding with electrical disintegration in context of LCA,” Waste Management, vol. 32, no. 10, pp. 1937 – 1944, 2012.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Ruan, J., Guo, Y., and Qiao, Q., “Recovery of indium from scrap TFT–LCDs by Solvent Extraction,” Procedia Environmental Sciences, vol. 16, pp. 545 – 551, 2012. The Seventh International Conference on Waste Management and Technology (ICWMT 7).CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Bericht zum Energieverbrauch 2018,” Tech. Rep. 02, AG Energiebilanzen e.V., 03 2019.Google Scholar
Amato, A., Rocchetti, L., and Beolchini, F., “Environmental impact assessment of different end-of-life LCD management strategies,” Waste Management, vol. 59, pp. 432 – 441, 2017.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed