Pyrolysis of waste electrical and electronic equipment (WEEE) for recovering metals and energy

Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment (WEEE) is one of the fastest growing waste streams worldwide. This waste stream contains a number of economically relevant base, precious and high-tech metals. However, only a limited number of these metals can be recovered by mechanical treatment. The pyrolysis technology allows a baring and an accumulation of metals from WEEE-fractions without oxidation as well as the generation of high calorific gases and liquids for energetic utilization in a combined heat and power plant. Recovered metals can be used in pyro-metallurgical recycling processes to recover secondary raw materials. In this article, results from pyrolysis batch tests with residuals from a treatment of WEEE are presented. In an ecological assessment the environmental performance of the pyrolysis process is compared to a treatment in a municipal waste incinerator. The results of the ecological assessment clearly evidence that a thermo-chemical treatment of residuals from a WEEE treatment presents a promising option concerning environmental aspects of global warming potential, acidification potential and abiotic resource depletion potential.