Environmental and economic performance analysis of recycling waste printed circuit boards using life cycle assessment

• Published in: Journal of environmental management Vol. 276; p. 111276
• Main Authors: Pokhrel, Prakash, Lin, Sheng-Lung, Tsai, Chi-Ting
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Elsevier Ltd 15.12.2020
• Subjects: E-wastes; Economic performance; Life cycle assessment; PCBs; Recycle; Life cycle assessment; PCBs; Economic performance; E-wastes; Recycle
• ISSN: 0301-4797; 1095-8630
• DOI: 10.1016/j.jenvman.2020.111276

Recycling precious elements from the electronic waste could be an environmental friendly way to avoid likely ecological damages caused by leaching of heavy metals and toxic elements as well as an economically attractive option to recover valuable materials that would otherwise be wasted. This research assessed the environmental and economic performance of recovering nine metal elements (aluminum (Al), copper (Cu), gold (Au), lead (Pb), nickel (Ni), silver (Ag), tin (Sn), zinc (Zn), and iron (Fe)) and two non-metal materials (resin and glass-fiber) from the waste printed circuit boards (PCBs), one of the vital components of electronic-waste (e-waste). SimaPro software was used to assess the environmental performance of recycling waste PCBs. Data were collected from recycling plants in Taichung City, Taiwan, and Eco-invent database was also used in the study. The impacts of metal recycling from PCBs were compared with the impacts caused by the mining of respective metals from their natural ores. Among the analyzed elements, only the recovery of Au from waste PCBs proved to have less environmental impacts than the mining from the natural ore. Among 16 environmental impact categories (ILCD midpoint 2011+ method of impact analysis) considered in the present study, cancer and non-cancer human toxicity were the most affected categories followed by minerals, fossils, and resource extraction. However, the economic analysis showed that the recycling of all elements from waste PCBs had a net positive benefit. When considering both the environment and economic performance, the recycling of Au proved to be a beneficial option. •Recycling metals except gold had more negative environmental impacts than mining.•Copper recycling had the highest negative environmental impacts.•Gold recycling had the lower environmental impact than gold mining.•There was a net positive economic benefit for recycling of all metals.