Remote operation experiment towards implementation of Remote Recycling

Abstract

This study proposes a concept of remote recycling and prototyped the remote operation system. Then, the paper tried to examine whether the remote recycling is technically feasible. In the experiment, material compositions of the separated parts through remote operation were measured, and also operation capability was checked. And then, the results were compared with those of manual disassembly of PCB (Printed Circuit Board). The results showed that the total amount of valuable metals included in the remotely separated parts was larger than that of manually disassembled PCB. And the recovery rates of Au, Ag and Cu were relatively larger when the pre-crushed size was large. Throughout the study, it was clarified that remote separation can recover larger amount of Au, Ag and Cu than manual disassembly of PCB. It was concluded that the Remote Recycling is a promising concept. Future work will be examination of methods to increase metal density.