Cues to greater recycling efficiency-characterization of a crushed mobile phone by mineral liberation analysis

In 2016 more than 1.35 billion smartphones have been manufactured (TrendForce Corp. 2017). Smartphones can contain up to 60 different elements and the summarized metal weight of the 2016 production is very likely more than 50,000 tons (The Royal Society of Chemistry 2017, 911Metallurgist 2013). However, at present, very few of the elements contained in these devices are recycled at recycling rates of more than 50%. For most elements, the recycling rates are significantly lower than 50%, and the recycling rates of rare earths, indium, tantalum or gallium are even below 1% (Compound Interest 2015)! The major challenge of mobile phone recycling is the complex composition of the devices made of many individual components. This is aggravated by the fact that many elements occur in traces only and / or are located in highly complex material composites.
To enable more effective recycling of mobile phones, it is imperative to characterise their components, the presence of elements in it, as well as the crushing behaviour as detailed as possible.
In a pilot study, a Nokia mobile phone Model 5228 Type RM-625, crushed with a Universal Granulator UG300 by colleagues of the Professorship of recycling machines of the TU Bergakademie Freiberg, was examined by Mineral Liberation Analysis (MLA). The analysis on three sieve fractions of the comminuted material was carried out with an MLA 650F at the Helmholtz Institute Freiberg for Resource Technology. The samples were scanned in an automated MLA measurement with a grid of EDX spectra (GXMAP mode). A total of 130 different phases were detected during the analysis. More than 100 of these phases occur at levels <1 % by weight. This strongly illustrates the very complex composition of mobile phones and the need for detailed analytical characterisation. A comparison of the modal content of the three sieve fractions showed an enrichment of certain components in specific fractions.

References:

911Metallurgist (2013) - Mining & iPhone Recycling, [accessed 2017 Aug 15]. http://www.911metallurgist.com/mining-iphones/.
Compound Interest (2015) - The Recycling Rates of Smartphone Metals, [accessed 2017 Aug 15]. http://www.compoundchem.com/2015/09/15/recycling-phone-elements/.
The Royal Society of Chemistry (2017) - Getting the metals out of old phones, [accessed 2017 Aug 15]. https://www.chemistryworld.com/feature/smartphone-recycling/2500497.article.
TrendForce Corp. (2017) - Press Release. TrendForce Reports Global Smartphone Production Volume Totaled 1.36 Billion Units; Samsung Held On as Leader While OPPO and Vivo Burst into Global Top Five, [accessed 2017 Aug 15]. http://press.trendforce.com/node/view/2741.html.