Pyrolysis of Printed Circuit Board Waste With the Addition of Certain Common Waste Materials

Abstract

Every year in Europe, 8.7 million tons of electronic waste is produced, with annual electrical and electronic equipment waste (WEEE) generated in Turkey at 539,000 tons. Most of the WEEE is comprised of printed circuit boards (PCB). Among the special contents of PCB, brominated epoxy resins used as flame retardant require particular attention for Br. Pyrolysis, which would be a useful method for PCB recycling into valuable products. In addition, PCB pyrolysis products, especially pyrolytic oil, could not be directly used because of their Br content of brominated phenols. This study focuses on PCB pyrolysis using different additive materials (waste clay, construction and demolition waste or C&DW and zeolite), monitoring their effects on pyrolysis yields and also Br-transfer. Solid product was separated into its three components; copper, glass fiber and residue. According to the results, additive materials had no effect on pyrolysis product yield; however, C&DW and zeolite had an effective role on Br-capture onto the glass fiber part of the pyrolysis solid products. Additionally, high heating values and low PAH concentrations were found in liquid products obtained from the same pyrolysis batch. On the other hand, the waste clay did not show considerable effect on the Br- capture on the solid product.