Health & Environmental Research Online (HERO)


Print Feedback Export to File
11110287 
Book/Book Chapter 
Mechanical methods of recycling plastics from WEEE 
Cherrington, R; Makenji, K 
2019 
Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment (WEEE) Handbook 
283-310 
is also published as 6632285 Mechanical methods of recycling plastics from WEEE
This chapter discusses the techniques used for mechanically recycling waste electrical and electronic equipment (WEEE). Discarded personal computers (PCs), TVs, kitchen and audio equipment are among the most popular items to be recycled, yielding valuable polymers such as acrylonitrile butadiene styrene, polycarbonate, and different varieties of polystyrene. The process of mechanical recycling is to collect, sort, size reduce, separate, and densify these wastes, economically and effectively. The effectiveness of separation techniques such as flotation, hydrocyclone, air tabling, near infrared, and electrostatic sorting are examined. The variations in effective WEEE collection and treatment among European Union member states are also discussed. Future work with WEEE plastics is based on the acceptable use of immiscible polymers through processing or chemical modification. An alternative area of research is to make the polymers easier to separate, and research appears to be ongoing to minimize the use of different polymer types in a product, making the recycling process far simpler. © 2019 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.