Process optimization for acidic leaching of rare earth elements (REE) from waste electrical and electronic equipment (WEEE)

Ayse Yuksekdag; Borte Kose-Mutlu; Bihter Zeytuncu-Gokoglu; Mustafa Kumral; Mark R. Wiesner; Ismail Koyuncu

doi:10.1007/s11356-021-16207-0

Process optimization for acidic leaching of rare earth elements (REE) from waste electrical and electronic equipment (WEEE)

Ayse Yuksekdag
, Borte Kose-Mutlu^*
, Bihter Zeytuncu-Gokoglu
, Mustafa Kumral
, Mark R. Wiesner
, Ismail Koyuncu^*

^*Corresponding author for this work

Duke Univ.

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

24 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

E-waste (EW) from discarded electrical and electronic devices is a potential source of rare earth elements (REEs) that might be recovered from urban and industrial wastes. REEs are essential raw materials for emerging and high technologies. China currently dominates global REE production with a proportion of 97%. To increase the independence of REE supply and eliminate the environmental impacts related to REE mining, methods for an efficient REE recovery from secondary sources like EW are needed. In this work, we examine improvements in pre-treatment and acidic leaching processes to recover REEs and other valuable metals. EW was crushed and ground prior to the sieving. The materials obtained were then subjected to acid leaching. The parameters used to optimize the conditions for leaching were as follows: acid type (HCl, HNO₃, and aqua regia), particle size, and waste-to-acid ratio. The maximum leaching efficiency was obtained from the ground, sieved, and undersized part of e-waste by using HCl with a W:A of 12.5 mg/mL. The total REE concentration was 435 mg/kg. Several treatment scenarios are identified with promise for improving REE recovery at full scale in EW recovery plants and thereby advancing goals for a sustainable, circular economy.

Original language	English
Pages (from-to)	7772-7781
Number of pages	10
Journal	Environmental Science and Pollution Research
Volume	29
Issue number	5
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1007/s11356-021-16207-0
Publication status	Published - Jan 2022

Bibliographical note

Publisher Copyright:
© 2021, The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer-Verlag GmbH Germany, part of Springer Nature.

Funding

This study was financially supported by The Scientific and Technological Research Council of Turkey (TUBITAK) under Project No. 117Y357 and Istanbul Technical University (ITU) Scientific Research Project (Project ID: 41893).

Funders	Funder number
TUBITAK	117Y357
Türkiye Bilimsel ve Teknolojik Araştirma Kurumu
Istanbul Teknik Üniversitesi	41893

UN SDGs

This output contributes to the following UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)

SDG 9 Industry, Innovation, and Infrastructure
SDG 11 Sustainable Cities and Communities
SDG 12 Responsible Consumption and Production

Keywords

Acidic leaching
E-waste
Precious elements
Rare earth elements
Recovery

Access to Document

10.1007/s11356-021-16207-0

Cite this

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title = "Process optimization for acidic leaching of rare earth elements (REE) from waste electrical and electronic equipment (WEEE)",

abstract = "E-waste (EW) from discarded electrical and electronic devices is a potential source of rare earth elements (REEs) that might be recovered from urban and industrial wastes. REEs are essential raw materials for emerging and high technologies. China currently dominates global REE production with a proportion of 97\%. To increase the independence of REE supply and eliminate the environmental impacts related to REE mining, methods for an efficient REE recovery from secondary sources like EW are needed. In this work, we examine improvements in pre-treatment and acidic leaching processes to recover REEs and other valuable metals. EW was crushed and ground prior to the sieving. The materials obtained were then subjected to acid leaching. The parameters used to optimize the conditions for leaching were as follows: acid type (HCl, HNO3, and aqua regia), particle size, and waste-to-acid ratio. The maximum leaching efficiency was obtained from the ground, sieved, and undersized part of e-waste by using HCl with a W:A of 12.5 mg/mL. The total REE concentration was 435 mg/kg. Several treatment scenarios are identified with promise for improving REE recovery at full scale in EW recovery plants and thereby advancing goals for a sustainable, circular economy.",

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AU - Zeytuncu-Gokoglu, Bihter

AU - Kumral, Mustafa

AU - Wiesner, Mark R.

AU - Koyuncu, Ismail

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KW - Recovery

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Process optimization for acidic leaching of rare earth elements (REE) from waste electrical and electronic equipment (WEEE)

Abstract

Bibliographical note

Funding

UN SDGs

Keywords

Access to Document

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