nico krukenberg – chairman of the eera lcd working group take back prague 2011 collection,...

Nico Krukenberg – Chairman of the EERA LCD Working Group Take Back Prague 2011

Collection, transport and treatment (chain) of LCD displays

03 May 2011Nico Krukenberg

Chairman of the LCD Working GroupTake Back 2011 – Prague

Nico Krukenberg – Chairman of the EERA LCD Working Group Take Back Prague 201111-04-23 EERA - QVKE 2


Table of content:

• Introduction• Estimation of LCD arising and collection volumes• Context and condition for the LCD take back chain• Studies and test in EERA LCD working group• Standard development


Main focus of the working group

Where we find LCDs today

• TV-sets

• Monitors

• Laptops

• Mobiles

• GPS

• Tablet-PCs like iPad etc

• ...


Estimated displays arising as waste 2005-2020 in ktons EU27*

-

200

400

600

800

1,000

1,200

1,400

2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020

CRT total

3B CRT

4B CRT

Reeks9

FDP total

3A LPT

3C LCD

4C LCD

4C PDP

kton of panels to be treated per year - EU 27 from 2005 - 2025

*Environmental analysis of CRT-glass processing options Jaco Huisman,Osevenfortytwo BV, July,10, 2008

Summary for 2011:CRT: 1 238 800 tons 70%LCD: 490 900 tons 28%PDP: 32 900 tons 2%Total: 1 762 600 tons


Collected volumes today:

• only ~ 1-2% in the general waste flow of category 3 and 4 from public collection points (B2C)

• Main collections are done in B2B and service centers and warranty returns

• Total LCD rate only < 1%-2% of the total amount of displays

• Possible reasons:

– Lifetime is larger than expected?

– Reuse within the family (living room master bed room)?– To expensive for fast waste process service on return products– Second hand market?

– …

– Storage is easy


Mercury content in LCDsComparison of FL/CLF/HID and CCFL from LCDs

• Mercury content in lamps*:

*ZVEI Light / Branch Association Lightings in Germany

**http://www.saesgetters.com/default.aspx?idPage=282

36 inch LCD

16 lamps

16–80 mg of Hg

32 inch LCD

17 lamps

17–85 mg of Hg

16 inch LCD

8 lamps

8–40 mg of Hg

• Mercury content in LCD back-lights (CCFL):(used in LCD larger than 10 inch)

1-5 mg / lamp**(depending on diameter)


What says the WEEE Directive?


Collection imposes high risk of mercury release in the take back chain

release of mercury vapour during collection of LCD displays

Step 1: October 2008 test by 6 EERA members: Breakage of lamps test (LCD displays dropped in

container)

Procedure:• Conduct the test on 10 LCD displays. 5 displays < 17 inch and 5 displays > 17

inch. • Drop the LCD displays one by one in an empty 40 foot container (height

approximately 2.80 m).• Take the displays out and by dismantling determine the following parameters:

– If the LCD panel is broken (glass substrate). Yes/No.– If Liquid Crystal Fluid is released. Yes/No. – For each display: How many back lighting tubes are broken. – Note any other interesting observation


release of mercury vapour during collection of LCD displays Results step 1

Lamps broken:Average: 18.9%Min: 8.6%Max: 27.5%

Liquid crystal fluid leaking:16% broken84% unbrokenRemark: only a one member site the LCD leaked

Glass substrate:54% broken46% unbrokenRemark: broken glass substrates are normally found whenother e-scrap parts hit the LCD


Each member set up its own conditions for the test

release of mercury vapour during collection of LCD displays Findings:

Decision to make a study with a research centre on the release of mercury vapour during collection

No scientific approach … but general findings

- Backlighting units are partly broken- More detailed study is necessary


Collection imposes high risk of mercury release in the take back chain


Step 2: July 2009 test by the research centre TNO at SRS site in Eindhoven/NL.

Main objectives:1. The determination of the airborne mercury concentration when the backlights

of the LCD displays are broken and the displays are being stored for a period of 48 hours.

2. The determination of the amount of broken backlights in each of the LCD displays.

3. Evaluation of the measured airborne mercury concentrations by comparison to the Standard for occupational exposure and non-occupational exposure.


release of mercury vapour during collection of LCD displays Results step 1

Remark missing knowledge in the exact amounts of mercury in the different types of

the backlights To set up a complete mass balance is not possible

procedure: Test run: 1 LCD (check installation) and analyse Hg per lamp Worst case 1: 1+2 crates of LCDs Worst case 2: 3rd crate LCDs

preparations: Airtight 35 cbm container Temperature control Ventilation control LCD from waste flow


release of mercury vapour during collection of LCD displaysFindings:

Graphic representation of the mercury concentration in the air during the first experiment with one LCD display


Graphic representation of the mercury concentration in the air during the second experiment with 1 + 2 crates of LCD displays


First carte

2 other crates


Graphic representation of the mercury concentration in the air during the second experiment with 3 crates of LCD displays


Temperature has aninfluence to the airborne mercury

concentration!


1. In approximately 30% of the LCD displays one or more backlights were

broken, so 70% of the displays remained intact during the experiments


2. The average amount of backlights per LCD display is approximately 5 and the

number of broken backlights per LCD display is 1. The percentage of broken

backlights is approximately 20%.

3. All the ‘worst case’ experiments the airborne mercury concentration

reaches a “maximum” after approximately 1 – 1.5 hours. The maximum

concentration is 10 μg/m3. It takes approximately 16 hours to reduce the

concentration to a level below 1 µg/m3

4. In all experiments the airborne mercury concentrations never exceed the

indicative occupational exposure limit of 20 μg/m3 (8 hour time weighted

average)


release of mercury vapour during collection of LCD displaysFurther findings:

5. The evaporation of mercury from the backlights is a slow process and will

increase with the number of fracture surfaces

6. Approximately 50% of the mercury originally in the backlights could be

accounted for. Most likely, the missing part is still inside the broken backlights



Weak points of the study:

• Are the LCDs used representative? (age, time/hours of usage are unknown, numbers of lamps per LCD)

• Is the sampled backlight representative for other (all?) LCD devices?

• Usually no crates are put in container for collection, only device by device but mixed (heavy e-scrap like CRT TV on top of LCD-TV?)

… further knowledge & information is necessary. Also form the other

Stakeholders, e. g. producer and take-back-schemes!


collection

transport

Treatment

Collection, transport and treatment chain:

through LCD in container …… more heavy products broker LCDs

dedicated handlingpotential risks ...

Bulk handlingpotential risks ...

increase collection cost for separate collection and/or special collection in appropriated receptacles

increase transport cost …… lower volume in transport… special handling necessary

reloading in bulk… increase transport volume… no special handling necessary

skip container in bulk for unloading … decrease recycling rate Increase dismantling cost Increase risk of material pollution Increase cost for heath & safety

for worker

unloading … increase recycling rate decrease dismantling cost decrease risk of material pollution decrease cost for heath & safety

for worker

Advantages for depollution and

recyclingvs.

Disadvantages for cost and

economies of scale

Conclusion:

Whatever is released during collection and transport can not be utilized in appropriated treatment and recycling operations!

Potential release of mercury vapours in the complete take back chain … but usually the tendency is only give certain focus on the recycler and disregard the other links of the chain

Everything at the beginning of the chain has consequences for the next steps


Collection, transport and treatment chain:Summary

collection transport treatment

• Breakages in the test of 20% of the backlight lamps in bulk collection processes.

• Measured mercury vapours of 8-10 µg per cbm

That is:• 80% of the unbroken lamps• Does this mean:

mercury emissions of 40 to 50 µg per cbm are still in the LCDs?

• Put container in “warm” recycling plant can double the

within the indicative exposure limit of 20 µg per cbm (8 hour time weighted average)

100% to 150% more than the the indicative exposure limit of 20 µg per cbm (8 hour time weighted average)







mercury emissions of 40 to 50 µg / cbm are still in the LCDs?

• Put container in “warm” recycling plant can double the Hg-emissions


100% to 150% more than the the indicative exposure limit of 20 µg per cbm (8 hour time weighted average)







mercury emissions of 40 to 50 µg / cbm are still in the LCDs?

• Put container in “warm” recycling plant can double the Hg-emissions


100% to 150% more than the indicative exposure limit of 20 µg per cbm (8 hour time weighted average)


Collection, transport and treatment chain

• Not treatment as main focus, since– LCDs are fragile products

– Today even display waste products (CRT) are handled to rough (breakage of the tubes)

• Necessary to make standards on the complete return chain for LCD displays

• Not only to focus on treatment & recycling of LCD• C2C – Cradle to Cradle – is the approach we need!

– LCDs have a significant mercury content


Outlook ….

• PDP remain as site technology … market share approx. 10%• Is CCDL-LCD only a bridge technology but there is no marking of either “CCFL” or “LED” on the

LCDs

• What´s next:

• Display technologies for recycling remain the most challenging product area for the recycling industry

– LED – available today

– OLED

– FED

– …


Thanks for your attention

Nico Krukenberg

Phone +49 23 06 106-907

[email protected]

[email protected]

nico krukenberg – chairman of the eera lcd working group take back prague 2011 collection,...

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