Electronic display screens between the benefits and harms
Keywords:
waste of electronic displays, minerals that contain them, Processing and recovery techniques.Abstract
Electronic display equipment is developing day by day. However, the global waste electrical and electronic equipment
problem is rooted in a lack of technically mature solutions, weak enforcement and high costs of legal processes, and it
is simply cheaper for end users to ship waste materials abroad. The lack of an effective technical solution, for efficient
and selective mineral recovery plays a major role. The danger of electronic waste lies in the fact that it contains more
than 1,000 different substances, many of which have toxic components, including lead and arsenic, which are found in
a high percentage in television screens, dioxin and antimony trioxide, bromide compounds that are produced as
secondary sources, and the dangerous element selenium that is found in integrated circuit boards and helps on
regulating the passage of electric current in them, cadmium, which is also found in integrated circuits, chromium,
which is used in steel packaging to protect it from rust and corrosion, cobalt, which is used in some devices to take
advantage of its magnetic properties, and mercury, which is used in the manufacture of circuit breakers, as we find it
in keyboard and flat screens. In addition to all the risks arising from WEEE, the manufacture of electrical and
electronic equipment (EEE) screens consumes large amounts of metal. The electronics industry is the third largest
consumer of gold (Au), and is responsible for 12% of global demand, 10% for indium, along with 30% for copper
(Cu), silver (Ag) and tin (Sn). Rare or other minerals are of critical importance to ICT equipment (mobile phones,
computers, etc.), and are of great value in human life. The most common rare metals in display equipment and
information and communication technology are indium, yttrium and gallium. This study sheds light on the contents of
the display screens of important minerals and clearly reveals the danger of some elements, and methods of treatment
and recovery of the most important elements.
