SUbstance flow analysis of the recycling of small waste electrical ...

3. Method 55
Equipment group
Equipment type
(function)
Appliance
Assembly
Material
Low grade equipment
Personal computers
Small high grade
equipment
Coffee machine 1
Brand: x
Coffee machine
Model: y
Toaster
Production year: 19xx
Vacuum cleaner Coffee machine 2
Casing
Cable
Coffee pot
Printed
Circuit Board
Plastic
(polypropylene)
Figure 11 Classification of materials contained in WEEE
To collect and organize data on characteristics of WEEE, a database initially developed by
Srocka (2006) was continuously expanded (Chancerel & Rotter 2007). The database
consists of datasets on composition of WEEE at material and substance level. The data were
gathered from disassembling investigations and chemical analyses at the Technische
Universität Berlin and through a literature review. The data contained in the database can be
classified as follows:
1. Data on single appliances: the investigation unit is the single appliance. The
investigations are conducted on single devices by dismantling and analysing each
assembly (for example: dismantling of one mobile phone, weighing of the assemblies,
identification of the casing plastic, elementary analysis on the printed circuit board). A
dataset is created for every investigated appliance (no data aggregation).
2. Data on “Group investigations”: a group investigation refers to the characterisation of
groups of similar appliances or similar assemblies (for example: elementary analysis
of 10 printed circuit boards from mobile phones). The investigation unit is the group of
appliances or assemblies and one dataset is created per group of appliances or
assemblies. In practise, two ways are possible to carry out group investigations:
either the investigations are directly conducted on groups of appliances or
assemblies (example: size reduction of a mix of 10 printed circuit boards and
determination of the chemical composition)
or the investigations are carried out on single appliances or assemblies and
the analysis results are aggregated for interpretation and publications.
In total, data on the material composition and other characteristics of 797 appliances and the
results of 234 group investigations were integrated in the database. 8550 results of analyses
like measurements of metal concentrations and determination of the polymer(s) contained in
plastic parts are available in the database. The data of the database was used in Paper 1 to
determine the mechanical properties, the material composition, the polymer composition and
the chemical composition of selected types of WEEE. These characteristics vary not only