34
with a possibility of using other machines for preliminary processing the components and assemblies. As an example, it can be a plastic separator or fine grinder of
the printed circuit boards. It is very important to take into consideration the volume
of the E-waste for processing and economic factors.
The cost analyses indicated big variations in a potential profit for a disassembly
plant for various countries. A design requires detailed analysis of a location, a number of employees, and configuration of disassembly line. It depends on a number of
categories of waste electrical and electronic equipment and final products acquired
after disassembly – components, mixed metals, fine or coarse fractions, etc. The
layouts of the E-waste processing plants present a practical approach to disassembly
of various groups of the waste equipment. Each of them can be reconfigured depending on the focus of disassembly strategy and estimation of economic indicators. At
the initial stage, they must be classified into several categories. It allows transferring
each category of waste electrical and electronic equipment to the different processing line. The disassembly process must comply with legislative requirements, and
the majority of laws concerning E-waste worldwide focus on the limitation of negative impacts on the natural environment. Therefore the hazardous components must
be removed from the stream of the material fractions in disassembly plant.
In developed countries, disassembly should focus on automation and optimization of the process, taking into consideration high labor costs. Such proposals were
discussed, i.e., by automation of the process proposed by Gerbers and Alvarez-delos-Mozos and Renteria (Gerbers et al. 2016) (Alvarez-de- los-Mozos and Renteria
2017). Studies with the concepts and case studies of automated or robotic disassembly show examples for liquid crystal displays disassembly (Elo and Sundin 2014;
Vanegas Pena et al. 2016), the printed circuit boards (Park et al. 2015), and laptops
(DiFilippo and Jouaneh 2017). Possible solutions for modular recycling system
were discussed by Barwood et al. with a case study of a robotic disassembly cell
(Barwood et al. 2015).
At the same time, it is a producer’s responsibility to provide sufficient information about materials and substances used in the products to facilitate the sequence of
disassembly when a product reaches the end of life. The information should include
material inventory. Precious or rare earth metals and also hazardous substances
should be identified (Nowakowski 2018). Some authors propose additional data to
be used in new products. They propose disassembly steps for each electrical and
electronic product (Huang et al. 2012; Wang et al. 2013; Song et al. 2014). Some
proposals include an attachment of a special information matrix to facilitate and
improve materials recycling (Luttropp and Johansson 2010).
In the developing countries, labor costs are lower in developed countries.
Therefore, the main goal of recycling plants should focus on minimizing the negative impact on the environment by removing all hazardous substances from the
waste equipment. We should take into consideration capabilities of recycling individual elements, especially metals, in a country where disassembly is conducted. In
such case, all components containing specified above materials should be safely
shipped to other plants for recycling and refining individual element or for neutralizing hazardous substance.
P. Nowakowski
with a possibility of using other machines for preliminary processing the components and assemblies. As an example, it can be a plastic separator or fine grinder of
the printed circuit boards. It is very important to take into consideration the volume
of the E-waste for processing and economic factors.
The cost analyses indicated big variations in a potential profit for a disassembly
plant for various countries. A design requires detailed analysis of a location, a number of employees, and configuration of disassembly line. It depends on a number of
categories of waste electrical and electronic equipment and final products acquired
after disassembly – components, mixed metals, fine or coarse fractions, etc. The
layouts of the E-waste processing plants present a practical approach to disassembly
of various groups of the waste equipment. Each of them can be reconfigured depending on the focus of disassembly strategy and estimation of economic indicators. At
the initial stage, they must be classified into several categories. It allows transferring
each category of waste electrical and electronic equipment to the different processing line. The disassembly process must comply with legislative requirements, and
the majority of laws concerning E-waste worldwide focus on the limitation of negative impacts on the natural environment. Therefore the hazardous components must
be removed from the stream of the material fractions in disassembly plant.
In developed countries, disassembly should focus on automation and optimization of the process, taking into consideration high labor costs. Such proposals were
discussed, i.e., by automation of the process proposed by Gerbers and Alvarez-delos-Mozos and Renteria (Gerbers et al. 2016) (Alvarez-de- los-Mozos and Renteria
2017). Studies with the concepts and case studies of automated or robotic disassembly show examples for liquid crystal displays disassembly (Elo and Sundin 2014;
Vanegas Pena et al. 2016), the printed circuit boards (Park et al. 2015), and laptops
(DiFilippo and Jouaneh 2017). Possible solutions for modular recycling system
were discussed by Barwood et al. with a case study of a robotic disassembly cell
(Barwood et al. 2015).
At the same time, it is a producer’s responsibility to provide sufficient information about materials and substances used in the products to facilitate the sequence of
disassembly when a product reaches the end of life. The information should include
material inventory. Precious or rare earth metals and also hazardous substances
should be identified (Nowakowski 2018). Some authors propose additional data to
be used in new products. They propose disassembly steps for each electrical and
electronic product (Huang et al. 2012; Wang et al. 2013; Song et al. 2014). Some
proposals include an attachment of a special information matrix to facilitate and
improve materials recycling (Luttropp and Johansson 2010).
In the developing countries, labor costs are lower in developed countries.
Therefore, the main goal of recycling plants should focus on minimizing the negative impact on the environment by removing all hazardous substances from the
waste equipment. We should take into consideration capabilities of recycling individual elements, especially metals, in a country where disassembly is conducted. In
such case, all components containing specified above materials should be safely
shipped to other plants for recycling and refining individual element or for neutralizing hazardous substance.
P. Nowakowski