Better way to recycle computers
When you send an old computer off for recycling, it’smorethanlikelythe castoff will end up in China, which recyclessome70percent ofthe world’s old cellphones and computers.Buttheircircuit boardscontain a range of valuable (and toxic)metals.Andthe techniquescurrently used to recycle them – mostlyinlocalfamily-run workshops– lead to pollutionandpublic-healthproblems, researchers say.
Now engineers at Shanghai Jiao Tong Universitysaytheyhavedeveloped a way to recycle circuit boards that’seasyontheenvironment and could lead to more-durableparkbenches,sewergrates, or fences. The process involves grindingtheboardsinto apowder. The dust is subjected to electricfieldsthatseparate themetals from the circuit board’s basematerial.Themetals can berecovered. The powdered circuit-boardmaterial canbemixed withresin and additional materials, such asfiberglassorcalciumcarbonate, then molded into shapes that can beused inarange ofbuilding products and as a replacement forwoodformanyconstruction purposes.
Results appear in the current issue ofEnvironmentalScienceandTechnology.
Web: www.wwteq.com