New Project Delivers High Recovery Rate for E-Scrap Metals

A new project headed by German Fraunhofer Institute for Laser Technology and supported by as many as eight partners from different countries has delivered high recovery rate for e-scrap metals.

The ADIR project was funded by the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme. The project unveiled a next-generation technology to separate and recover valuable materials through automated disassembly of electronic equipment. It focuses on recovery of metals such as tantalum, neodymium, tungsten, cobalt and gallium that are usually lost in dust when using traditional techniques such as shredding.

The recovery techniques till date had focussed on recovery of high-value metals such as gold, silver and copper.

The project uses a combination of laser processing, pulsed power technology, robotics, vision systems and information technology. The four-year project had processed around 1,000 mobile phones and 800 printed circuit boards (PCBs). The patented process could recover up to 98% of tantalum from capacitors using seven interlinked machines, said Dr Cord Fricke-Begemann, project manager. The process could be refined further to offer even better results, he said.

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