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Andela Products, Ltd. For Global Solutions
Original Equipment Manufacturer
of Pulverizing Machines
ANDELA CRT RECYCLING SYSTEM
ANDELA CRT Recycling System:
|System
Overview|
|CRT
20' System| |Technical
Data|
COMPUTER MONITOR
REUSE & RECYCLING FACILITY
TECHNICAL DATA
Overview
The process for profitable recycling
of non-repairable computer monitors can be divided into two
operations: disassembly of the monitors, and preparation of
the extracted materials for sale. The disassembly process is
low tech and labor intensive. Simple battery powered hand tools
(air driven tools may be appropriate in some cases) are preferable
and the "line" can be a basic conveyor. How big the
facility needs to be for this sort of operation is a direct
function of volume - for higher volumes, add more workstations.
A minimum work area for consideration should be 3,000 to 5,000
square feet.
Adjacent to the disassembly line
is an operation that processes the recyclable materials. This
operation is more automated and requires specialized equipment
such as granulators and a CRT Recycling System. To be profitable,
a computer monitor recycling operation must have markets secured
for as many monitor components as possible since any component
that is not marketed must be disposed of properly and this can
be costly. The best way to access the highest paying markets
is to properly process materials to specifications established
by those markets.
Plastic monitor cases present
a good example. They are bulky and low mass which makes them
costly to handle and ship. Also, there are often a variety of
plastics used in a monitor and those plastic
components may be contaminated
by metal or other non-plastic materials. Though prices paid
and material specifications will vary, scrap plastic markets
generally will pay a good price for sorted, uncontaminated,
ground material shipped to their location. Conversely, they
will not accept or charge a fee for loads of loose, mixed, unprepared
components. A regrind operation for a high volume of carefully
sorted plastics generates a commodity that is densified for
more cost effective shipping, easier to handle by conventional
means such as Gaylord's and forklifts, and has good value in
the secondary materials market.
Andela Products, Ltd. has developed
a system that will break down whole CRT, VDT and TV tubes into
separate glass and metal products. It is housed in a forty foot
container and includes the Andela CRT Breaker, separation equipment
and its own dust collection system.
Flow
Description
The following is a description
of the step by step process for monitor recycling. It assumes
a high volume of monitors being delivered for recycling and
includes a description of the two operations mentioned above:
disassembly of the monitors, and preparation of materials for
sale. The sequence of efficient disassembly will vary with each
model of monitor so the following should be considered a generic
description.
Monitors that are unrepairable
and have been designated for recycling are received at a facility
and placed on the line. The line can be a roller-type or a motorized
conveyor. Roller type conveyors are preferred because of their
dependability and low maintenance cost. Work stations for different
steps in the process are located along this line. How many functions
are completed at each workstation and the total number of workstations
on the line varies with each facility. Various types of containers
are positioned near the workstations to receive the recyclable
components being removed.
The type of containers to be used
will depend on the material handling requirements or to the
specifications by the buyer of the materials being recycled
and will generally include Gaylord's, barrels, or carts. Conveyors
can also be used to take away the recyclable components such
as scrap plastic. Sufficient room must be provided for removing
full containers with equipment such as a pallet jack or a forklift.
The first step of the process is
the removal of any cords, cables, or connectors. These can often
be sold for reuse. If, however that market is not available,
they have value as scrap and can be sold as such locally. They
will need to be sorted by grade. The local scrap buyer will
determine which grades are appropriate for the sort. Any peripheral
attachments such as knobs, bases, speaker housings, etc. are
removed next. Depending on the material and the level of contamination
(i.e. steel springs or inserts in a plastic base) acceptable
to the market, these components are sorted for direct sale,
further processing, or disposal.
The monitor case is usually composed
of two parts - the bucket (the larger piece housing the CRT)
and the face or bezel. After opening and removing the monitor
case, it must be inspected for contaminants and the material
it is made of must be identified. For any plastic to be recyclable,
it must not be mixed with other types of plastic or with other
materials, such as metals, before it is processed and sent to
market. Identifying plastics is sometimes difficult and is a
learned skill. Fortunately, there are a limited number of types
of plastic used in monitor cases and these can be identified
in a number of ways. It is best to work with the plastics buyer
to develop an effective sortation methodology. Usually, this
will result in 4 to 6 types of plastic being sorted out for
processing. Containers or conveyors for these various plastics
must be located near the point where the monitor case is removed.
Clip the wires connecting the CRT
to the chassis and sort them by grade into containers for sale
as scrap wire. The yoke, the dense bundle of copper wire near
the electron gun on the CRT, has good value as copper scrap
and is easily removed. Yokes are usually shipped in 55 gallon
barrels which need to be located near this station. The remaining
components for recycling are the glass CRT and the chassis.
The most difficult component of
the monitor to recycle is the CRT. This is due to its high lead
content which puts it into a regulated waste category. It is
composed of a two-part leaded glass "jug", an integral
stainless steel electron gun, an internal metal frame, a metal
screen behind the glass screen, and an external metal strap
helping to hold the jug halves together. The stainless steel
electron gun should be removed and recovered for its value as
a stainless steel material and the external metal strip can
be removed easily for separation and recovery as a select metal
material. At this point, the CRT jug which consists of glass,
an internal metal frame and screen is sent to the material preparation
operation, which will be described later.
The final step is removal from
the chassis of any electronic components such as IC boards,
power supplies, and controls for which there are either reuse
or scrap markets. If markets have not been established for these
components, they must be discarded and this adds cost to the
recycling operation. All
metal components, including screws and clips, can be sold as
scrap. They must first be magnetically sorted into ferrous or
non-ferrous categories.
Material
Preparation
Markets will determine the scope
of the operation devoted to preparing materials for sale. Local
markets that pay well for materials that are highly processed,
justify a more extensive investment in processing equipment.
This will make that material marketable in a effort to avoid
high disposal costs. The two materials generated by a monitor
recycling operation that require processing are plastic and
CRT's.
Depending on the requirements of
the market, processing plastics can involve baling or regrinding
of the plastics by type. Baling is only an option if it is specified
by the buyer. Some buyers prefer to do their own final sorting
for quality control purposes. Baling plastics requires a high
capacity horizontal baler able to produce dense bales and address
the tendency of plastics to expand after compaction. The baler
can be loaded by conveyor and finished bales are typically moved
with a forklift. A final quality control check typically occurs
as the materials move up the conveyor into the baler. One drawback
is that bales are much less dense than regrind so it costs more
to ship plastic in this form since it is difficult to load a
trailer to its weight capacity before its volume capacity is
met. This operation
requires about a 1500 square foot area.
A typical plastic regrind
operation should include a large and, optionally, a small granulator,
cyclones, and appropriate conveyors. A forklift will be needed
to move the Gaylord's full of regrind. The operation does not
require a large crew and it should be sized so that it does
not sit idle. A typical operation with both a large and small
granulator will require an area of about 3,000 to 5,000 square
feet.
The plastics are loaded into the
granulator by conveyor and it is vital that this be used as
a final quality control inspection station for two reasons.
First, any metal object entering the granulator will damage
the blades and result in downtime. It is advisable to install
some type of metal detector that will shut down the loading
conveyor if activated. Second, even a small amount of contamination
in the form of any material other than the plastic being ground
will cause the entire Gaylord of plastic to be rejected by the
buyer. If this occurs repeatedly, the buyer will no longer accept
loads from the facility. For efficiency, it is important to
schedule the regrind operation so a full shipping load of a
particular type of plastic is processed at a time since the
granulator must be cleaned between runs of different plastics
to avoid contamination.
The CRT jugs are sent to the ANDELA CRT Processing system for separation and recovery into market
ready commodities. The Andela CRT Processing System includes
the Andela CRT Breaker, metal removal, screening and conveying
equipment all conveniently enclosed in a forty (40) foot container.
A Dust Collection System is included
to capture airborne particulate matter and glass fines. Whole
CRT jugs from the disassembly operation are loaded on a conveyor
and fed into the top of the CRT System Container. The ANDELA CRT Breaker technology is able to selectively reduce the glass
but pass the metal components through in their larger forms.
The glass is reduced and separated from the metal components.
The metal is removed and the glass and metal products are discharged
separately out the bottom of the Andela CRT Recycling System
Container into containers or exit conveyors for containerization
or storage.
ANDELA CRT Recycling System:
|System
Overview|
|CRT
20' System| |Technical
Data|
ANDELA Product Line:
|Pulverizer
Systems| |Breaker
Systems| |Windshield
Stripper|
|Gypsum
Board Recycling System| |CRT
Recycling System| |Commingled
Separation System|
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