Waste Management 96 (2019) 175–180

Contents lists available at ScienceDirect

Waste Management
journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/wasman

Towards minimization of secondary wastes: Element recycling to

achieve future complete resource recycling of electronic wastes
Lingen Zhang, Zhenming Xu ⇑
School of Environmental Science and Engineering, Shanghai Jiao Tong University, 800 Dongchuan Road, Shanghai 200240, People’s Republic of China

a r t i c l e i n f o a b s t r a c t

Article history: Recycling resources from millions of tons of e-wastes are a global challenge. E-wastes is complex and
Received 30 March 2019 contains both toxic organics and valuable metals. Therefore, the technologies for e-wastes recycling
Revised 12 June 2019 are totally different from those used for mineral separation. Current technologies for e-wastes tend to
Accepted 19 July 2019
focus on recycling materials with high economic value and ignore components that cannot be recycled
Available online 22 July 2019
or have low reuse value. As a result, some secondary pollution problems inevitably occur due to the recy-
cling process. Based on these problems, we summarize the universal characteristics of e-wastes and
Keywords:
explore new approaches to achieve complete resource recycling of e-wastes with minimum secondary
Element recycle
E-wastes
waste generation. A concept of element recycling is proposed to achieve complete resource recycling
Waste recycling of e-wastes in the study. We can use the properties of the elements in different types of e-wastes to
Minimized secondary waste achieve e-wastes recycling, i.e., recycle of elements in e-wastes. Under the guidance of element recycling,
various e-wastes types have common connections. If element recycling in e-wastes is realized, all com-
ponents in e-wastes can be fully recycled without/with minimal production of secondary waste. The two
case studies are discussed to clarify the concept and principle of element recycling. This study explores
the recycling of e-wastes from a new perspective—element recycling in e-wastes. The concept of element
recycling is significant for resource recycling from e-wastes.
Ó 2019 Published by Elsevier Ltd.

1. Introduction disposed of in landfills, burned in incinerators, or shipped to devel-

In the current industrial civilization, electronic products are
greatly convenient for daily life, but these products result in
the dilemma of the ‘‘junk siege” caused by electronic waste
(e-wastes). E-wastes is ubiquitous with the continual development
of information technology and replacement of electronic products.
According to the latest research, approximately 40 million tons of
e-wastes was globally generated in 2015, and this amount
increased to 47 million tons in 2017 (Singh et al., 2016). Although
e-wastes accounts for only 3–5% of solid waste, its variety and
content of valuable metals and plastics are far more than those
of other forms of municipal waste (Li and Xu, 2010). Hence,
e-wastes is worthy of the name ‘‘urban mine”. According to a
survey by the United States Environmental Protection Agency,
recycling valuable resources from e-wastes have significant advan-
tages, such as the generation of less secondary waste and lower
energy consumption (He and Xu, 2014). However, only approxi-
mately 10% of e-wastes is safely recycled, and the remainder is
⇑ Corresponding author.
E-mail address: zmxu@sjtu.edu.cn (Z. Xu).
oping countries where rudimentary e-wastes recycling occurs
(Julander et al., 2014; Kim et al., 2015). Environmental pollution
and threats to human health often occur due to improper handling
of e-wastes (Ogunseitan et al., 2009). Hence, in the face of the cur-
rent recycling situation, appropriate e-waste recycling is necessary
and urgent.
In fact, e-wastes is complex and contains both toxic organics
and valuable metals. Obviously, metals and renewable materials
are still valuable resources in e-wastes (Li et al., 2015; Reck and
Graedel, 2012). However, plastics, brominated flame retardants
(BFRs), liquid crystals and other organic matter from e-wastes
are harmful. If the e-wastes is not properly disposed or recovered,
they will cause serious environmental pollution and even jeopar-
dize human health (Sun et al., 2016; Tian et al., 2011). Recycling
of e-wastes by environmentally unfriendly, hazardous and primi-
tive technologies in China has increased in the past decades
(Ni et al., 2010).
Because of the variation in e-wastes, the methods and technolo-
gies to recycle resources from e-wastes are totally different from
the technologies used for mineral separation. The e-wastes is a
complex system that contains various plastics, organic substances
and metals. The most of minerals are far less complex than

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.wasman.2019.07.026
0956-053X/Ó 2019 Published by Elsevier Ltd.
176 L. Zhang, Z. Xu / Waste Management 96 (2019) 175–180
e-wastes. The recycling methods of e-wastes need to consider
harmless and resourceful comprehensively. Currently, most
environmentally friendly and economically viable treatment tech-
niques, including physical separation, pyrometallurgical technol-
ogy, mild extraction technology, electrochemical technology and
vacuum metallurgical technology, focus on recycling valuable
resources (Cao et al., 2016; Kaya, 2016; Zhang and Xu, 2016a). By
these means, valuable resources can effectively be recycled. For
example, a large number of modified and new hydrometallurgical
techniques, such as mild extraction technology and electrochemi-
cal technology, were designed with the main goal of solving the
problem of single metal recycling from e-wastes, but some envi-
ronmentally toxic and harmful reagents still exist. In addition,
most researchers have not focused on constituents in e-wastes that
cannot be recycled or have low reuse value. As a result, researchers
have failed to explore complete resource recycling for a certain
waste, and some secondary waste is even produced in the process
of e-wastes recycling. Hence, some secondary pollution problems
frequently occur due to the treatment process.
Our team has been committed to studying resource recycling of
e-wastes. During more than ten years of research, we have pro-
posed various methods and technologies for the treatment of vari-
ous e-wastes types, such as printed circuit boards, toner cartridges,
batteries, refrigerators and liquid crystal display panels. These
methods and technologies mainly include mechanical-physical
separation, supercritical fluid, and vacuum metallurgy (Li and Xu,
2015; Ruan and Xu, 2016; Wang and Xu, 2015; Wang et al., 2015;
Zhan and Xu, 2014; Zhang and Xu, 2016b; Zhou and Xu, 2012). As
our research has progressed, we have realized that the components
of e-wastes are complex and disordered, but each component still
has its own characteristics. Hence, we must summarize the univer-
sal characteristics of e-wastes and further explore and try some
new approaches to achieve complete resource recycling of e-
wastes with no/minimal generation of secondary waste.
In the paper, a concept of element recycling in e-wastes is first
proposed. Then, concrete implementation for element recycling is
clarified in detail. Finally, two case studies are analyzed to explain
the concept of element recycling. In summary, this study is mean-
ingful for the sustainable development of resource recycling from
e-wastes.
2. Theory and methods
2.1. Universal characteristics of e-wastes
E-wastes is diverse with various chemical compositions. There-
fore, we must determine universal characteristics and rules for the
unordered components in e-wastes. Several universal characteris-
tics of e-wastes are summarized as follows:
(1) Composition of e-wastes is complex and varied. The diver-
sity of e-wastes leads to the complexity of e-wastes recy-
cling. E-wastes types may appear to be completely
different, but in essence they are composed of various ele-
ments. E-wastes almost includes all elements in the periodic
table. Hence, elements are a common connection of various
e-wastes types. In addition, because of the complexity of e-
wastes, the treatment technology should be innovative, inte-
grated and comprehensive.
(2) The components in e-wastes have their own physical and
chemical characteristics, for example, different features
and metal contents, different types of organic matter from
plastic, and different chemical forms of elements in com-
pounds. Even though the components have different proper-
ties, a certain similarity may exist among the elements in
these components.
(3) Valuable components and pollutants in e-wastes are rela-
tive. Researchers tend to recycle materials with high eco-
nomic value, such as metals, but most researchers rarely
care about components in e-wastes that cannot be recycled
or have a low reuse value. As a result, they fail to explore
complete resource recycling for a certain e-wastes type.
Hence, some secondary pollution problems inevitably occur.
Therefore, complete resource recycling of e-wastes should
be a goal.
2.2. Concept and achievement of element recycling
Substances on Earth are made up of chemical compounds.
Elements are the smallest unit of chemical compounds. Chemical
reactions between substances are reactions between chemical
compounds, involving the migration, reaction and transfer of
elements. Thus, if the elements in the substances are in a cycle,
the substance recycles itself. As described above, e-wastes is com-
posed of chemical compounds and elements. E-wastes includes
almost all the elements in the periodic table and can be considered
an ‘‘element bank”. If e-wastes is considered an aggregation of ele-
ments, we can redistribute these elements using some integrated/
new technologies to form new and useful compounds. Elements in
various e-wastes types can be regenerated by regeneration of
elements. The concept is called element recycling in e-wastes.
Using element recycling in e-wastes can achieve complete
resource recycling of e-wastes; i.e., all chemical compounds from
e-wastes are recycled, and no/few residual wastes is generated,
under certain conditions. The concept and achievement of element
recycling is showed in Fig. 1. Elements in nature are utilized in the
form of coal, ore, oil, and natural gas. Fossil fuel energy is used to
produce electronic products, which eventually become e-wastes
after reaching their life span. These e-wastes can be connected
by various elements. Based on the characteristics of e-wastes and
some elements, reaction of redistribution and recombination of
elements in e-wastes can occur to generate new substances to
achieve e-waste recovery. It is meaningful that using the element
recycling achieves complete resource recycling of e-wastes for
the sustainable development of electronic and home appliances
industry.
How can an appropriate element recycling method be found for
various e-wastes? Several principles should be clarified to achieve
element recycling in e-wastes. An appropriate element cycle needs
to be considered based on the following aspects:
(1) The physical and chemical properties of various elements in
e-wastes components should be understood to explore and
find corresponding recovery technologies. Meanwhile, ele-
ment characteristics can also be considered to match suit-
able elements. A clear understanding of the element
composition and properties of different e-wastes has advan-
tages for choosing appropriate recycling techniques and
methods to recycle these e-wastes.
(2) The chemical components of e-wastes that can be separated
by physical separation technologies to achieve element recy-
cling should be prioritized. For example, according to the dif-
ferent physical properties of plastics in the waste print
circuit boards, some physical methods such as corona elec-
trostatic separation (Li et al., 2008), infrared optical separa-
tion (Li et al., 2019) and eddy current separation (Ruan
et al., 2012) etc. are adopted to recycle plastics environmen-
tally. Compared with chemical separation, physical separa-
tion technologies are relatively environmentally friendly.
(3) If element recycling must be achieved by chemical separa-
tion, element recycling from in e-wastes themselves should
be preferentially explored. By element recycling, some new
 L. Zhang, Z. Xu / Waste Management 96 (2019) 175–180
Fig. 1. Concept, achievement and case studies of element recycling to achieve e-wastes recycling.
compounds will be synthesized. This own element recycling
often regenerates the compound from the e-wastes. Finally,
this own element recycling can maximize the regeneration
and reuse of e-wastes. For example, in situ reduction reac-
tion of a positive electrode material LiCoO3 and negative
electrode graphite in a lithium ion battery and a reaction
of adding lithium ion for recycling waste lithium ion battery.
(4) For chemical separation, if element recycling must be
achieved by adding additional elements, the complementary
addition of elements from other e-wastes is crucial. The add-
ing additional elements can much match the elements in the
e-waste, and it can promote and improve the effect of recy-
cling. Hence, this addition should ensure that the new syn-
thetic compounds have a high added value and high
recovery rate of elements.
(5) A suitable, innovative, comprehensive recycling technology
is needed for the implementation of element recycling in
e-wastes. With the increasing complexity of electronic
products, single recycling technology is hard to solve the
177
problems of resource recycling in e-wastes. Hence, the new
and novel recycling technologies would be more varied,
integrated and comprehensive. These new methods can be
proposed based on the physical and chemical properties of
the elements in e-wastes. At the micro level, the new and
integrated recycling technology should pay more attention
to the regeneration of the elements in e-wastes.
3. Results and discussion
In this section, two case studies are analyzed to clarify and
explain this concept.
CASE STUDY 1
In general, LiCoO2 and graphite are electrode materials in com-
mercial lithium-ion batteries. A mechanical scraping was used as
to gain mixed powder containing LiCoO2 and graphite powders.
Fig. 1 shows an integrated method of oxygen-free roasting-wet
178 L. Zhang, Z. Xu / Waste Management 96 (2019) 175–180
magnetic separation to in situ recycling of cobalt, LiCO3 and gra-
phite (Li et al., 2016). In this recycling process, we adopted element
recycling from lithium-ion batteries to recycle resources. LiCoO2
and graphite powders were transformed into cobalt, LiCO3 and
graphite.
Fig. 2(A) showed the situation of thermal weightlessness for the
different mole ratio of LiCoO2 and C (samples #1–3: mole ratio n
(LiCoO2):n(C) = 1:0, 4:3 and 4:18.3) under the condition of air
atmosphere. An obvious weight loss for sample #2 and sample
#3 occurred at 600–800 °C, indicating a LiCoO2 reduction reaction
occurred in this stage. The mass loss of sample #2 and sample #3
was 7.61 wt% and 32.97 wt%, respectively under exceeding reac-
tion temperature 800 °C. The results indicated that oxygen-free
roasting could feasibly reduce LiCoO2. When the material is fully
roasted, the residue products were still in a mixture with low
value. Further separation can achieve the purification of products.
The crystal structure of products was identified by X-ray diffrac-
tion (XRD, D8 ADVANCE, BRUKER, Germany) with Cu Ka radiation.
All the measurements were repeated three times, and only the
mean values were reported. The XRD results of the residue after
roasting and the ferromagnetic material obtained after wet
magnetic separation are shown in Fig. 2(B). The results showed
that only the cobalt peak is observed in the ferromagnetic material,
indicating that the cobalt powder was enriched by the process. By
the measurement of ICP-AES, the content of Co was 97.68 wt%. In
this element recycling process, the recovery rates of Co, Li and gra-
phite were 95.72%, 98.93% and 91.05%, respectively. Almost all Li,
Fig. 2. (A) Thermogravimetric analyses of different mole ratio of LiCoO2 and C (samples #1–3: mole ratio n(LiCoO2):n(C) = 1:0, 4:3 and 4:18.3) in air atmosphere; (B) XRD
results of the residue obtained after roasting and wet magnetic separation; (C) The integrated process of recycling LiCoO2 from spent LIBs (Li et al., 2016; Xiao et al., 2017).
Co, C, and O in the mixed electrode material were regenerated.
Hence, element recycling of LiCoO2 in ion batteries is achievable.
This process was further expanded to recycle lithium ion ternary
batteries. An integrated process was proposed to recycle LiCoO2
from spent LIB, as shown in Fig. 2(C). Firstly, the cathode and anode
materials were crushed and mixed by mechanical separation. Then,
the oxygen-free roasting process was adopted to damage the
lithium oxides. Li was released at a certain temperature. Finally,
high-value Li2CO3 was recycled by water leaching and evaporating.
The graphite in the filters was burned away to obtain the precur-
sors of cathode materials (Xiao et al., 2017).
CASE STUDY 2
PVC plastic (containing C, H, and Cl) and stripping products
from waste liquid crystal display (LCD) panels (containing In, C,
H, and O) in e-waste are seemingly unrelated. However, these
two different types of wastes have a connection under the guid-
ance of element recycling. A mechanical stripping separation was
first adopted to obtain a stripping product that can concentrate
indium and liquid crystals from LCD panels. As shown in Fig. 1, a
vacuum pyrolysis and chlorination process was developed to
recycle indium from LCD panels. In the process, PVC plastic from
e-wastes was used as chlorinating agent. With the recycling of
indium as form of InCln, the C, H and O in PVC plastic were reused
to generate prepare a carbon coating and energy products (Zhang
and Xu, 2017).
 L. Zhang, Z. Xu / Waste Management 96 (2019) 175–180
The stripping product, a certain proportion of polyvinyl chloride
(PVC) plastic and a 13X molecular sieve were placed in a vacuum
furnace to produce a vacuum pyrolysis reaction. Thermogravimet-
ric mass spectrometry (TGA-MS) analysis was used to explore the
feasibility of C, H, Cl, and In recycling via vacuum pyrolysis of PVC
plastic (as shown in Fig. 3a). We can see clearly that two significant
weight losses happened in the range of 513–723 K. The simultane-
ous MS results (Fig. 3b) showed gaseous HCl and ethylene were
produced in the process. The Cl in PVC plastic combined with the
In in the LCD panels and was regenerated in the form of InCl3,
evaporated in the condensing zones and collected as a condensate
product (Fig. 3c). InCl3 was the main indium chloride in the con-
densed products base on the analysis of XPS analysis. In addition,
the carbon coating and energy products can be produced by the
transformation of C, H and O elements in PVC plastic. The SEM
image showed that the carbon coating was formed by crosslinking
of various carbon chains. The formation mechanism was that the
pyrolytic oil and gas such as alkanes, olefines and alkyl acids pro-
duced in the pyrolysis process can occur the adsorption, breaking
of chemical bonds cross-linking and carbonization. Finally, the
coated carbon fiber molecular sieve was formed. Exceeded 98%
can be recycled at the optimized conditions. In this process, simi-
larities among elements are adopted to achieve complete resource
recycling through the coordinated treatment of two kinds of
wastes—PVC plastic and waste LCD panels from e-wastes.
In addition, for the aspect of management of recycling,
strengthening government regulation is necessary for some recy-
Fig. 3. (a) Thermogravimetric situation for the pyrolysis process of PVC by TGA-DTG analysis; (b) Mass spectrometry analysis of HCl and C2H4 in pyrolysis process of PVC; (c)
In 3d spectra of the stripping and condensed products by XPS analysis and (d) SEM image of the molecular sieve at 1073 K (Zhang and Xu, 2017).
179
cling process because some recycling process could exist environ-
mental risk. In order to specify the environmental risk indicator it
was felt appropriate to consider the environmental impacts of
these recycling process through the use of Life Cycle Assessment
(LCA), which is based on the listing and quantification of all flows
coming in and out of the system considered, including extraction,
processing, transport, end-of-life recycling, etc. Meantime, collec-
tion and recycling channels of the end-of-life products should be
broadened to become more unblocked. For example, the govern-
ment can encourage recycling of end-of-life products by imple-
menting subsidies for the recycling enterprises. To sum up, a
green industrial chain of circular economy for the process of
exploitation, extraction/refining, manufacture and recycling need
to be focused and emphasized.
4. Conclusion
The diversity of e-wastes leads to the complexity of e-wastes
recycling. E-wastes not only contains valuable resources but also
contains harmful components, such as some types of organic mat-
ter. As we all know, e-wastes types have their own chemical com-
positions and elements. E-wastes include almost all elements in
the periodic table and can be considered an ‘‘element bank”.
Elements in nature are applied in various electronic products.
These electronic products eventually become e-wastes. Various
types of e-waste can be connected through the elements. It is fea-
sible to realize complete resource recycling of e-wastes by utilizing
180 L. Zhang, Z. Xu / Waste Management 96 (2019) 175–180
the characteristics of element in e-wastes. The physical and chem-
ical properties of e-wastes components should be understood to
match suitable elements. Compared with chemical separation,
physical separation technologies are relatively environmentally
friendly. For chemical separation, element recycling from in e-
wastes themselves should be preferentially explored. If the ele-
ment recycling must be achieved by adding additional elements,
the complementary addition of elements from other e-wastes is
crucial. In addition, some suitable, innovative, comprehensive
recycling technology should be developed for the implementation
of element recycling in e-wastes. In the short communication, a
new concept of element recycling in e-wastes is first proposed.
Then, a concrete implementation method for element recycling
was clarified in detail. Two case studies on lithium-ion battery
recycling and PVC plastic and LCD panel recycling were analyzed
to explain the concept of element recycling. For the recycling of
lithium, an integrated method that uses oxygen-free roasting and
wet magnetic separation for in situ recycling of cobalt, LiCO3 and
graphite from mixed electrode materials was proposed based on
element recycling. The recovery rates of Co, Li and graphite can
reach 95.72%, 98.93% and 91.05%, respectively. Almost all Li, Co,
C, and O in the mixed electrode material were regenerated. The
second case is the vacuum pyrolysis of PVC plastic from e-wastes
to recycle indium from LCD panels and simultaneously prepare a
carbon coating. In the recycling process, the chemical species of
InCl3 was the condensed products of indium. Meanwhile, the ele-
ment C, H and O in PVC plastic were prepared to carbon coating
and energy products—pyrolysis oil and gas. The element C, H, O
and In element from two kinds of PVC plastic and waste LCD panels
achieved the regeneration. In summary, this study explores the
recycling of e-wastes from a new perspective—element recycling
in e-wastes to achieve minimization of secondary wastes in treat-
ment of e-wastes and complete resource recycling of e-wastes.
Acknowledgments
This work was supported by the National Natural Science
Foundation of China (51534005), thanks for Shanghai Tongji Gao
Tingyao Environmental Science and Technology Development
Foundation, postdoctoral innovative talent plans (No.
BX20180189) and postdoctoral fund of China (2018M640394).
References
Cao, J., Lu, B., Chen, Y., Zhang, X., Zhai, G., Zhou, G., Jiang, B., Schnoor, J.L., 2016.
Extended producer responsibility system in China improves e-wastes recycling:
government policies, enterprise, and public awareness. Renew. Sust. Energy
Rev. 62, 882–894.
He, Y., Xu, Z., 2014. The status and development of treatment techniques of typical
waste electrical and electronic equipment in China: a review. Waste Manage.
Res. 32 (4), 254–269.
Julander, A., Lundgren, L., Skare, L., Grandér, M., Palm, B., Vahter, M., Lidén, C., 2014.
Formal recycling of e-wastes leads to increased exposure to toxic metals: an
occupational exposure study from Sweden. Environ. Int. 73, 243–251.
Kaya, M., 2016. Recovery of metals and nonmetals from electronic waste by
physical and chemical recycling processes. Waste Manage. 57, 64–90.
Kim, Y.H., Wyrzykowska-Ceradini, B., Touati, A., Krantz, Q.T., Dye, J.A., Linak, W.P.,
Gullett, B., Gilmour, M.I., 2015. Characterization of size-fractionated airborne
particles inside an electronic waste recycling facility and acute toxicity testing
in mice. Environ. Sci. Technol. 49 (19), 11543–11550.
Li, J., Lu, H.Z., Liu, S.S., Xu, Z.M., 2008. Optimizing the operating parameters of
corona electrostatic separation for recycling waste scraped printed circuit
boards by computer simulation of electric field. J. Hazard. Mater. 153, 269–275.
Li, J., Li, C., Liao, Q.C., Xu, Z.M., 2019. Environmentally-friendly technology for rapid
on-line recycling of acrylonitrile-butadiene-styrene, polystyrene and
polypropylene using near-infrared spectroscopy. J. Cleaner Prod. 213, 838–844.
Li, J., Wang, G.X., Xu, Z.M., 2016. Environmentally-friendly oxygen-free roasting/wet
magnetic separation technology for in situ recycling cobalt, lithium carbonate
and graphite from spent LiCoO2/graphite lithium batteries. J. Hazard. Mater.
302, 97–104.
Li, J., Xu, Z., 2010. Environmental friendly automatic line for recovering metal from
waste printed circuit boards. Environ. Sci. Technol. 44 (4), 1418–1423.
Li, J., Zeng, X., Chen, M., Ogunseitan, O.A., Stevels, A., 2015. ‘‘Control-Alt-Delete”:
rebooting solutions for the e-wastes problem. Environ. Sci. Technol. 49 (12),
7095–7108.
Li, K., Xu, Z.M., 2015. Application of supercritical water to decompose brominated
epoxy resin and environmental friendly recovery of metals from waste memory
module. Environ. Sci. Technol. 49 (3), 1761–1767.
Ni, H.G., Zeng, H., Tao, S., Zeng, E.Y., 2010. Environmental and human exposure to
persistent halogenated compounds derived from e-wastes in china. Environ.
Toxicolo. Chem. 29 (6), 1237–1247.
Ogunseitan, O.A., Schoenung, J.M., Saphores, J.-D.M., Shapiro, A.A., 2009. The
electronics revolution: from e-wonderland to e-wastesland. Science 326 (5953),
670–671.
Reck, B.K., Graedel, T.E., 2012. Challenges in metal recycling. Science 337 (6095),
690–695.
Ruan, J.J., Xu, Z.M., 2012. Approaches to improve separation efficiency of eddy
current separation for recovering aluminum from waste toner cartridges.
Environ. Sci. Technol. 46, 6214–6221.
Ruan, J.J., Xu, Z.M., 2016. Constructing environment-friendly return road of metals
from e-wastes: combination of physical separation technologies. Renew. Sust.
Energy Rev. 54, 745–760.
Singh, N., Li, J., Zeng, X., 2016. Global responses for recycling waste CRTs in e-
wastes. Waste Manage. 57, 187–197.
Sun, B., Hu, Y., Cheng, H., Tao, S., 2016. Kinetics of brominated flame retardant (BFR)
releases from granules of waste plastics. Environ. Sci. Technol. 50 (24), 13419–
13427.
Tian, M., Chen, S.-J., Wang, J., Zheng, X.-B., Luo, X.-J., Mai, B.-X., 2011. Brominated
flame retardants in the atmosphere of e-wastes and rural sites in southern
china: seasonal variation, temperature dependence, and gas-particle
partitioning. Environ. Sci. Technol. 45 (20), 8819–8825.
Wang, J.B., Xu, Z.M., 2015. Disposing and recycling waste printed circuit boards:
disconnecting, resource recovery, and pollution control. Environ. Sci. Technol.
49 (2), 721–733.
Wang, R.X., Chen, Y., Xu, Z.M., 2015. Recycling acetic acid from polarizing film of
waste liquid crystal display panels by sub/supercritical water treatments.
Environ. Sci. Technol. 49 (10), 5999–6008.
Xiao, J.F., Li, J., Xu, Z.M., 2017. Novel approach for in situ recovery of lithium
carbonate from spent lithium ion batteries using vacuum metallurgy. Environ.
Sci. Technol. 51 (20), 11960–11966.
Zhan, L., Xu, Z.M., 2014. State-of-the-art of recycling e-wastess by vacuum
metallurgy separation. Environ. Sci. Technol. 48 (24), 14092–14102.
Zhang, L., Xu, Z., 2017. C, H, Cl, and In element cycle in wastes: vacuum pyrolysis of
PVC plastic to recover indium in LCD panels and prepare carbon coating.
Zhang, L.G., Xu, Z.M., 2016a. A review of current progress of recycling technologies
for metals from waste electrical and electronic equipment. J. Cleaner Prod. 127,
19–36.
Zhang, L.G., Xu, Z.M., 2016b. Separating and recycling plastic, glass, and gallium
from waste solar cell modules by nitrogen pyrolysis and vacuum
decomposition. Environ. Sci. Technol. 50 (17), 9242–9250.
Zhou, L., Xu, Z.M., 2012. Response to waste electrical and electronic equipments in
China: legislation, recycling system, and advanced integrated process. Environ.
Sci. Technol. 46 (9), 4713–4724.