material flows linked to electric and electronic equipment in

ASPO Alcatraz Italy, June 2009 1

Materials Science & Technology

Material flows linked to electric and electronic equipment in Switzerland

ASPO, Alcatraz Italy, June 2009

Rolf Widmer(Esther Müller, Deepali Sinha)sustec - sustainable technology cooperation [email protected]



Materials Science & TechnologyOutline

Introduction

Method

Results

Outlook


Materials Science & TechnologyIntroduction

Federal Office for the Environment (FOEN) would like to have an overview over selected materials, products and services > Atlas/map of material stocks & flows

Identification of fields of activities

So far investigatedPlastics (specific material)

Electrical and Electronic Equipment (EEE) (specific products)

Next step: "Internet Switzerland" (specific service)

Development of a method which allows a modular assembly of the atlas



Method



Classification of electrical and electronic equipment:

I: Large Household Appliances (LHA)

II: Small Household Appliances (SHA)

III/IV: Information- & Communication Technologies and Consumer Electronics (ICT/CE)

V: Lamps and Lighting Equipment (LA und LE)

VI: Electric and Electronic Tools (EET)

VII: Toys

Definition of EEE


Materials Science & TechnologyComposition of EEE

Definition of relevant fractions:

'Bulk' material: Iron (Fe), Aluminium (Al), Copper (Cu), Plastics (Pl), Glass

'Valuable' material: Gold (Au), Silver (Ag), Palladium (Pd), Indium (In)

'Toxic' material: Lead (Pb), Cadmium (Cd), Mercury (Hg), Plastics with brominatedflame retardants (Pl brominated), leaded glass


Materials Science & TechnologyGeneric System

Life cycle system of EEE within the Swiss border:


Materials Science & TechnologyEnvironmental Impact

Consideration of the whole life cycle (except transport)

Calculation of environmental impact with ecoinventdata and SimaPro

ecoinvent currently includes only a few ICT-appliances→ limit comparison to a desktop-PC with CRT- or LCD

monitor and a laptop-PC

Applied indicators: ecological scarcity (UBP) and cumulated energy demand



Results



Glass0.2%

Lead0.6%

Plastics brominated

0.7%

Plastics36%

Iron29%

Copper17%

Aluminium9%

Other7%

Other10%Copper

12%Aluminium

14% Plastics19%

Iron43%

Lead1.6%

Plastics brominated

0.3%

Glass0.3%Copper

4.0%

Lead glass0.3%Aluminium

5.0%

Iron36%

Lead glass19%

Plastics brominated

18%

Plastics 12%

Other6%

Copper0.2%

Plastics brominated

4%Other

5%

Aluminium14%

Glass77%

Mercury0.01%

Composition in Weight-%

ICT/CE

LHA

LE

SHA


Materials Science & TechnologyComposition in %: valuables und toxics

Material

Large household appliances (LHA)

Small household appliances (SHA)

ICT and Consumer electronics (ICT/CE)

Lighting equipment (LE)

Iron 43 29 36 n.a.

Aluminium 14 9.3 5.0 14

Copper 12 17 4.0 0.22

Plastics 19 37 12 n.a.

Glass 0.017 0.16 0.30 77

Gold 6.7E-07 6.1E-07 2.4E-04 n.a.

Silver 7.7E-06 7.0E-06 1.2E-03 n.a.

Palladium 3.0E-07 2.4E-07 6.0E-05 n.a.

Indium 0 0 5.0E-04 5.0E-04

Lead 1.6 0.57 0.29 n.a.

Cadmium 0.014 8.3E-03 0.018 n.a.

Mercury 3.8E-05 1.9E-05 7.0E-05 0.020

Plastics „brominated“ 0.29 0.75 18 3.7

Lead glass 0 0 19 0

Other 10 6.9 5.7 5.0


Materials Science & TechnologyMassflow Analysis

Total mass flows and stocks of all EEE in 2006


Materials Science & TechnologyBulk Material

0%

20%

40%

60%

80%

100%

Fe Al Cu Pl GlassLHA SHA ICT/CE LE


Materials Science & TechnologyBulk Material

Copper

Plastics


Materials Science & TechnologyValuable Material

0%

20%

40%

60%

80%

100%

Ag Au Pd In

LHA SHA ICT/CE LE


Materials Science & TechnologyValuable Material: Precious Metals

In components on printed circuit boards

Special smelting and refining technique: over 95% material recovery

Gold


Materials Science & TechnologyValuable Material: Indium

Indium

Belongs to the scarcest elements of the lithosphere

ICT/CE: flat screens, Displays

LE: fluorescent layer

Until now: no recycling in Switzerland


Materials Science & TechnologyToxic Materials

0%

20%

40%

60%

80%

100%

Pb Cd Hg Pl brom. Leadglass

LHA SHA ICT/CE LE


Materials Science & TechnologyToxic Material: Lead and Lead Glass

Lead

Lead in metallic fraction: >95% material recovery

Lead glass: complete material recovery

Stock: lead glass 60%, metallic lead 40%


Materials Science & TechnologyToxic Material: Mercury

Mercury

LE: gas filling and fluorescent layer

Household appliances: switches and batteries


Materials Science & TechnologyValue of Materials in EEE

Material Stock [t] Value [CHF/t] Total Value [CHF]

Gold 0.87 26‘200‘000 2'300‘000

Silver 4.4 525‘000 22‘800‘000

Indium 1.9 940‘000 2'800‘000

Palladium 0.22 12‘900‘000 1‘700‘000

Copper 157'814 8‘000 1'264'700‘000

Aluminium 170'749 3‘500 458‘000‘000

Iron 588'539 300 176‘600‘000

Total 1'929'600‘000

Commodity prices: end of 2006


Materials Science & TechnologyEnvironmental Impact

Total Environmental Impact

-1000000

-500000

0

500000

1000000

1500000

2000000

2500000

Production Use Recycling/DisposalUm

wel

tbel

astu

ngsp

unkt

e

Desktop+CRT Desktop+LCD Laptop

Umweltbelastungspunkte (UBP) = ecological scarcity


Materials Science & TechnologyWhat to do with 'useless' stocks

mined minerals and metals are not 'lost' immediately = they change the stock (lithosphere > technosphere)

through 'system leaks' > dissipation to biosphere

the above study tries to get an overview of this stocks & flows for certain materials in the Swiss society

technology changes might render entire stocks useless

following an example: "The End of the Cathode Ray Tube (CRT)"


Materials Science & TechnologyThe beginning of the CRT

1897 Prof. JJ Thomson used a CRT to measure the electron mass



PANEL GLASS (2/3)(Barium-Strontium glass)

FUNNEL GLASS (1/3)(Lead glass 18 – 22% PbO)(Neck glass 30% PbO)(Solder glass 80% PbO)

METALS

Electron Gun

Electron Beam

Shadow Mask

Funnel Glass

Inner Magnetic Shield

Panel Glass

Phosphorous Screen

Deflector Coil

90%

Phosphorous Layer 3-7g

Modern CRT-Display

• seperating the two glass fractions• Removing coatings from funnel glass• Removing shadow mask and phosphorous layer

from panel glass• grinding and melting of panel/funnel glass.


Materials Science & TechnologyCRT are succeeded by FPD

PC Monitor CH Sales

-

100.000

200.000

300.000

400.000

500.000

600.000

700.000

800.000

900.000

1983

1985

1987

1989

1991

1993

1995

1997

1999

2001

2003

2005

2007

units

['0

00]

FPD

CRT

CRT sales collapsed ; Flat Panel Displays (FPD) took over!


Materials Science & TechnologyThe end of the CRT ?

Yes! but the subsequent question is: 'Is it also theend of leaded glas'

to be answered:how much CRT-Glass still remains in CH?

how quickly our society wants to 'bleed' it out?

can it be recycled? for how much longer?

can it be used for something else?

what should we do if not?

and what should we do if our grandchildren would need it again?

the first 2 questions were answered by a modelcalculation shown below.



CH CRT Bestand & Flüsse

-

10'000

20'000

30'000

40'000

50'000

60'000

70'000

80'000

90'000

100'000

Best

and

[t]

-

2'000

4'000

6'000

8'000

10'000

12'000

14'000

16'000

18'000

20'0001950 1960 1970 1980 1990 2000 2010 2020 2030

Mas

senf

lüss

e [t/

a]

CRT_STOCKheuteCRT_INCRT_OUTPC_OUTTV_OUTSwico Recycling

Results overview

Stocks & Flows

today

Stoc

ks [t

]

Flow

s [t]


Materials Science & TechnologyConclusions

The CH CRT glass stock is already depleted to 1/3 of its max of ca. 110'000t in the year 2000.

In 8-10 years the CH CRT glass collection will dry up.

Of the total 300'000t CRT glass which will haveentered CH approx. 1/3 will be recycled.

the bigger rest was disposed of 'unregulatedly' in thethe past (<1990).

the model suggests that even today a considerableamount of CRT glass does not reach the recycling(e.g. leaves CH as 2nd hand TVs).


Materials Science & TechnologyNew use for CRT Glas (still very much R&D)

foam glass (insulation, fillingmaterial, etc)

special tiles (e.g. x-ray protection)

table ware / art (glas fumé)

glass fibres (insulation matts, plastic reinforcement)

glazing in ceramics production

flux (mainly lead smelters)

Quelle: Mobiglas


Materials Science & TechnologyAfter thoughts

CRT glass will soon be useless in this form.

replacements are not in sight.

CH will probably get rid of its stock as it is a rich, early adopter, however:

the last CRT users will have to deal with leaded glass(that's probably the rural population in the 3rd world)

A CH-depot for the final ca. 5'000t (=30x 40-feet container) might be a fairer / better solution


Materials Science & TechnologyAfter thoughts cntd

Depletion of lithosphere stocks leads to the accumulation of technosphere stocks

technosphere stocks require management beyond a single technology (e.g. to new technologies, to new depots, ...)

bleading to the biosphere (dillution) is rarely an option (pollution), however:

Energy scarcity might not allow us to build/keep the barrier between techno- and bio-sphere

in that case future technologies must be restricted to 'elements of hope'.



Thank you very much for your attention!!

material flows linked to electric and electronic equipment in

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