Sustainable e-waste recycling: environmental impact assessment of novel waste PCBs separation

Recycling of electronic waste has gained attention as a valuable source of precious metals, requiring less effort than conventional mining. Recycling printed circuit boards (PCBs) is particularly challenging due to environmental issues, with bromine emissions being a major concern. This study assesses the environmental impact of a developed separation process through which the epoxy resin having brominated flame retardants is isolated from waste PCBs, reducing bromine emission and increasing metal concentration in the downstream metals recovery processes. Results show that although the developed separation process increases the cumulative energy demand by 17% compared to traditional electronic waste separation methods, incorporating downstream processes like epoxy pyrolysis into the system boundary can mitigate these higher impacts and provide additional benefits. This study presents a sustainable recycling for electronic waste, potentially enhancing materials recovery and reducing toxic emissions.