How to Recover Steel From Electronic Waste

All electronic products are made with a combination of steel, glass and plastic materials. The combination of these materials allows manufactures to supply consumers with inexpensive products that meet their needs. These types of products are very popular with consumers, but are not biodegradable. Certain materials from electronic waste can be separated and recovered for use in other products, thus reducing waste in our landfills.

Instructions

Difficulty: Easy

1. Set up a processing workstation to allow consumers to drop off their electronic waste. These workstations should be located at or near waste stations or recycling depots.
2. Hire and train material recovery workers on the correct method to evaluate and assess equipment for suitability for material recovery. Workers must be trained in determining potential hazards, level of damage and potential for repair as well as safe handling procedures and identification of different types of materials.
3. Test equipment to determine if it can be repaired and reused. If the equipment can be repaired, send it to a local college or trade school as teaching materials. All equipment that fails this test is sent for disassemble.
4. Separate the electronic product by undoing all the screws and fasteners. Separate plastic, steel and CRTs into bins for further processing and recovery.
5. Send steel parts to a steel plant to clean and melt the parts for use as a composite steel product. High heat and pressure are required to recover steel. Special skills and equipment are necessary.

Tips & Warnings

• Check federal and state laws on recovery and recycling operations before you being. This industry is highly regulated and it is critical that all laws and safety guidelines are followed.

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