• Resources Recycling
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• v.16 no.3 s.77
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• pp.27-33
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• 2007

It is very important in the view point of resource recycling to recover valuable metals such as copper and tin from waste electric and electronic scrap. The waste electric and electronic scrap contains significant amounts of copper, tin, and so on. In this study, a new process for extracting copper and tin contained in the waste electric and electronic scrap using waste copper slag which is generated from the melting furnace of copper smelter was presented. Advantage of the proposed process is to reuse waste copper slag instead of new fluxes as slag formatives. In each experiment, the waste electric and electronic scrap and waste copper slag were melted inputting suitable amount of CaO as an additional flux. Up to 95% of copper and 85% of tin in the raw material were extracted in a Cu-Fe-Sn alloy phase.

• Journal of the Korea institute for structural maintenance and inspection
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• v.22 no.2
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• pp.90-97
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• 2018

The quantities of electronic waste have been increased rapidly, and was caused variety problems such as environmental pollution or dissipation of resource. So, it needed to development of recycling technology about heavy metal in the electronic waste. Meanwhile, filler material (concrete or mortar) was used for shielding radioactive waste, however, it did not used materials that it is proved radiation shielding performance. So, there is a lack of confidence in the shielding performance. Therefore, in this paper, mechanical properties of concrete was evaluated for the applicability using electronic waste as fine aggregate of filler material. From the test results, compressive and flexural strength and elasticity modulus and the micro pore in the $1{\mu}m$ range was significantly affected by substitution of electronic waste, however, it could be improved the performance by using mineral admixture as binder. So, it is shown that the electronic waste could be applicable as fine aggregate of filler material.

• Environmental Engineering Research
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• v.24 no.1
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• pp.74-81
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• 2019

Upcycling generally refers to the conversion of waste materials to something useful or valuable and is a useful concept that can be applied not only to the waste design industry but also to waste recycling and resource circulation. Our study highlights upcycling as the key concept for improving the value of waste by redefining the concept as "the recycling of waste materials and discarded products in ways that enhance their value." Four upcycling strategies are linked to material flow analyses conducted on waste electronic and electrical equipment, specifically waste refrigerators and waste computers, to examine the technologies available for implementation and suggest guidelines for the promotion of upcycling. The amount of waste refrigerators collected by the formal sector was 121,642 tons/y and the informal sector, 63,823 tons/y. The current recycling ratio of waste refrigerators was estimated as 88.53%. A total of 7,585 tons/y of waste computers were collected by the formal sector and 3,807 tons/y by the informal sector after discharge. Meanwhile, the current recycling ratio of waste computers was estimated as 77.43%. We found that it is possible to introduce 28 upcycling technologies in the case of refrigerators, and 15 technologies are available to promote upcycling in the case of computers. By refining the broad concept of upcycling and looking at the stages of material flow, our approach presents universally applicable directions for incorporating upcycling in resource recovery and recirculation plans.

• Advances in concrete construction
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• v.5 no.6
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• pp.563-573
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• 2017

Transparency, excellent toughness, thermal stability and a very good dimensional stability make Polycarbonate (PC) one of the most widely used engineering thermoplastics. Polycarbonate market include electronics, automotive, construction, optical media and packaging. One alternative for reducing the environmental pollution caused by polycarbonate from electronic waste (e-waste), is to use it in cement concretes. In this work, physical and chemical characterization of recycled polycarbonate from electronic waste was made, through the analysis by Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), X-ray diffraction (XRD), energy dispersive spectroscopy (EDS) and scanning electron microscope (SEM). Then cement concrete was made with Portland cement, sand, gravel, water, and this recycled polycarbonate. Specimens without polycarbonate were produced for comparison purposes. The effect of the particle sizes and concentrations of recycled polycarbonate within the concrete, on the compressive strength and density was studied. Results show that compressive strength values and equilibrium density of concrete depend on the polycarbonate particle sizes and its concentrations; particularly the highest compressive strength values were 20% higher than that for concrete without polycarbonate particles. Moreover, morphological, structural and crystallinity characteristics of recycled polycarbonate, are suitable for to be mixed into concrete.

• Environmental Engineering Research
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• v.11 no.1
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• pp.14-27
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• 2006

The proper management of discarded electronic devices (often called electronic-waste) is an emerging issue for solid waste professionals throughout the world because of the large growth of the waste stream, and the content of toxic metals in them, most notably heavy metals such as lead. Notebook computers are becoming one of the major components of discarded computer devices and will continue to increase in the waste stream in the future. While the computers hold great promise for recycling, a substantial amount of this waste is often disposed in municipal solid waste (MSW) landfills. The toxicity characteristic leaching procedure (TCLP) is commonly used to simulate worse case leaching conditions where a potentially hazardous waste is assumed to be disposed along with municipal solid waste in a landfill with actively decomposing materials overlying an aquifer. The objective of this study was to examine leaching potential of lead from discarded notebook computers using the scale-up TCLP, other standard leaching tests such as California waste extraction test (Cal WET), and the synthetic precipitation leaching procedure (SPLP) and actual landfill leachates as leaching solution. The scale-up TCLP is a modified TCLP (where the device was disassembled and leached in or near entirety) to meet the intent of the TCLP. The results showed that the scale-up TCLP resulted in relatively high lead found in the leachate with an average of 23.3 mg/L. The average level was less than those by the standard TCLP and WET (37.0 mg/L and 86.0 mg/L, respectively), but much greater than those by the SPLP and the extractions with the landfill leachates (0.55 mg/L and 1.47 mg/L, respectively). The pH of the leaching solution and the ability of the organic acids in the TCLP and WET to complex with the lead were identified as major factors that controlled the amount of lead leached from notebook computers. Based on the results obtained by a number of leaching tests in this study, notebook computers may present a potential leaching risk to the environment and human health upon land disposal. However, further investigation is still needed to assess the true risk posed by the land disposal of discarded notebook computers.

• Resources Recycling
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• v.20 no.5
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• pp.16-33
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• 2011

Waste electrical and electronic equipment(WEEE or E-waste) is one of the fastest growing waste stream in Korea. The proper management of such equipment has become of major concern for solid waste professionals because of the large growth of the waste stream and the presence of a myriad of toxic materials with in it. In this paper in order to review the recycling system and recycling industries of the E-waste in Korea, the main frame concerning recycling of "Act on the Resources Recycling of Waste Electrical Electronic Equipment(WEEE) and End-of-life vehicles", recycling system, current recycling status, estimation of the E-waste generation, material flow of the E-waste, economics of PCB and recycling industries of the E-waste were surveyed.

• Proceedings of the Korean Radioactive Waste Society Conference
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• 2017.05a
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• pp.243-244
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• 2017

• Resources Recycling
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• v.18 no.4
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• pp.14-23
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• 2009

In terms of resources recycling and resolving waste disposal problems, it is very important to recover precious metals like Au, Ag and Pd and valuable metals like Cu, Sn and Ni from the scraps of waste electrical and electronic equipment(WEEE) that consists of detective electrical and electronic parts discarded during manufacturing electrical and electronic equipments and waste electrical and electronic parts generated during disassembling them. In general, the scraps of WEEE are composed of various metals and alloys as well as refractory oxides and plastic components. Precious and valuable metals from the scraps of WEEE can be recovered by gas-phase-volatilization, hydrometallurgical, or pyrometallurgical processes. However, the gas-phase-volatilization and hydrometallurgical processes have been suggested but not yet commercialized. At the present time, most of the commercial plants for recovering precious and valuable metals from the scraps of WEEE adopt pyrometallurgical processes. Therefore, in this paper, the technical and environmental aspects on the important pyrometallurgical processes through literature survey are reviewed, and the scale-up result of a new pyrometallurgical process for recovering the precious and valuable metals contained in the scraps of WEEE using waste copper slag is presented.

• The Journal of the Korea institute of electronic communication sciences
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• v.18 no.1
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• pp.219-230
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• 2023

Marine waste is classified according to its location into coastal waste, floating waste, and submerged waste. As awareness of environmental issues increases, research on marine submerged waste in addition to visible trash is needed. In Korea, which is surrounded by the sea on three sides, this is a study on the distribution of marine sedimentary waste by type in the West Sea of Korea. Through the study, waste synthetic resin, scrap metal, waste tires, and others appeared in the order of large amounts. As a result showing the seriousness of waste synthetic resin among sediments deposited in the West Sea, it is expected to have a huge impact not only on the marine ecosystem but also on our lives in the near future. Through this study, it is judged that it will be helpful for future collection activities by recognizing marine submerged waste that was not known because it was invisible.

• Journal of the Korean Institute of Electrical and Electronic Material Engineers
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• v.33 no.4
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• pp.310-314
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• 2020

Although waste oil derived fuel (WDF) production technology was developed under a government initiative ~10 years ago, it became stagnant owing to the small size of participating companies, residents' rejection of foul odor, and the nature of the technology for recycling waste that was avoided. However, this subject is under the spotlight again because of recent developments, such as garbage crisis. In particular, plastic is the most difficult waste to dispose of, with more than 4 million tons of plastic waste produced every year according to statistics from the Ministry of Environment. The most effective method for treating plastic waste is to produce WDF through low temperature thermal decomposition. The WDF includes several volatile ingredients that mostly limit the use of fuel for boilers, owing to safety concerns. In particular, flash point is legally stipulated because of secondary contamination in the distribution process and the risk of fire and explosion. It is required that external shipments (distribution) should be maintained in the range of at least 30~60℃ (excluding explosion prevention facilities) for diesel power generation. Therefore, this study seeks to find the flash point that is best suited to WDFs produced from plastic waste.