The Disposal of Electronic Devices
What are the dangers of e-waste? Who takes back old electronics? How does recycling work? We answer the most important questions about e-waste recycling.
What is e-waste made of?
E-waste contains valuable resources that can be reused. Large chunks of metal such as copper and iron, ceramics and glass, critical metals and increasingly also plastics have been found in old electronics such as broken smartphones and discarded washing machines.
Pollutants such as cadmium, lead or mercury as well as additives in plastics such as brominated flame retardants are problematic. Pollutants and greenhouse gases from waste pollute the environment and climate. In addition, they have a negative impact on health, so WEEE must be collected separately from other household waste. In addition, a separate collection is used to recover the valuable materials contained.
Why can’t electronic devices be disposed of in the residual waste?
Small old electronic devices such as irons, smartphones, fitness watches and coffee makers are so small that consumers can easily and unobtrusively throw them in the trash. The household waste analysis assumes that more than 140,000 tons of small appliances end up in the residual waste and are then incinerated. Relative to their total weight, small household appliances contain significantly more important raw materials than large appliances such as washing machines and should be collected and recycled more frequently.
However, recovery rates are not specific to these small devices, but are based on mass and weight rather than environmental criteria such as rare metal conservation. Therefore, collection and subsequent recycling focuses on large, heavy equipment with fewer resources. The federal government must remedy this.
What to do with the e-waste?
Discarded electronic devices must not be disposed of with household waste. The symbol of the crossed-out garbage can on the device serves as an indication. Consumers have to hand in their old electrical appliances to waste disposal companies, large electronics stores (400 square meters of retail space) or consumer markets (800 square meters of retail space) and large online retailers.
Unfortunately, the provision of commercial transactions and online business does not work smoothly. Experience shows that they often refuse to accept or return free devices and customers, even if they have legal obligations. Processing warehouses are difficult to access due to the short opening times and physical distance. Ultimately, however, the burden should not lie with the consumer, but the return options should become more consumer-friendly. NFM Recycling takes care of the electronic waste recycling process and is happy to provide containers if required.
How does recycling work?
Of the WEEE collected separately, on average around 80% of the appliance weight is recycled and around 10% is used for heat treatment. Depending on the type of device, preparation for reuse (e.g. repair of an old device) and disposal are only incurred in the single-digit percentage range.
Recycling includes mechanical, thermal and chemical processes that enable materials to be reused. Current recycling practice essentially consists of three elements: contaminants are removed by hand, then the materials are mechanically ground in several steps, and then the materials are separated from each other.
In addition to impurities, this also includes ferrous and non-ferrous metals, plastics and minerals. Ferrous metals are typically used in steel production, while non-ferrous metals are used in copper production, where some metals can be further separated from each other.
What is difficult or almost impossible to recycle?
Up until now, the recycling of WEEE has been limited to bulk metals such as iron, steel, copper, aluminum and easily recoverable precious metals. The rare earth elements tantalum, gallium and indium have a global recycling rate of less than one percent. They only occur in small amounts, for example in smartphones, and are so complicated to install that they are difficult to handle. Toxic flame retardants found in older generation small appliances, such as tetrabromobisphenol, make plastic recycling difficult. Flame retardants can be found, for example, in heaters and in information and communication technology. Since August 2018, objects with permanently installed electrical or electronic components, such as smart textiles or furniture, have also been classified as electronic waste. They make recycling considerably more difficult, as scarce end-of-life storage for e-waste ends up in take-back systems. These material inventories require new processes and handling methods, and in some cases the subsequent manual separation of components such as electrical (electronic) equipment and bulky waste is a process. The process requires a lot of time and effort.
