Recycling Unit Research paper
On a daily basis, most members of the human population spend large quantities of time using their smartphones and various other types of technology. Whether it is for a job, to text a friend, play a game, watch a video, make a movie, or something else. Technology plays an integral role in most of our lives. But what is a smartphone made of? How does our collective consumption of technology affect the environment? To answer these questions and more, we looked into the mining process for copper and other metals in our phones, as well as the recycling process for those metals, and how these processes affect the environment.
Although there are numerous rare metals in smartphones, we chose to focus on copper due to how widespread its use is in electronics. Copper has been mined and used by humans since ancient times. Coppers malleable, ductile and conductive properties make it ideal for electrical and technological products. An average desktop computer contains 1.5 kilograms of copper because copper can be alloyed so easily, it’s made even more common. There are about 570 copper alloys and about 95% of all copper that has been mined was mined after 1900. The technological advancements during the industrial revolution allowed for copper to be mined more easily, this created a large increase in copper production. As the worldwide demand for copper has continued to rise over time, technology has become more advanced, allowing the world's copper demand to be met. At first, copper ore is removed from the open pit mines, the ore gets crushed and roasted, converting sulfides to oxides. The oxides are smelted into matte, which continues to go through a few more refining processes before it is used. Similarly to copper ore, the waste(tailings) produced while mining copper must be treated before it can be disposed of. The treating process includes, leaching, solvent extraction, milling, physical separation and smelting, the iron-rich copper waste contains zinc, cobalt, and lead. There are four different types of leaching done to make copper safe, chemical leaching, in-situ leaching, dump leaching, and heap leaching. Dump leaching uses gravity to make the leach solution flow through the dump pile and into a pond constructed to collect it at the bottom of the dump. A large amount of copper waste is due to copper, on average making up only 25-30% of the ore that is mined. Mining and processing copper creates more waste than any other metal. When the copper-bearing rocks are chemically leached, weak acids leach through them; which dissolves any copper and radionuclides that exist in the soil. In-situ leaching is the same process, but it is done before the ore is removed from the mine. Heap leaching is similar but done on a specially designed pad. Next, the tailings are sent to a solvent extraction plant to remove the tailings, this is a two-step process. The first step consists of mixing the tailings with an organic solvent that selectively binds to copper, now the copper can be physically separated from the rest of the tailings. The barren solution known as raffinate is transported back to a copper mine to be used as a leaching solution. Higher-grade copper ores are further milled, extracted copper is sent to a smelter. The liquid waste is then further processed into a safe chemical state to dispose of. It is not uncommon for soil around copper mines to be radioactive due to naturally occurring uranium, thorium, and radium that gets exposed during the copper mining process. Some copper mines are more radioactive than others, this depends on the regional geology, mineral assemblage and geologic formations present around the mine. Due to the way copper naturally occurs as an ore, it has a low capacity for use, but since it has such valuable properties, obtaining copper is worth the time and money that it takes. Recycling copper is, luckily a more common and easier process than recycling most goods. Copper has been recycled for millennia, in the middle ages, it was common that after a war, the winning team would melt down the losers bronze cannons, bronze is a copper alloy. Because of coppers unique properties and difficult mining process, it is cost efficient and time efficient to recycle copper, which is why it is such a good idea to recycle our old electronics. One could travel to a vast majority of places around the world where mobile phones are very relevant, and a lot of these people that own smartphones can’t conduct their average day to day work without it. According to CNN reports “205 million people in the US alone use a smartphone.” The use of smartphones has been rapidly growing, the average lifespan of a smartphone in developed countries is roughly around two years because of the initial costs and that statistics are rapidly shrinking. Thus meaning there is a massive amount of mobile phones being thrown away every day. This issue has led to e-waste (Electronic Waste) being the world’s fastest growing waste material. First off smartphones contain hazardous chemicals, for example, the circuit boards in cell phones contain myriad toxins such as arsenic, antimony, beryllium, cadmium, copper, lead, nickel, and zinc which can have a harmful effect on humans. These smartphones are being thrown into landfills that could lead to environmental damage because of all the chemicals they contain can leach into groundwater systems and have a toll on local ecosystems and potentially drinking water. Secondly, the amount of material being thrown away is a massive waste of resources because of the specific rare metals. Even though your phone is not that big and won't contain a lot of these specific metals, the total amount of consumption is tremendous. In facts, one full ton of smartphones can contain up to 300 grams of gold. Smartphones batteries also contain a lot of useful material that can be recycled. The batteries contain a very useful amount of copper as well as cadmium. This fall Apple dropped there new iPhone 8s and X’s, hitting the shelves and putting into motion the smartphone funeral. Roughly 1.5 billion phones are sold a year which means as soon as the new enters the old exits. Stuffing old phones into junk drawers and other boxes or simply just throwing them away. Thus leading to the landfill issue of toxic runoff leaching into soils. So now it comes to the point where you, the reader is saying “yeah I'll recycle my next smartphone” to avoid guilt you take your phone to a recycling center where you drop it off so you can get that responsible eco-friendly feeling… But what happens after? The process is complex and in a lot of ways, far from eco-friendly. When electronics are past the point of no return they are sent away to a process plant where they get sent through powerful shredding machines. Once the metal components are by themselves they get sold and shipped off to a handful of registered smelters. A small amount of the melted down metals are recovered, but the large majority of the remaining material is left to burn, releasing chloride, mercury, and several other vapors into the atmosphere creating more greenhouse gasses. Overall when it comes down to it smelting is still considered the “good” option, because the alternatives are far worse. So now our fate lies in the future, lies in a shift of perspective we’ll have to rely on manufacturers to have reusability in mind. With huge successful companies like Apple, Samsung, and Google. The competition is rising fast. With new models and versions of smartphones coming out yearly, this is causing millions of people to throw away their old phones. A majority of these phones are ending up in landfills. These phones are polluting the earth’s soil and nearby water supplies. A single battery from a phone can contaminate a large area of soil and can contaminate 600,000 liters of water with chemicals such as cadmium and mercury. Cell phones and PDA’s (personal digital assistants) contain the earth’s most precious elements such as gold, copper, palladium. Recycling or reusing phones or PDA’s not only conserves these metals, but also reduces the amount of air pollution, water pollution, and greenhouse gas emissions. Most of the time, recycled metals and batteries from old phones can be used to make new products. The metals can be used for jewelry, automotive manufacturing, and other electronics. The next time you get a new cell phone, don't discard your old one or toss it into a drawer where it will just gather dust. Recycle your old cell phone or, if the cell phone and its accessories are still in good working order, consider donating them to a program that will either sell them to benefit a worthy charity or offer them to someone less fortunate. Some recycling programs also work with schools or community organizations to collect cell phones as fundraising ventures. Even Apple themselves will take back your old iPhone and recycle or reuse it through its Renew program. In 2015, Apple recycled 90 million pounds of electronic waste. By doing this they recovered 23 million lbs of steel, 13 million lbs of plastic, and almost 12 million lbs of glass. Some of the recovered materials have very high value. In 2015 only Apple recovered 2.9 million lbs of copper, 6612 lbs of silver, and 2204 lbs of gold. The markets for refurbished cell phones extend far beyond U.S. borders, providing modern communication technology to people in developing nations who would otherwise find it unaffordable. In conclusion through our research, e-waste and copper mining are some of the most harmful polluters in the world. Several types of hazardous materials are hurting the soil and the water supplies. If we can just recycle or reuse our phones we can save more than what we take. If one battery from one phone can charge a laptop for 40 hours, imagine one thousand or even one million batteries being refurbished. It is also very easy to sell, recycle, or reuse a phone. There are several companies and programs made for this crisis. |
Self Reflection
Throughout my research on the process of recycling copper and other valuable metals in smartphones, I have come to a conclusion on how the chemical composition and structure of these specific metals determine its properties with regard to there use, the capacity of reuse and the capacity of recycling. While I started exploring this subject, I went straight to the process of breaking down the materials. Once the smartphone is discarded and sent away to shredding machines where they can obtain pure metal components and smelt them down. A small amount of the melted down metals are recovered, but the large majority of the remaining material is left to burn, releasing chloride, mercury, and several other vapors into the atmosphere creating more greenhouse gasses. So, in the long run, there is no “eco-friendly” way to recycle your smartphone.
The choices we make as consumers can have a tremendous effect on the way we live, locally and globally. For example, purchasing the new Apple product upgrade and disposing the old phone in the trash or at a local recycling center can lead to ending up in a landfill. Phones are polluting soil and nearby water supplies which will have a negative effect on your local ecosystem. Instead, you could replace your screen and battery at a local phone doctor business and shop locally to support your local economy
Starting this project I felt very lost and under a lot of pressure for our upcoming exhibition, but after getting group members insights and coming up with a final product I felt less stress. I researched the entire process of “trying to” recycle the valuable metals in smartphones and found that a lot of material is wasted in the process. I also gained a lot of new knowledge on this global crisis that is underestimated. Gaining new skills like creating paper from scratch and developing better research paper writing skills.
I believe that the grade I earn after this project would have to fall under 80 percent range and here is why. While going through this process I reflected on my new understanding of our recycling content as well as the skills I took in during class. I explored several solutions to our issue and used innovative thinking during my research. My work is a good looking final product I can be proud of while also demonstrating an understanding of my content. I completed my work in an average matter for being on such a short timeline. But if I were to achieve further excellence I would need for time and more passionate effort.
The choices we make as consumers can have a tremendous effect on the way we live, locally and globally. For example, purchasing the new Apple product upgrade and disposing the old phone in the trash or at a local recycling center can lead to ending up in a landfill. Phones are polluting soil and nearby water supplies which will have a negative effect on your local ecosystem. Instead, you could replace your screen and battery at a local phone doctor business and shop locally to support your local economy
Starting this project I felt very lost and under a lot of pressure for our upcoming exhibition, but after getting group members insights and coming up with a final product I felt less stress. I researched the entire process of “trying to” recycle the valuable metals in smartphones and found that a lot of material is wasted in the process. I also gained a lot of new knowledge on this global crisis that is underestimated. Gaining new skills like creating paper from scratch and developing better research paper writing skills.
I believe that the grade I earn after this project would have to fall under 80 percent range and here is why. While going through this process I reflected on my new understanding of our recycling content as well as the skills I took in during class. I explored several solutions to our issue and used innovative thinking during my research. My work is a good looking final product I can be proud of while also demonstrating an understanding of my content. I completed my work in an average matter for being on such a short timeline. But if I were to achieve further excellence I would need for time and more passionate effort.