24
boards, cables, and heavy components. Disassembly of cooling appliances or airconditioning units must begin with the removal of refrigerants (Keri 2012). Removal
of hazardous substances from the waste equipment brings improvement of the
output material purity. Any contamination can be a reason for lowering the price of
the entire shipment of the processed material.
The information technologies equipment category requires different approach
disassembling. Printed circuit boards used in this equipment often contain copper
and precious metals including gold and silver. Some parts or assemblies include
also rare earth metals. The components and assemblies from personal computers
and notebooks have to be classified into groups. The highest market values can be
reached by processors, mainboards, and memories (Hall and Williams 2007;
Cucchiella et al. 2016; Rosa and Terzi 2016). A more challenging task is disassembly and recycling of mobile phones and smartphones (Tanskanen 2012; Sarath et al.
Table 2.1 Characteristics of the types of E-waste disassembly methods
Type of
disassembly
Description
Machines/
tools
Productivity
Focus on
Manual
Preparation for other
stages of dismantling.
Obligatory for some
categories of waste.
Removal of
substances in
compliance with
legislation
Simple tools Low but efficient
for assemblies
containing precious
or rare earth metals
An opening of
equipment casing
removal of
homogenous
material parts or
others of high
value and also
hazardous
substances
Semiautomated Using power tools for
faster removal of
heavy components or
to access valuable
parts for easier
disassembly
Hydraulic,
pneumatic,
electric tools
Medium,
supporting manual
method. It allows
executing quick
removal of heavy
components
Removal of heavy
objects or
assemblies from
large home
appliances
Automated
Alignment of
machines with
different
configurations to
obtain homogenous
fractions of materials,
automated transport,
and handling. Using
conveyors and
vibrating feeders
Shredding,
grinding,
milling
machines,
automated
separation
High, the process is
on the specialized
machines,
transportation of
the materials,
semi-processed, or
final is by means of
conveyors or
feeders
Mechanical
processing to
obtain
homogenous
small size grains
of materials for
easy separation
and sorting
Robotic
Designed for
equipment of similar
construction, mostly
belonging to the same
group from the
category, TV sets,
refrigerators, mobile
phones
Robots,
sensor
devices
Efficient for similar
products, a
potential for future
development
Full automation
of disassembly,
possible
replacement of
human work, safe
handling of
hazardous
substances
P. Nowakowski
boards, cables, and heavy components. Disassembly of cooling appliances or airconditioning units must begin with the removal of refrigerants (Keri 2012). Removal
of hazardous substances from the waste equipment brings improvement of the
output material purity. Any contamination can be a reason for lowering the price of
the entire shipment of the processed material.
The information technologies equipment category requires different approach
disassembling. Printed circuit boards used in this equipment often contain copper
and precious metals including gold and silver. Some parts or assemblies include
also rare earth metals. The components and assemblies from personal computers
and notebooks have to be classified into groups. The highest market values can be
reached by processors, mainboards, and memories (Hall and Williams 2007;
Cucchiella et al. 2016; Rosa and Terzi 2016). A more challenging task is disassembly and recycling of mobile phones and smartphones (Tanskanen 2012; Sarath et al.
Table 2.1 Characteristics of the types of E-waste disassembly methods
Type of
disassembly
Description
Machines/
tools
Productivity
Focus on
Manual
Preparation for other
stages of dismantling.
Obligatory for some
categories of waste.
Removal of
substances in
compliance with
legislation
Simple tools Low but efficient
for assemblies
containing precious
or rare earth metals
An opening of
equipment casing
removal of
homogenous
material parts or
others of high
value and also
hazardous
substances
Semiautomated Using power tools for
faster removal of
heavy components or
to access valuable
parts for easier
disassembly
Hydraulic,
pneumatic,
electric tools
Medium,
supporting manual
method. It allows
executing quick
removal of heavy
components
Removal of heavy
objects or
assemblies from
large home
appliances
Automated
Alignment of
machines with
different
configurations to
obtain homogenous
fractions of materials,
automated transport,
and handling. Using
conveyors and
vibrating feeders
Shredding,
grinding,
milling
machines,
automated
separation
High, the process is
on the specialized
machines,
transportation of
the materials,
semi-processed, or
final is by means of
conveyors or
feeders
Mechanical
processing to
obtain
homogenous
small size grains
of materials for
easy separation
and sorting
Robotic
Designed for
equipment of similar
construction, mostly
belonging to the same
group from the
category, TV sets,
refrigerators, mobile
phones
Robots,
sensor
devices
Efficient for similar
products, a
potential for future
development
Full automation
of disassembly,
possible
replacement of
human work, safe
handling of
hazardous
substances
P. Nowakowski