Microwave assisted pyrolysis of residual fractions of waste electrical and electronics equipment

The generation of waste electrical and electronic equipment (WEEE) is large and rapidly increasing, and even though WEEE is recycled today there are still valuable residues left after recycling, ending up in landfills. This paper shows how microwave pyrolysis can be a plausible way to recycle the residues. Six different fractions (from light dust to particles sized 7–12 mm) of landfill waste were analysed and pyrolysed. The process was successful producing oil, gas and a solid residue, and the mass reduction was determined as a function of process time. Mass reduction seemed to be rather stable, independent of the temperature scatter during pyrolysis and a substantial reduction was observed for all of the materials. The major part of mass reduction was observed in the heating phase already above 100 °C, and the heating rate was slower for the particulate materials.

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► Electronic waste successfully upgraded during recycling by microwave pyrolysis.
► Mass reduction stable, independent of temperature variation during pyrolysis.
► Mass reduction started already above 100 °C.
► Structure of e-waste important, dust pyrolysed quicker.