Design for recycle of devices to ensure efficient recovery of technology critical metals

Abstract

Many of the issues associated with recycling devices containing small but significant amounts of technology critical metals, arise from the choice of materials and, most importantly, the joining methods for different materials. In many cases, recycling could be simplified and made more efficient by employing design for recycle principles which consider the requirements for separation. This study highlights recent innovative recycling tools which can impart greater selectivity during material separation and shows how often small changes in device architecture can greatly simplify critical metal recovery and promote circularity. It also discusses how design can be used to enable these tools to be assembled into the recycling flowsheet, to decrease energy and chemical input and maximise the recovery of technology critical metals. It also promotes how digital product passports could be used in combination with AI to develop algorithms to develop smart recycling flowsheets.