Overview
Many advanced electronic products include specialty metals, such as yttrium and osmium and indium, as well as rare earth elements. These valuable precious metals in e waste are increasingly being used in new products. Concern has been raised about the sustainability of long-term supplies of these metals for economic, environmental and social reasons.
Additionally, most consumer products that we use every day have a short product life span ( 5 Years). Low recycling rates (1%!). Some metals are toxic (e.g. CdSe and GaAs), while others have poorly understood global cycles (e.g. In and Hf). All these factors make precious metals in e waste recovery critical for the industry and the environment.
Study
A research project is ongoing that aims to develop a new technology to separate and reclaim these rare and specialty metals from E waste. We are focusing on nano-enabled materials to improve recycling efficiency for these valuable materials. We have created a filter apparatus that uses polymer-amended-carbon nanotube filters (CNT) to selectively separate two metals out of a mixed metal waste stream.
Impact
This technology may offer many benefits, including improved recovery of high-value special minerals using low-cost filtering, decreased need to mine rare earth minerals in politically unfavorable locations, enhanced atom economics during device fabrication, and lower emissions of toxic elements or new industrial minerals with unknown toxicities or impacts.
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eCycle Florida is an R2 Certified electronics recycling company in the state of Florida. Our processes and procedures are dedicated to the proper destruction and recycling of your electronics. eCycle Florida is your go-to when looking for an electronic recycling center in Florida. Check out the services in the multitude of industries that we offer:
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Contact eCycle Today to get more information on getting out those precious metals in e waste and check out our 5-star reviews!