More efficiënt WEEE Recycling with BOA
17 November 2009
In August 2009 of this year, BOA tested the breaking of Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment (WEEE), LCD TV’s and washing machines in our factory in Enschede (the Netherlands). It proved that the BOA machine - called BOA Pre-Crusher - effectively breaks those types of materials for further waste processing.
Changing regulations WEEE
The recycling of electronic equipment has improved thanks to research and reinforced regulations. Breaking this type of waste contributes considerably to better recycling and reuse. Besides, the surplus of electronic waste has grown strongly, demanding more recycling/reuse possibilities.
The BOA solution for recycling e-waste
With the BOA Pre-Crusher we found a solution to improve the efficiency of a sorting line that deals with electronic surplus (waste). After breaking, reusable materials such as motors and printed circuit boards can be easily sorted out. The machine does not cut and does not make the material unnecessary small, enabling efficient further sorting and handling. Instead of reducing size, the material is broken and thus protecting other machines in the sorting line, since reusable and/or large materials (such as metal sheets) can easily be taken out at once.
Three machines with three purposes
As a result of this, BOA succeeded to design three different machines to open bags, to break bales and to break electronic waste. In principle, the machines work the same, but they have a few differences to achieve their own goals. The BOA Pre-Crusher for example has a special Hardox lining for more resistance, since it has to deal with hard metals. In general, the BOA Bag Opener, the BOA Bale Breaker and the BOA Pre-Crusher enable an efficient sorting process after their job is done. The machines realize a constant material flow after opening or breaking. Each machine has one drum with teeth that grab the material and pull it through a cam (an anvil). The space between the cam and the drum is adjustable, which makes it possible to process many different materials of different sizes and dimensions.
From the bag opener and bale breaker to the pre-crusher
Our bag opener has proven its effectiveness by opening plastic bags efficiently (approximately 98%), keeping the material inside the bags intact. Afterwards, the material can be separated more successfully and more efficiently. Simultaneously, BOA designed an equivalent type of machine with another purpose, the BOA Bale Breaker. This machine has a few adaptations in comparison with the BOA Bag Opener and is able to break bales of sizes up to 1,2 x 1,1 x 2 meters. Coping with growing quantities and changing compositions of specific types of waste as well as improving the efficacy of waste sorting for reuse ask for solutions with waste-specific features. This has led to BOA’s recent development of the pre-crusher, suitable to break electronic equipment and appliances for better sorting.
