- 18 April 2007 -
WEEE recycling test successfully completed

A full-scale trial has been completed to examine the technical viability of treating mixed waste electrical and electronic equipment (WEEE) materials with high plastics content in an integrated metal smelter.

The results show that integrated metal smelters are a suitable way of recycling WEEE materials because precious metals can be recovered and recycled, and the plastic content can serve as an energy source and reducing agent. Two-thirds of the energy content of the plastics was used to replace consumption of coke and fuel oil. Carried out in the context of the implementation of the EU WEEE Directives, the trial proved that WEEE materials containing plastics with flame retardants can be recycled and recovered without having to separate them from the waste mix prior to their treatment. The trial also demonstrated that the treatment of mixed WEEE materials in an integrated metal smelter does not affect the operational or environmental performance of the smelter.

The findings are included in a technical report entitled ‘Using metal-rich WEEE plastics as feedstock/fuel substitute for an integrated metals smelter,’ produced by PlasticsEurope in association with Umicore and the European Flame Retardants Association (EFRA), who all worked together to perform the tests.

PlasticsEurope; www.plasticseurope.org
Umicore; www.umicore.com
EFRA; www.cefic-efra.com