Recycling critical raw materials from waste electronic equipment

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16 Recycling critical raw materials from waste electronic equipment primarily determined by the high production costs, it is nevertheless anticipated that this will increase to around 15% each by 2015 (see Figure 7). Figure 7: Market share of LCD TV sets with indirect ("edge"), direct ("direct") and hybrid ("hybrid") background illumination (Young 2011) 2.6 Service life and collection rates for flat screens The lifespan of computer screens was estimated at an average of 6.6 years as part of the EU eco-design process (EuP 2007). This figure includes both the first use and the length of an average second use. According to Zangl et al. (2009), television sets can be assumed to have an average service life of 10 years. In 2008 319,983 t of the WEEE product category 3 (IT and telecommunication equipment) and 192,224 t of the WEEE product category 4 (consumer electronics products) were put on the market in Germany. In the same period 155,007 t of category 3 and 130,620 to of category 4 equipment were collected through the official return and collection systems for controlled recycling and disposal (BMU 2009). If it is assumed that these values can be applied to screens, then the collection rates in Germany for computer screens can be estimated at just 50% and for televisions at just 85% 10 . Compared with data at the EU level (40.5% for flat screens), Germany is therefore above the European average (Huisman et al. 2007). There is no reliable data on the whereabouts of the remaining devices. The following possibilities can be considered: 10 These values do not include any delays from the use phase of the devices. They are purely an estimate of the actual collection rates.
Recycling critical raw materials from waste electronic equipment � Delayed disposal (storage of old devices by the user) � Disposal via domestic waste � Export to other countries With reference to the last point in particular, it is known that both television sets and computer monitors are frequently exported to Eastern Europe or West Africa where the devices are repaired and sold to local or regional markets (Prakash & Manhart 2010, Manhart et al. 2011). 2.7 Status of pre-treatment technology for flat screens In accordance with Annex II of the Directive 2002/96/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 27 January 2003 on waste electrical and electronic equipment, liquid crystal displays with a surface of over 100 square centimeters and background illuminated displays with gas discharge lamps must be disposed of or recycled. Appropriate measures must be taken so that the wastes do not endanger human health or damage the environment. The Directive 2002/96/EC provides explicitly for removal of the mercury especially for gas discharge lamps. In Germany and the EU, flat screens are therefore fed into a separate recycling process after collection, primarily for the purpose of recovering the mercury from the gas discharge lamps (LCD displays with CCFL background illumination). To achieve the best recovery, the tubes have to be removed manually. Although a variety of companies carry out this procedure, it should only be undertaken in accordance with stringent health and safety standards due to mercury emissions from damaged lamps. In general, when using this procedure it must be assumed that during disassembly 5-20% of the capillary tubes will be damaged so that mercury escapes (Böni & Widmer 2011). The complete manual disassembly of LCD screens with CCFL background illumination 11 produces the following fractions: � Plastics fraction (sometimes subdivided according to different types of polymers) � Sheet steel and aluminum � Printed circuit boards � CCFL lights � Displays 11 The flat screens entering the waste stream are currently mainly LCD screens with CCFL background illumination. Newer technologies such as LCD displays with LED background illumination or OLED screens are not yet of any quantitative importance in the waste stream. 17
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