New Technique Transforms Electronic Waste Into Metals and Fuels

SEATTLE (Scrap Monster): Researchers at the Indian Institute of Technology, Delhi (IIT-Delhi) announced development of a new zero-waste technology to convert electronic waste into valuable metals and fuels.

The research is being funded by the Department of Science and Technology under the Government of India and is headed by K.K. Pant, professor and head of chemical engineering of the catalytic reaction engineering department.

The pyrolysis plant installed at the IIT-Delhi campus treats all categories of electronic waste. It uses a green process, which ensures that no toxic chemicals are released to the environment. The integrated approach provides an environment-friendly solution to deal with rising e-waste menace, said Pant.

The technique uses a three-step process. In the first step, e-waste is shredded to produce liquid fuel, combustible gases and a metal-rich solid residue. The second step processes the leftover solid residue to produce 90 to 95% pure metals mixture and some carbonaceous materials. The third step uses a roasting technique to recover individual metals such as copper, nickel, lead, zinc, silver and gold at extremely low temperature.

The project is titled ‘Self- Sustainable E-waste Recycling: Generating Wealth from Waste via Zero Discharge Technology’.

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