lcd panel recycling made in china

Industrial Technology Research Institute (ITRI) recieved a 2017 R&D 100 Award as well as a Merit in the Special Recognition: Green Tech category for the LCD Waste Recycling System. They were presented both awards at The R&D 100 Awards Gala held in Orlando, Florida on Nov. 17, 2017. See the full list of 2017 R&D 100 Award Winners here.

With more and more electronics in the home and the car featuring liquid-crystal display (LCD) screens, reducing the environmental impact once the devices are no longer used is crucial moving forward.

Research has repeatedly shown the harmfulness of the liquid crystal, indium and other heavy metals which LCD panels contain, but currently there is no suitable model for recycling these panels

Researchers from the Industrial Technology Research Institute (ITRI) are working to change that, developing a new LCD Waste Recycling System that is cost-effective, does not produce any waste and will allow manufacturers to save and reuse some of the valuable heavy metals used to create LCD panels. ITRI received a 2017 R&D 100 Award for the technology at the R&D 100 Awards Gala held in Orlando, Florida on Nov. 17, 2017. At the same event, ITRI also received a Merit in the Special Recognition: Green Tech category for its LCD Waste Recycling System.

“LCD panels, which are only a few millimeters thick, contain over ten kinds of materials, making their disposal and recycling especially difficult,” Chien-Wei said. “We thoroughly analyzed the characteristics and reusability of each material contained in LCD panels, and designed a logical separation procedure according to the associations between each material, first separating liquid crystal, indium, and glass, and then developing purification technology for each material which enables the reuse of these materials.”

The method begins with a panel-smashing system that shatters the LCD panel, exposing the liquid crystal. The separated LCD panel then enters the continuous liquid crystal extraction system and an agent that can be used on multiple cycles extracts the liquid crystal. The liquid crystal is exposed on the surface of the glass substrate, enabling the system to shorten the processing time by integrating the extraction and purification functions.

The impurity is removed by a salt adsorption method. After the liquid crystal has been removed, the panel fragments enter the indium extraction system and an agent is used repeatedly as a scrub to enable the removal of the indium from the panel fragment.

Extracting liquid crystal from waste LCD panel achieves a nearly 100 percent liquid crystal recovery rate and a 90 percent recovery rate of indium. The process could reduce the production of new liquid crystal, lessening the environmental impact.

“Treating waste LCD panels with this system can transform the panels’ material [liquid crystals, indium, and glass] into valuable, reusable products, not only increasing profits but effectively reducing the production of waste material,” Chien-Wei said.

“The liquid crystals with halogen-substituted aromatics are designed and synthesized for LCD,” Chein-Wei said. “Their production process and their final disposal both cause severe health and environmental impacts. However, people cannot get this information.

“Waste LCD panels are generally disposed of in landfills or by incineration in most countries, due to lack of proper environmental regulation. Without strict environmental regulation, it is difficult to promote new disposal method.”

Current treatment technologies disassemble LCD devices into multiple components and recycle them according to their materials. However, there is no model for treating LCD panels.

To physically process the panels, the panels must be broken down and then added to cement or concrete, which does not remove liquid crystals, indium, tin and molybdenum from the panels. Therefore, the liquid crystals and heavy metals could still enter the environment following rain or washing.

This has led to an increasing number of countries, including Hong Kong and China, to label LCD panels as hazardous waste. This requires future processing of LCD panel waste to be buried on-site, burnt or physically disposed, which increases both the processing costs and the environmental damage.

To test the new technology, ITRI has built a pilot plant that can treat three tons of LCD panel waste per day, producing three kilograms of liquid crystal, 750 grams of indium, and about 2550 kilograms of glass, which can be reused as green construction material or heavy-metal adsorption material.

Like millions of Chinese people, Sun Wenzhou and Chen Leifeng like to upgrade their mobile phones regularly. But, unable to find an official recycling centre, they used to wonder what to do with their old devices. The two Fudan University graduates and internet entrepreneurs think they’ve found the answer in a website trading old cellphones and computers.

Three years ago they founded Aihuishou.com (meaning “love recycling”), China’s first competitive customer-to-business ecommerce site focused on electronic products such as mobile phones and laptops. The site has its own logistics staff, who collect the used devices. Recycling firms then bid to buy them in batches, before processing the items for recycling or disassembling them as electronic waste.

“Users tell us about the state of their phone online or over the phone, and we estimate a price. In Beijing and Shanghai we can have someone visit to assess the phone, elsewhere you can post it in. We do some simple tests and an approved recycling firm assesses it, before we discuss a final price with the customer. Once it’s all agreed, they get the funds right away.”

Competitor sites have since sprung up, but Aihuishou’s model has so far allowed it to keep them at bay. The key is the competitive bidding by recycling companies.

The second-hand phone trade in Chinese cities has tended to be inefficient, as street traders buy in phones one by one, in varying conditions. By working with Aihuishou.com, recycling companies can obtain reliable and tested devices, while the phone’s original owner gets the best price. The phones are sent to legitimate companies for recycling, to be disassembled, or for metals processing. Mobile phone recycling, until now scattered around China’s cities, is being brought onto a single ecommerce platform.

“We’ve got over 20 recycling companies registered, each quoting a price. We take those prices and do the deal at the best one,” explained Yuan Guoquan, the company’s chief media officer.

For a 16-gigabyte iPhone 4S that’s fully functional and in good condition, Aihuishou will currently offer around 1,300 yuan. Two other recycling sites chosen at random, Taolu and Huishouquan, offered just 977 yuan and 580 yuan respectively. Traders on the street offer less than 500 yuan.

The street traders often take a blunt approach to recycling: reusable components are stripped out and the rest is dumped or burned, spreading the amount of electronic waste and making further processing more difficult.

In 2004, China’s economic planning body the National Development and Reform Commission launched trials of recycling systems for domestic appliances and electronics in Zhejiang province and Qingdao city. But televisions, refrigerators, washing machines, air conditioners and computers made up the bulk of the items recycled. That’s also the case in most of China’s electronic waste recycling firms – they don’t do phones.

In mid-2012, the Shanghai Central Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment Recycling Co. ran a promotion collecting 1,500 mobile phones over four months. But chinadialogue learned that the owners had to pay to have their phones collected. And no phones currently feature in the daily lists of recycled goods on the company’s website.

But there is plenty of business out there and China’s electronics recycling firms are becoming more interested in mobile phones, said Yuan. “Aihuishou is currently going all out, and we’re sure future markets will be even bigger.”

RMW8G3WX–Chinese workers disaassemble discarded CRT TV sets at an electronic wastes recycling factory in Fuqing city, southeast China"s Fujian province, 21 Apr

RMW6APMD–--FILE--Chinese employees are seen at a stall of Aihuishou.com, one of China"s largest electronics recycling platforms, in Guangzhou city, south China

RMW6APCT–--FILE--View of the stand of Aihuishou.com, one of China"s largest electronics recycling platforms, during an exhibition in Shanghai, China, 29 June 2

RMW6AJDH–--FILE--People visit the stand of Aihuishou.com, one of China"s largest electronics recycling platforms, during an exhibition in Shanghai, China, 29 J

RMW6AMYT–--FILE--A Chinese man has his mobile phone recycled at a stall of Aihuishou.com, one of China"s largest electronics recycling platforms, in Shanghai,

RM2E62MW4–CD players for recycling are seen at a workshop in the township of Guiyu in China"s southern Guangdong province June 9, 2015. The town of Guiyu in the economic powerhouse of Guangdong province in China has long been known as one of the world’s largest electronic waste dump sites. At its peak, some 5,000 workshops in the village recycle 15,000 tonnes of waste daily including hard drives, mobile phones, computer screens and computers shipped in from across the world. Many of the workers, however, work in poorly ventilated workshops with little protective gear, prying open discarded electronics w

RM2CN4HW9–Parts of a computer are seen at a recycling facility of Re-Tem Corp in Tokyo October 15, 2010. Re-Tem Corp researches and develops the recycling of rare earth metals vital to the production of electronics. Japanese high-tech companies face higher input costs for rare earth metals as dominant supplier China curbs exports. REUTERS/Toru Hanai (JAPAN - Tags: BUSINESS ENVIRONMENT)

RMW6AJ52–--FILE--A Chinese man has his mobile phone recycled at a stall of Aihuishou.com, one of China"s largest electronics recycling platforms, in Shanghai,

RM2D09NXJ–A worker disassembles a computer at a recycling facility of Re-Tem Corp in Tokyo October 15, 2010. Re-Tem Corp researches and develops the recycling of rare earth metals vital to the production of electronics. Japanese high-tech companies face higher input costs for rare earth metals as dominant supplier China curbs exports. REUTERS/Toru Hanai (JAPAN - Tags: BUSINESS ENVIRONMENT)

RMW8DRM2–Two Chinese workers talk in front of piles of discarded desktop computers to be disassembled and recycled at an electronic wastes recycling factory in

RM2CR14PF–CPU chips are seen at a recycling facility of Re-Tem Corp in Tokyo October 15, 2010. Re-Tem Corp researches and develops the recycling of rare earth metals vital to the production of electronics. Japanese high-tech companies face higher input costs for rare earth metals as dominant supplier China curbs exports. REUTERS/Toru Hanai (JAPAN - Tags: BUSINESS ENVIRONMENT)

RMW8G3R8–Two Chinese workers talk in front of piles of discarded desktop computers to be disassembled and recycled at an electronic wastes recycling factory in

RM2D0J5X9–A worker disassembles a computer at a recycling facility of Re-Tem Corp in Tokyo October 15, 2010. Re-Tem Corp researches and develops the recycling of rare earth metals vital to the production of electronics. Japanese high-tech companies face higher input costs for rare earth metals as dominant supplier China curbs exports. REUTERS/Toru Hanai (JAPAN - Tags: BUSINESS ENVIRONMENT)

RMW8G3WY–A Chinese worker poses in front of piles of discarded CRT TV sets to be disassembled and recycled at an electronic wastes recycling factory in Fuqing

RM2CWNFPB–A worker holds one of scrap mobile phones, at a recycling facility of Re-Tem Corp, in Tokyo October 15, 2010. Re-Tem Corp researches and develops the recycling of rare earth metals vital to the production of electronics. Japanese high-tech companies face higher input costs for rare earth metals as dominant supplier China curbs exports. REUTERS/Toru Hanai (JAPAN - Tags: BUSINESS ENVIRONMENT)

RMW8G3TR–A Chinese worker watches discarded CRT TV sets unloaded from a truck before they are disassembled and recycled at an electronic wastes recycling facto

RM2CYTW1G–A worker holds parts of a scrap mobile phone, at a recycling facility of Re-Tem Corp, in Tokyo October 15, 2010. Re-Tem Corp researches and develops the recycling of rare earth metals vital to the production of electronics. Japanese high-tech companies face higher input costs for rare earth metals as dominant supplier China curbs exports. REUTERS/Toru Hanai (JAPAN - Tags: BUSINESS ENVIRONMENT)

RM2D23R91–A sales clerk adjusts used liquid crystal (LCD) displays for computers at a store in Tokyo Fenruary 8, 2007. Indium is used to make indium tin oxide (ITO), a thin film applied to the glass used in LCD televisions and computer flat screens. Japan will be able satisfy its robust appetite for indium -- despite falling exports from global top producer China -- by drawing on additional supplies from South Korea and through recycling, industry sources said. REUTERS/Issei Kato (JAPAN)

RMW8G3WH–A Chinese worker poses in front of piles of discarded CRT TV sets to be disassembled and recycled at an electronic wastes recycling factory in Fuqing

RMW8G3R9–A Chinese worker drinks water in front of a pile of discarded CRT displays to be disassembled and recycled at an electronic wastes recycling factory i

RMW8D9GT–Chinese workers pile up discarded CRT TV sets to be disassembled and recycled at an electronic wastes recycling factory in Fuqing city, southeast Chin

RMW8G3W0–Chinese workers pile up discarded CRT TV sets to be disassembled and recycled at an electronic wastes recycling factory in Fuqing city, southeast Chin

RMW8G3X0–Chinese workers unload discarded CRT TV sets to be disassembled and recycled from a truck at an electronic wastes recycling factory in Fuqing city, so

RMW8G3TW–A Chinese worker drives a forklift past piles of discarded CRT TV sets to be disassembled and recycled at an electronic wastes recycling factory in Fu

RMW8G3T9–Chinese workers disaassemble discarded CRT TV sets at an electronic wastes recycling factory in Fuqing city, southeast China"s Fujian province, 21 Apr

RMW8G3RX–Chinese workers process cathode ray tubes from discarded CRT TV sets at an electronic wastes recycling factory in Fuqing city, southeast China"s Fujia

RMW952RF–Chinese workers disassemble outdated TV sets at an electronics recycling station in Neijiang city, southwest Chinas Sichuan province, 7 December 2012.

Consumer Electronics Recycling Act establishes a statewide system for recycling and/or reusing a set of electronic devices that are unwanted by Illinois residents. The electronics manufacturers are required to participate in the management of these devices.

Electronics can be hazardous when disposed of improperly, and the Basel Action Network, or BAN, investigates the underground world of the e-waste trade. The nonprofit group secretly embeds trackers in discarded devices, then hands them to recyclers to see where they end up, exposing bad practices in the process. After dropping bugged LCD monitors in Oregon, they followed along as the trackers traced a circuitous route through the summer of 2015 and into the fall.

Zirkle, who had a taste for working with numbers, found work recycling refrigerators, and after meeting Lorch, the two launched a recycling business called Total Reclaim in 1991. At first, Total Reclaim handled refrigerators and other appliances, but over time, found that they’d established a niche, helping governments and businesses take care of e-waste that was difficult to dispose of responsibly.

“I knew one of them fairly well. It was Craig Lorch,” says Jason Linnell, executive director of the National Center for Electronics Recycling. “He was active in a lot of state discussions in Oregon and Washington and nationally.”

The recycling process was complex. Customers dropped off hauls of electronics — keyboards, mice, laptops, copy machines, whatever they had with a cord — and Total Reclaim workers screened them for reuse, wiping hard drives and moving the products along to new buyers.

Puckett remembers getting involved with Total Reclaim in the 2000s, as BAN investigated e-waste exports and interviewed recyclers on their practices. “A lot of doors got slammed in our researcher’s face and the only one that would talk to us was Craig Lorch of Total Reclaim,” he says. As BAN kept working on e-waste issues, Total Reclaim became the nonprofit’s shining example. The company signed on to a responsible e-waste recycling pledge developed by BAN, and later signed on to a certification program, called e-Stewards, that included regular audits, saying they would always recycle responsibly.

Total Reclaim grew into a fixture in the community, and in the process, Puckett and Lorch grew close. Puckett says he took Lorch’s advice on issues, brought Total Reclaim into internal meetings, and if a reporter interested in e-waste dropped in, he’d offer them Total Reclaim as an example of how to do e-waste recycling the right way.

BAN, meanwhile, took up the tracker program, scoring some major successes in the process, and in 2015, they started work on another report, this time handing over LCD monitors in Oregon. BAN would offer small companies the monitors for recycling, with plans to see where they ultimately traveled. It didn’t take long to see waste moving from those recyclers to Total Reclaim, which worked with the smaller businesses. But instead of being recycled domestically, the trackers showed the waste flowing to Hong Kong.

Electronics have a host of toxic materials inside of them, and researchers have carefully cataloged the damage they can cause when disassembled. Consider LCD monitors with mercury that, when smashed, can form a toxin that can damage a person’s organs and nervous system. Cathode-ray tubes contain lead, which can poison an ecosystem’s microorganisms. Cadmium, which is used in computer batteries and circuit boards, has been linked to skeletal deformities in animals.

There have been just a few federal prosecutions over e-waste exporting, as prosecutors accuse recyclers of crimes like fraud and obstruction, and the Basel Action Network seems to have had a hand in all of them. In 2016, an Illinois recycling executive was arrested for sending toxic e-waste to landfills or reselling it to other buyers, following a BAN report. Earlier this year, he was sentenced to three years in prison, after pleading guilty to tax evasion and fraud. BAN, working with 60 Minutesin 2008,also exposed a recycler called Executive Recycling that was secretly exporting e-waste. Company executives eventually reached plea agreements with prosecutors on fraud charges.

But how shouldthe recycling system work? What does a responsible world look like? When I ask Puckett, he gives a surprising answer. “Let’s put it this way: it’s not supposed to work,” he says. “This equipment was never designed to be recycled, which is why we have such problems.”

When he made it to Hong Kong, Puckett’s plan involved telling “a little white lie.” In the past, he had pretended to be a professor researching recycling. That hadn’t worked out so well. This time, along with a TV crew, Puckett posed as an electronics buyer, banging on the doors of makeshift recycling compounds in Hong Kong until someone let him through. “We were very good at getting in, because we learned that in China, money talks, and if you say you’re there to buy equipment, you can get in,” he says.

Inside the work sites, Puckett drudged through mountains of printers, circuit boards, and LCD screens. The working conditions were horrendous. In the video, produced by PBS, a translator can be seen asking workers whether they wear any masks. They didn’t, despite handling potentially poisonous tubes of mercury. One worker said he had no idea the tubes were dangerous.

Total Reclaim had sold the LCD monitors to a third-party shipping company, which then sent them overseas. Stratton and prosecutors pulled documents from that company, along with Total Reclaim, and pored over it all.

Still, the hesitancy wasn’t just about abstract issues of justice, either. It was personal for Puckett. People in the recycling industry and in the community continued to support Total Reclaim, reasoning that Lorch and Zirkle had learned their lesson and would keep doing good work. As part of the sentencing hearing, they produced reams of signed letters explaining what their lives and careers had meant.

The company recently brought in a new CEO, Bobby Farris, who says they may exit the electronics recycling business entirely. “I’m fine not participating in that business,” he says.

Andrew Shute, the president of Friendly Earth, tells me they ship thousands of pounds of e-waste daily for “downstream” recycling, where other businesses pick up the material and dispose of it, breaking it down safely. Despite the massive haul of electronics passing through, he describes the business as “boutique.” There were other operations out there that might cut corners when dealing with even larger amounts of waste.

In August, BAN set me up to find out. At the nonprofit’s offices, I was led through the disassembly of an LCD monitor. A BAN staffer expertly removed the back casing, cut a green circuit board in two, and slid a tracker inside. An email address affixed to the front let anyone who found it know how to get in touch with the nonprofit.