New Technique for Recycling PCBs

MattSparkes writes "PCBs from discarded computers, cellphones and other devices could be recycled less harmfully using a technique developed by researchers in China. Unlike current methods, it can be used to reclaim metals such as copper without releasing toxic fumes into the air. Only a small numbers of PCBs are currently recycled."

Prediction

[Anonymous Coward]

We will be mining the landfills as soon as it becomes economically feasible. I think this will happen within a decade or so. They're full of tons of stuff we threw away before extracting all of the usefulness. It's metal-rich sludge full of useful organic matter to power the nanodigesters (or whatever we have to invent).

Not that you shouldn't recycle your aluminum and steel cans today.

UK WEEE requires electroincs recycling soon.

[throwaway18]

I'm currently trying to make sense of the WEEE regulations. UK businesses that supply electronic products are required to register with a waste collection and recycling scheme by the 15th of march if they fall into vaguely defined categories covering most consumer products and some other stuff. A few months after that suppliers have to start taking back unwanted electronics.

The intention is the push the costs of disposal back to the manufacturer.
A director of a UK manufacturing company told me recently that the extra costs for him amount to 18% of turnover for no practical benefit.

It seems to be a full employment scheme for lawyers and beaurocrats. After reading lots of conflicting information on the web I tried reading the act of parliament that implements the European directive and was even more confused and outraged afterwards.
I'm sure there are lots of cases where people can argue over whether their product falss into the vaguely defined categories.

This is on top of CE marking, EMC, and ROHS. I'v seen companys discontinue products because it is just not worth the cost of redesigning to not use lead solder and other non-rohs stuff. With WEEE on top niche market electronics manufacturers just took a big hit.
Consideirng how easy it is to buy very very cheap, non-CE marked electronics direct from Hong Kong via ebay I worry about whats left of UK electronics manufacturing. It's been decimated by pacific rim competition over the last ten years already.

Re:UK WEEE requires electroincs recycling soon.

[Detritus]

A director of a UK manufacturing company told me recently that the extra costs for him amount to 18% of turnover for no practical benefit.

No practical benefit? I'd think that proper disposal and recycling of his company's products is a practical benefit for society-at-large. It might even encourage the company to design products with a lower total life-cycle cost.

Digging up the landfill years later

[lxt518052]

is not a good idea if the toxic waste has already polluted soil and underground water system.

Re:Prediction

[Muad'Dave]

Me too, but most with regard to all of the barely used nuclear fuel rods languishing at reactors all over the country. There's a ton of energy left in them, and by burning up the actinides you're left with waste that's 'hot' for a faction of the time. From this Wikipedia article [wikipedia.org]:

Compared to current light-water reactors with a once-through fuel cycle that uses less than 1% of the energy in the uranium, the IFR has a very efficient (99.5% usage) fuel cycle.

and

Another important benefit of removing the long half-life transuranics from the waste cycle is that the remaining waste becomes a much shorter-term hazard. After the actinides and transuranics are removed from the spent fuel, the remaining waste elements have half lives of a few decades at most. The result is that within 300 years, such wastes are no more radioactive than the ores of natural radioactive elements.

This interview [nationalcenter.org] with George S. Stanford, Ph.D highlights the history and potential on IFR's.