26 Recyclability of Tungsten, Tantalum and Neodymium …
379
To improve the effective recycling rates, on the one hand recycling input streams
with higher concentrations of the target metals are necessary, on the other hand novel
recycling processes or upscaling and duplication of existing specialty recycling plants
might be needed.
The recycling capabilities are ramping up. Current recycling of tungsten needs a
minimum of 75% content of tungsten. Parts close to this level going into recovery
without shredding should have thicknesses of less than 1 mm in one dimension,
according to the interviews with recyclers. This would be true for most tungsten
parts from the vibration actuators, but not for the complete actuator assemblies. At
these quality levels the tungsten should be added to existing processing operations
rather than setting up new recycling plants. Recyclers, who are already processing
secondary tungsten, would welcome even smaller quantities, but this is not yet
happening in reality.
Similarly, for neodymium the recycling would be feasible, if the magnets are separated at an early stage within the disassembly process. The recovery of neodymium
from permanent magnets in large scale is limited by its chemical properties as
the contained elements are expensively to recycle. Standardized qualities for the
chemical composition of NdFeB magnets and tungsten rings would be beneficial
(Burkhardt 2019). Implementing a recycling factor that includes the accessibility of
the component as well as the Nd– and O 2 – content could lead to improved material
recovery (Burkhardt 2019).
For tantalum capacitors there are recycling operators who take even small quantities. Tantalum parts do not have to be separated from the rest of the capacitors.
Nevertheless the time or expenditure to separate 1 kg of tantalum capacitors from
mobile devices is prohibitive.
Even with improved recycling capacities and processes, the economic value of the
target metals from mobile devices is low. Table 26.3 projects global content of the
target metals based only on the specific components analyzed in the investigation.
As noted in the introduction of this paper, it is therefore important to gain access
to higher concentration waste streams on a component level generated by other
Table 26.3 Potential worldwide W, Nd, Ta content of mobile phones, based on the investigated
components
Component
Average
content (g)
Price informtion
(e/kg)
Value/smart-phone
(e)
Potential
worldwide (t)
W from vibration
motor
0.72
11–36.5
0.01–0.03
1000
Nd from
loudspeaker
0.35
58
0.02
500
Ta from capacitors
(2–7 per
smartphone)
0.01
165.3
0.002–0.01
30–100
Source for globally 1.4 billion smartphones: (Statista 2019)
Sources for price information: (Neumann 2018; USGS 2019; Burkhardt 2019; Gilerman 2019)
379
To improve the effective recycling rates, on the one hand recycling input streams
with higher concentrations of the target metals are necessary, on the other hand novel
recycling processes or upscaling and duplication of existing specialty recycling plants
might be needed.
The recycling capabilities are ramping up. Current recycling of tungsten needs a
minimum of 75% content of tungsten. Parts close to this level going into recovery
without shredding should have thicknesses of less than 1 mm in one dimension,
according to the interviews with recyclers. This would be true for most tungsten
parts from the vibration actuators, but not for the complete actuator assemblies. At
these quality levels the tungsten should be added to existing processing operations
rather than setting up new recycling plants. Recyclers, who are already processing
secondary tungsten, would welcome even smaller quantities, but this is not yet
happening in reality.
Similarly, for neodymium the recycling would be feasible, if the magnets are separated at an early stage within the disassembly process. The recovery of neodymium
from permanent magnets in large scale is limited by its chemical properties as
the contained elements are expensively to recycle. Standardized qualities for the
chemical composition of NdFeB magnets and tungsten rings would be beneficial
(Burkhardt 2019). Implementing a recycling factor that includes the accessibility of
the component as well as the Nd– and O 2 – content could lead to improved material
recovery (Burkhardt 2019).
For tantalum capacitors there are recycling operators who take even small quantities. Tantalum parts do not have to be separated from the rest of the capacitors.
Nevertheless the time or expenditure to separate 1 kg of tantalum capacitors from
mobile devices is prohibitive.
Even with improved recycling capacities and processes, the economic value of the
target metals from mobile devices is low. Table 26.3 projects global content of the
target metals based only on the specific components analyzed in the investigation.
As noted in the introduction of this paper, it is therefore important to gain access
to higher concentration waste streams on a component level generated by other
Table 26.3 Potential worldwide W, Nd, Ta content of mobile phones, based on the investigated
components
Component
Average
content (g)
Price informtion
(e/kg)
Value/smart-phone
(e)
Potential
worldwide (t)
W from vibration
motor
0.72
11–36.5
0.01–0.03
1000
Nd from
loudspeaker
0.35
58
0.02
500
Ta from capacitors
(2–7 per
smartphone)
0.01
165.3
0.002–0.01
30–100
Source for globally 1.4 billion smartphones: (Statista 2019)
Sources for price information: (Neumann 2018; USGS 2019; Burkhardt 2019; Gilerman 2019)