Elements of E-Waste Processing FacilityOur proposed facility (Figure 4) will house several mechanical components including:• A feeding container for storing waste• Conveyors for transporting waste• Scaffoldings to provide pathways for our employees• Chemical vats for separation of material• Electromagnets to filter ferrous metals• Grinders to pulverize metals/plastics• Granulators to further process shredded materials• Hoppers for containing materials• Air filtration and ventilation system• Gravity tables for final separation• A controller to regulate nitrogen concentration in the

environment and to regulate temperature

Purpose and ScopeThere are many valuable metals inside electronics such as copper, nickel, gold, tungsten, steel and aluminum. There is also a market for the miscellaneous glass and plastic materials left over from the recycling process. It is feasible to generate a profit from recycling these devices, provided that it is done in an efficient manner.

We will be partnering with collection facilities, such as charities and non-profits, to obtain the end of life electronic devices. Our collection team will transport the devices to our facility where working components will be re-claimed and sold. The remaining waste is sent to our first conveyor system where recyclable materials are separated. Plastics and metals are sent to our processing system where they are ground, separated, and filtered. The particulates are then sold to smelting centers and plastic vendors.

Figure 4: CAD rendering of our proposed facility

Collection of ComponentsTransportation will be provided by our recycling facility in order to encourage business relations with collection centers such as dump sites. Our transportation services will increase profit margins to our collection partners, which will increase the volume of materials received by the recycling facility. Collection will require a sizable amount of transportation equipment. We will require semi-trailer trucks and employees licensed to operate the vehicles. Employees will also be required to load and organize incoming and outgoing materials. (Figure 3)

Initially the number of collection centers available to us will limit our collection process. As time progresses, we will be able to accumulate additional partners to increase the volume of processed material. Once we establish a sufficient number of partners, we intent to only collect from waste disposal facilities once a month depending on the number of collection centers available to us. This allows us to keep our employee count low and to ensure regular service with our partners - the worry being that if we commit to collecting waste more often than once a month, we may not be able to keep up with that commitment. As time goes on, we expect to increase the frequency of our pickups to as often as possible.

Figure 3: E-waste packaged onto palettes

Assembly LinesOur factory will have two assembly lines. The Inspection line will inspect computers for usability. Obsolete or unusable computers will be put in queue for the recycling line. Computers that are not visibly broken or outdated will undergo further testing. The other line will perform the actual recycling of plastic and metals. The end product will be finely ground materials separated through magnetic screening and air jets. The magnetic screening separates ferrous metals from non-ferrous metals and plastics. The air jet process varies air pressure to lift materials of different densities (plastics and metals). Because this air jet process is hard to contain we will also be using air filter systems to prevent inhalation of the finely ground materials.

Processing of Raw MaterialsFor our grinding method, we would like to use cryogenic fine grinding technology. (Figure 5) By using this method we will be able to produce finely ground materials at a size of about 200 microns. This is possible by cryogenically freezing the particles using liquid nitrogen. When the raw materials are at temperatures below their glass transition state they will be brittle enough to break into particles 100s of microns in diameter. A special grinding machine will be used to regulate temperature and use nitrogen to stabilize the environment. The benefits of this method are: smaller particle sizes, more uniform particle size distribution, efficient processing, process temperature control, and stable inertness.

Commonly when E-Waste is not recycled, they are either incinerated or dumped into landfills. Both of these disposal techniques have negative environmental impacts. Incineration releases carcinogens into the atmosphere such as polybrominated dibenzodioxins. When the E-Waste is dumped into landfills heavy metals leak into the ground water such as lead, beryllium, mercury & cadium. Exposure is known to cause neurological damage.

The ProblemAs technology advances the world is faced with the problem of electronic waste disposal. Up to 80% of the population in the U.S. owns a computer. These computers are estimated to reach their end of life within 3-5 years, and only 18% of the E-Waste in the U.S. is recycled. That means that of the 49 million computers discarded annually, only 10 million of those are recycled, and the remainder is disposed of in ways that are detrimental to neighboring populations and the environment.

Metal and plastic are non-renewable resources that are continually increasing in demand. Every computer that is not recycled drives up the demand for these materials and increases the cost to the consumer. If the materials were instead reclaimed then a large potential profit could be gained.Figure 1 depicts the amount of resources that could be reclaimed every year and also shows the size of the market pool for a recycling facility.

Figure 5: Cryogenic grinding system

The size of these particles will be perfect for recycling plants. The plants will use these particles for reformulating and reincorporating into products. This process is generally done through a molding process. Other plants will also be able to use the raw materials in extrusion techniques to make new products as well.

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Time and CostWe expect our facility to take approximately 2 years to complete. If we start construction immediately, we believe we can begin operations in December of 2012. Much of this time (approximately a year) will be devoted solely to construction of the facility, with preparation and staffing of the facility taking approximately six months each.

As shown in the figure to the right, we estimate that our facility will cost approximately $20 million dollars to complete, including salaries for the first year of operation. Costs here are estimated based off projects of similar size and magnitude, as well as construction quotes from several companies specializing in facility construction. Employee salaries and benefits are based off of a small, 50-person staff during the first year of operation.

Once operational, we estimate that our facility will generate approximately $2.5 million in profit a year. We expect to repay investors within 15 years (and provide returns on investment within 20).

http://www.airproducts.com/Products/Equipment/cryogenics/RubberAndPlastics/grinding.html

Figure 6: Analysis of costWho We AreDavid Li, a student in the mechanical engineering department at the University of Washington specializing in control systems (mechatronics). He will be able to manage the assembly lines to maintain efficiency and prevent downtimes. His experience with designing parts and managing projects will help with implementing the facility. Overseeing the contracting work will be James Truitt. His internship experience at TearLab, a start-up biotech company based out of San Diego, peaked his interest in electronics waste recycling due to the large amount of microfluidic chips and plastic components that had to be thrown away during the in-office testing of the device. John Willey, a student with a degree in Chemical Engineering with a specialization in nanoscience (ideal for milling small particles and theory of colloidal separation). He will be operating the plant as a process/plant/maintenance engineer. He has practical hands on experience in manufacturing settings from working at Boeing for 3 months, at one of the largest fabrication facilities in the North West.

Wayne Gerard, a student graduating with a B.S. in Computer Engineering and a B.A. in Chemistry. He will assist with both the electrical testing process and the extraction process. He has worked before in several high-end research labs, though admittedly Biological Science research labs, but which included working with electrical equipment and circuitry design.

References

Figure 1- Constructed with data courtesy of the EPA & London Metal Exchange

Figure 2- http://www.andrewmcconnell.com/index.php/category/rubbish-dump-2-0

Figure 3 – http://www.calrecycle.ca.gov

Figure 4 - http://www.tpatrituratori.com/Download-document/50-Full-Shredding-System-for-3.1-M.html

Figure 5 - http://www.airproducts.com/Products/Equipment/cryogenics/RubberAndPlastic/grinding.htm

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Figure 1: Electronic waste in the U.S. & reclaimable material from computers

Figure 2: E-Waste littered suburb in Ghana’s capital Accra