| EPSRC Reference: |
GR/T05363/01 |
| Title: |
Recovery of Metals from waste Electrical & Electronic Equipment by Leaching & Electrowinning |
| Principal Investigator: |
Kelsall, Professor G |
| Other Investigators: |
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| Researcher Co-Investigators: |
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| Project Partners: |
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| Department: |
Chemical Engineering |
| Organisation: |
Imperial College London |
| Scheme: |
Faraday (PreFEC) |
| Starts: |
06 September 2004 |
Ends: |
05 September 2008 |
Value (£): |
302,667
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| EPSRC Research Topic Classifications: |
| Electrochemical Science & Eng. |
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| EPSRC Industrial Sector Classifications: |
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| Panel History: |
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Summary on Grant Application Form |
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About 20 % of the 350 000 tonnes post consumer waste information technology equipment generated in the UK is recycled at present, the remainder being sent to landfill. The printed circuit board content of that waste has been estimated at ca. 25 000 tonnes p.a., comprising 4 000 tonnes of copper, 1 000 tonnes of tin, 1 000 tonne of lead and 25 tonnes of precious metals. Implementation of the EU Directive on Waste from Electrical and Electronic Equipment (WEEE) in the UK is scheduled to impose W EEE producer responsibility by August 2005 and, by December 2006, 80% recovery and 75% recycling targets. These will require new processes to be developed and applied, to remove the metals from the landfill stream, with consequential economic and environmental benefits, and enable less centralised reprocessing of such wastes than in foreign copper smelters. At Imperial College London, the feasibility has already been demonstrated of dissolving all metals (copper, gold, lead, palladium, silver, tin, etc.) from shredded W EEE in a chemical reactor using acidic aqueous chloride solution containing chlorine, generated at the anode of an electrochemical reactor. The dissolved metals are recovered simultaneously at the cathode of that same electrochemical reactor. Hence, the overall process involves inputting electrical energy to move the metals from W EEE to cathode and, in principle, produces only a de-metallised material for further processing. With EPSRC funding via the Mini-Waste Faraday Partnership (www.mini-waste.com), and industrial partners from Sony, Cumberland Engineering Ltd., C-Tech Innovation Ltd., Maxitech and Sims Recycling Solutions, the project would develop the concept into laboratory-scale engineered process to recover metals from 10 kg W EEE per day, with models to enable scale-up to an industrial scale pilot plant.
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Key Findings |
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This information can now be found on Gateway to Research (GtR) http://gtr.rcuk.ac.uk
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Potential use in non-academic contexts |
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This information can now be found on Gateway to Research (GtR) http://gtr.rcuk.ac.uk
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Impacts |
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| Description |
This information can now be found on Gateway to Research (GtR) http://gtr.rcuk.ac.uk |
| Summary |
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| Date Materialised |
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Sectors submitted by the Researcher |
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This information can now be found on Gateway to Research (GtR) http://gtr.rcuk.ac.uk
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| Project URL: |
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| Further Information: |
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| Organisation Website: |
http://www.imperial.ac.uk |