Project description
A better recycling technique for dangerous e-waste
Waste electrical and electronic equipment (WEEE) is one of the fastest growing waste streams in the EU. As part of the WEEE, the waste printed circuit board (WPCB) contains substances that pose considerable environmental and health risks if treated inadequately. It is also a rich resource for various kinds of materials. This requires the separation of valuable elements, which involves a pyrometallurgical approach. The EU-funded PCBIS project is developing an alternative electrochemical technology for the separation of metals and the volatilisation of plastics. It is not large scale, allowing for the development of a diffuse network of industrial sites all across Europe. Compared to current methods, it also reduces the use of fossil fuels and greenhouse gases.
Objective
In 2015 the number of mobile phones overcame the number of human beings on planet heart. This figure is representative of way more complex scenario in which thousands of tons of electronic products are daily placed in the market, substituting the old ones. As a consequence, the amount of electronic waste is dramatically increasing. The industrial plants that can treat this kind of waste are limited. As a result, what can’t be treated in Europe is sent outside the borders to be treated in developing countries where the cost of the labor is reduced and environmental legislation is often poor. While we give away all the content of this waste, we import raw materials in order to produce new electronics. Nothing farer from the circular economy approach envisaged by the European commission.
The specific target of the present PCBIS project is the waste printed circuit board (WPCB), that in most of the cases is treated with a pyrometallurgical approach, making use of high temperature in order to obtain the separation of metals and the volatilization of plastics; it is really effective in this task, but it has two major limitations: i. Very high opex; ii. Increasing environmental limits force to continuous update of the plants. Our project aims to recover metals from Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment (WEEE) with innovative electrochemical technologies that do not require large scale in order to be economically sustainable. This allows for the development of a diffuse network of industrial sites all across the Europe, reducing the environmental cost of WPCBs delivery.
In our process the most important reagent will be the electron, which is a clean reagent that can be also produced on site by coupling the electrochemical cells with renewable energy sources such as photovoltaic PVs. When compared to pyrometallurgy, it is possible to see how an impressive reduction of both the (i.) use of fossil fuels and (ii.) greenhouse gases emission will be obtained.
Fields of science (EuroSciVoc)
CORDIS classifies projects with EuroSciVoc, a multilingual taxonomy of fields of science, through a semi-automatic process based on NLP techniques. See: The European Science Vocabulary.
CORDIS classifies projects with EuroSciVoc, a multilingual taxonomy of fields of science, through a semi-automatic process based on NLP techniques. See: The European Science Vocabulary.
- engineering and technology environmental engineering energy and fuels renewable energy
- natural sciences physical sciences astronomy planetary sciences planets
- engineering and technology electrical engineering, electronic engineering, information engineering information engineering telecommunications mobile phones
- social sciences economics and business economics sustainable economy
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Programme(s)
Multi-annual funding programmes that define the EU’s priorities for research and innovation.
Multi-annual funding programmes that define the EU’s priorities for research and innovation.
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H2020-EU.2.3. - INDUSTRIAL LEADERSHIP - Innovation In SMEs
MAIN PROGRAMME
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H2020-EU.3. - PRIORITY 'Societal challenges
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H2020-EU.2.1. - INDUSTRIAL LEADERSHIP - Leadership in enabling and industrial technologies
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Topic(s)
Calls for proposals are divided into topics. A topic defines a specific subject or area for which applicants can submit proposals. The description of a topic comprises its specific scope and the expected impact of the funded project.
Calls for proposals are divided into topics. A topic defines a specific subject or area for which applicants can submit proposals. The description of a topic comprises its specific scope and the expected impact of the funded project.
Funding Scheme
Funding scheme (or “Type of Action”) inside a programme with common features. It specifies: the scope of what is funded; the reimbursement rate; specific evaluation criteria to qualify for funding; and the use of simplified forms of costs like lump sums.
Funding scheme (or “Type of Action”) inside a programme with common features. It specifies: the scope of what is funded; the reimbursement rate; specific evaluation criteria to qualify for funding; and the use of simplified forms of costs like lump sums.
SME-1 - SME instrument phase 1
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Call for proposal
Procedure for inviting applicants to submit project proposals, with the aim of receiving EU funding.
Procedure for inviting applicants to submit project proposals, with the aim of receiving EU funding.
(opens in new window) H2020-EIC-SMEInst-2018-2020
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Net EU financial contribution. The sum of money that the participant receives, deducted by the EU contribution to its linked third party. It considers the distribution of the EU financial contribution between direct beneficiaries of the project and other types of participants, like third-party participants.
90100 PALERMO
Italy
The organization defined itself as SME (small and medium-sized enterprise) at the time the Grant Agreement was signed.
The total costs incurred by this organisation to participate in the project, including direct and indirect costs. This amount is a subset of the overall project budget.