Vuppaladadiyam Sai Sree Varsha, Thomas Bennet Sam, Kundu Chandan, Vuppaladadiyam Arun K, Duan Huabo, Bhattacharya Sankar
Department of Chemical and Biological Engineering, Monash University, Australia.
School of Engineering, RMIT University, Melbourne, VIC 3000, Australia.
Sci Total Environ. 2024 May 10;924:171453. doi: 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2024.171453. Epub 2024 Mar 5.
Recycling e-waste is seen as a sustainable alternative to compensate for the limited natural rare earth elements (REEs) resources and the difficulty of accessing these resources. Recycling facilitates the recovery of valuable products and minimizes emissions during their transportation. Numerous studies have been reported on e-waste recycling using various techniques, including thermo-, hydro- and biometallurgical approaches. However, each approach still has technical, economic, social, or environmental limitations. This review highlights the potential of recycling e-waste, including outlining the current unutilized potential of REE recycling from different e-waste components. An in-depth analysis of e-waste generation on a global scale and Australian scenario, along with various hazardous impacts on ecosystem and human health, is reported. In addition, a comprehensive summary of various metal recovery processes and their merits and demerits is also presented. Lifecycle analysis for recovering REEs from e-waste indicate a positive environmental impact when compared to REEs produced from virgin sources. In addition, recovering REEs form secondary sources eliminated ca. 1.5 times radioactive waste, as seen in production from primary sources scenario. The review outcome demonstrates the increasing potential of REE recycling to overcome critical challenges, including issues over supply security and localized dependency.
回收电子垃圾被视为一种可持续的替代方案，以弥补天然稀土元素（REEs）资源的有限性以及获取这些资源的困难。回收有助于回收有价值的产品，并最大限度地减少其运输过程中的排放。关于使用各种技术（包括热冶金、湿冶金和生物冶金方法）进行电子垃圾回收的研究已有很多报道。然而，每种方法仍然存在技术、经济、社会或环境方面的局限性。本综述强调了回收电子垃圾的潜力，包括概述从不同电子垃圾组件中回收稀土元素目前未被利用的潜力。报告了对全球范围内和澳大利亚的电子垃圾产生情况的深入分析，以及对生态系统和人类健康的各种有害影响。此外，还对各种金属回收工艺及其优缺点进行了全面总结。从电子垃圾中回收稀土元素的生命周期分析表明，与从原生资源生产的稀土元素相比，其对环境有积极影响。此外，从二次资源中回收稀土元素可消除约1.5倍的放射性废物，如原生资源生产情景中所见。综述结果表明，回收稀土元素克服关键挑战（包括供应安全和局部依赖性问题）的潜力越来越大。
