Preparing WEEE plastics for recycling - How optimal particle sizes in pre-processing can improve the separation efficiency of high quality plastics
| Autor: | Johanna Emmerich, Martin Schneider-Ramelow, Perrine Chancerel, Gergana Dimitrova, Nils F. Nissen, Franziska Maisel |
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| Přispěvatelé: | Publica |
| Jazyk: | angličtina |
| Rok vydání: | 2020 |
| Předmět: |
Economics and Econometrics
Range (particle radiation) Plastic recycling business.industry media_common.quotation_subject 0211 other engineering and technologies Sorting Fraction (chemistry) 02 engineering and technology 010501 environmental sciences Dispose pattern 01 natural sciences 12. Responsible consumption Environmental science Particle Quality (business) 021108 energy Particle size Process engineering business Waste Management and Disposal 0105 earth and related environmental sciences media_common |
| Zdroj: | Resources, Conservation and Recycling |
| Popis: | The production of electrical and electronic equipment is a fast-growing industrial sector, which also results in growing generation of waste electrical and electronic equipment (WEEE). An efficient separation is a prerequisite in order to achieve a high recyclability of WEEE plastics and produce pure types of plastics. The scope of the paper is to investigate the influence of particle size on the recyclability of post-shredding plastic fractions from WEEE pre-processing. For this purpose, different shredding technologies for WEEE, their output particle size, the sorting technologies and their required input particle size were investigated and compared. Sample analysis of plastic flakes provided from pre-processors is performed. The results show that the different sorting technologies require different particle size ranges for efficient separation. Three scenarios were investigated in order to identify optimal output particle sizes for improved plastic recycling. The results suggest that a particle size between 10–20 mm increases the sorting efficiency and thus recyclability of the plastic fractions and minimizes the losses into fines. Further recommendations to pre-processors and recyclers include improving the communication between the end-of-life actors, to standardize the particle size range (10–20 mm) as well as not to dispose the fine fraction but to find recyclers operating appropriate fines sorting technologies. |
| Databáze: | OpenAIRE |
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