Ex-ante Life Cycle Assessment of Bioleaching in Indium Recovery from LCD-Waste
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MRS Advances © 2019 Materials Research Society DOI: 10.1557/adv.2019.218
Ex-ante Life Cycle Assessment of Bioleaching in Indium Recovery from LCD-Waste Annemarie Falke 1, Michael Höck2 1 Technische Universität Bergakademie Freiberg, Institute for Business Administration, esp. Resource Management
2
Technische Universität Bergakademie Freiberg, Institute of Industrial Management
ABSTRACT
In light of growing demand and pollution versus a finite amount of resources, electronic waste recycling is a way towards material circularity. New recycling technologies not only face technical difficulties but also need to overcome challenges of feasibility in both economic and environmental aspects. An assessment regarding environmental impacts and economic factors at the early development stages of such technologies is necessary to ensure a successful establishment. A batch lab-scale process using bioleaching to win indium from electronic waste was drafted using recent research in the field. Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) was used to determine the environmental impacts in four different categories at the lowest Technology Readiness Level (TRL). The findings were then compared to two existing chemical leaching processes to put them in perspective. Results show that the electricity consumption is the major contribution to environmental impacts. The assumed bioleaching process has a higher environmental impact than the two chemical processes due to its high duration and resulting high electricity consumption. However, the research has also proven, that an LCA during the conceptual phase has a high uncertainty due to lack of data and knowledge about the process.
INTRODUCTION In light of the increase in demand for finite resources, a change in the way our economy works is inevitable. The development of new technologies offers the chance to move from a linear to a circular economy. With an estimated production of 48.5 million tonnes in 2018, electronic waste (e-waste) is the fastest growing waste stream worldwide [1]. The rising demand of electronic devices like mobile phones and the rising
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application of solar power leads to an increase in indium demand [2, 3]. Indium is primarily produced as a by-product in zinc mining [4]. Hence, it is dependent on the zinc demand. Due to its low concentration of 1-100 ppm [5] in primary sources, the dependence on other products and its strategic and economic importance, indium has been added to the EU list of critical raw materials. By recovering indium from Liquid Crystal Display (LCD) waste, a step towards circular economy is made and supply restrictions may be overcome. However, new technologies working towards that goal are only applied and can therefore only succeed if they are feasible. In recent times ecological aspects are being considered in a
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