E-waste recycling practices: a review on environmental concerns, remediation and technological developments with a focus on printed circuit boards

Decrease in life span of electronic devices and consumer's urge to use advanced technology leads to obsolescence of such devices, resulting in electronic waste generation. The technology for e-waste components recycling has made great progress. However, due to growing environmental concern, there is a need to find alternatives for conventional e-waste recycling methods to achieve a safer environment. Rapid surge in e-waste generation is a matter of concern due to elevated levels of heavy metals and persistent organic pollutants (POPS) in air, soil and water caused by informal recycling practices. Moreover, recycling of printed circuit board (PCB), a major part of electronic waste, in order to recover metals, results in release of waste acid leach water, if untreated, which contain heavy metals like Pb, Cr, Ni, etc. This has given rise to the development of several remediation techniques for soil- and water-like phytoremediation, soil washing, bioremediation, and application of nanoparticles, which have been compared and reviewed in this paper along with their limitations for application at larger scale for real-contaminated soil. This review focuses on the existing remediation techniques and their limitations to decrease environmental hazards caused by the release of various pollutants through e-waste recycling. [GRAPHICS] .

Automated summary

The decrease in the lifespan of electronic devices and consumer demand for advanced technology has led to an increase in electronic waste generation. While progress has been made in the recycling technology for e-waste components, the growing environmental concerns require alternative methods to achieve a safer environment. The release of heavy metals and persistent organic pollutants resulting from informal recycling practices is a major concern, driving the development of remediation techniques to address environmental hazards caused by e-waste recycling.