Electronic Waste Recycling Facility
A proposal prepared by
DJJW
David
James
John
Wayne
for
KENNEN R. PFLUGHOEFT
HCDE 333
University of Washington
10/25/10
DJJW
University of Washington
Seattle, WA 98195
10/25/10
Kennen R. Pflughoeft
HCDE 333
University of Washington
Seattle, WA 98195
Dear Mr. Kraft,
Attached is a proposal for the construction of an Electronic Waste Recycling Facility.
This proposal has been produced by Team DJJW for the intended purpose of acquiring
sufficient investment for this facility to be constructed. It will reduce the hazards caused by
the disposal of electronic waste, while generating a moderate profit. The expected pay off
date for this facility is less than 15 years after construction, and a 120% return on
investment can be provided within 20 years.
We believe that as a leader of an major electronics manufacturer, that you may have
interest in demonstrating corporate responsibility while generating a profit.
Team DJJW would like to thank you for your time and resources to review this proposal. If
you require any further information, please contact us.
Sincerely,
Team DJJW
David
John
James
Wayne
Table of Contents
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY .................................................................................................................................... 4
INTRODUCTION ................................................................................................................................................. 5
TECHNICAL INFORMATION ........................................................................................................................... 8
BUSINESS PLAN .................................................................................................................................................. 9
PERSONNEL INFORMATION ....................................................................................................................... 11
PROJECT TIMELINE ....................................................................................................................................... 12
SUMMARY ......................................................................................................................................................... 13
APPENDICES..................................................................................................................................................... 14
REFERENCES .................................................................................................................................................... 15
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
The DJJW Electronic Waste Recycling Facility will generate a profit by reclaiming valuable
materials from dead electronic devices. It will also reduce environmental hazards
generated by the currently implemented means of electronic waste disposal.
The facility design was generated by a collaborative effort between the members of DJJW,
and its operational abilities will be adaptive to the marketability of reclaimed materials.
This will allow a greater return on profit then other facilities that dispose of electronic
waste.
The current situation is that nearly every American owns a personal computer or cell
phone, and that the average lifespan of these electronics is three to five years. When it is
time for disposal of these electronics, only a small portion of them are recycled. The
remainder of the electronic waste is either stored, dumped or sent oversees to be
processed in a deregulated fashion. This is harmful to the environment, and highly
wasteful. There are many valuable metals inside electronics such as copper, nickel, gold,
tungsten, steel and aluminum. There is also a market for the miscellaneous glass and plastic
materials left over from the recycling process. It is entirely feasible to generate a profit
from recycling these devices, provided that it is done in an efficient manner.
The target is to reduce the amount of harmful waste released into the environment while
generating a profit. Reducing environmental contaminants will demonstrate good faith to
the public. It will also allow for the application of future tax breaks that are likely to be
implemented at both the state and federal level.
That is why this DJJW Electronic Waste Facility is being proposed. It will reduce the amount
of harmful materials released into the environment by properly disposing of dangerous
contaminants. The facility will do this while generating a net profit through the resale of
valuable materials reclaimed from the electronic waste.
To build the facility it will cost approximately twenty million dollars, while the repay time
is less then fifteen years. It is also estimated that the facility will generate a 120% return on
investment within twenty years.
The DJJW team is composed of interdisciplinary engineers, allowing for an appropriate
depth of skills required to design, plan and then build this facility. The design is to meet a
recognized demand that is currently unfilled, and it will do so in an efficient manner.
INTRODUCTION
The world is moving into an electronics age as many countries undergo modernization. The
industrial revolution brought new hazards to society and so does the electronic revolution.
Among the hazards generated by this new revolution is that of electronic waste disposal.
Electronic devices are composed of both valuable and dangerous materials, which need to
be properly handled at the end of their lifespan.
Currently eighty percent of Americans own a personal computer, and the lifetime of these
computers is estimated to be three to five years [1]. In numbers this means that over sixty
million computers per year expire. The EPA states that only twenty percent of these sixty
million computers will be recycled. Once these computers expire they will be stored,
dumped, incinerated or shipped overseas to be managed in a deregulated fashion [2]. This
is also true for most other electronic devices such as televisions, cell phones and monitors.
These disposal techniques are hazardous to the environment, and waste valuable
resources. Combustion or incineration of the electronic waste generates highly toxic
airborne waste such as polybrominated dibenzodioxins and dibenzofurans [2]. Dioxins
have been shown to cause human nervous system damage along with muscular and
circulatory system responses [3]. When the same electronic waste is instead dumped into
landfills, heavy metals will seep into the ground water system [2]. Exposure to heavy
metals is widely known to cause nervous and circulatory damage, along with possible
carcinogenic effects. Another practice is to send the electronic oversees, where it is
processed in a hap-hazardous fashion. Open acid baths are seen in figure 1, in which
printed circuit boards are treated in acid and then the spent acid is dumped in order to
recover valuable materials.
Figure 1: Open acid baths used to recover valuable metals from electronic waste[2]
Figure 2: Open incineration of electronic waste to recover valuable metals from electronic
waste [2]
Figure 3: Landfill of acid treated circuit boards [2]
There are multiple valuable metals found inside most electronic waste, but especially in
computer towers. There is a large amount of aluminum and steel scrap metal from the
tower frame and case itself. There is also copper, nickel, gold and tungsten inside most
computers. These metals are non-renewable and their value are continually increasing. Not
to be limited to metals, studies also indicate that there are valuable nonmetal components
as well [2]. The plastics found inside printed circuit boards can be used in the construction
of composites and resins, while shredded glass can be used as concrete strengtheners [2].
The purpose of this proposal is to gain the required investment to construct an Electronic
Waste Recycling Facility. This facility will take on a significant amount of the computer
waste currently generated in America, and instead of being disposed of improperly it will
be recycled. A major goal is to decrease the environmental impact that the electronic
industry has. The second major goal is to generate a profit by the sale of reclaimed material
back to industry. This facility will be a sustainable and a reliable source of profit.
Included in the scope of this project are the detailed plans for the construction and
operation of the Electronic Waste Recycling Facility, along with the estimated costs and
profitability. The timeline for the construction of the facility and start-up will provide an
idea for the magnitude of the project. Enclosed is the personnel requirements and the
qualifications of Team DJJW to plan, construct and operate this plant. Estimated plant costs
and profitability are also enclosed in this proposal, making available the same statistics that
we have used to generate the designs for this plant.
TECHNICAL INFORMATION
Collection is merely the process of collecting raw materials to be processed. While we could
possibly insist that our waste disposal partners transport their raw materials to us, we
believe that this will make partners reluctant to deal with us, especially during the initial
phases of this project. If we are the ones taking material off of their hands at no cost to
them, we believe nearly every waste disposal facility will be willing to partner with us,
since it costs them nothing.
Collection will require quite a bit of transportation equipment. Depending on who our
partners are and volume size, we will likely require semi-trailer trucks, along with
employees who can operate them (meaning employees will be required to obtain a CDL),
and other employees to load and unload items.
At first, we will only collect from waste disposal facilities once a month. This allows us to
keep our employee count low and to ensure regular service with our partners (the worry
being that if we commit to collecting waste more often than once a month, we may not be
able to keep up with that commitment). As time goes on, we expect to increase the
frequency of our pickups to as often as possible.
Our factory will have two assembly lines; one line will dismantle computers deemed
unusable and recyclable, the other line will be for plastic and metal recycling. The
Inspection line will take obsolete and unusable computers components and send them
through a grinding process. The ending product will be finely ground materials to be
separated through magnetic screening and air jets. The magnetic screening separates
ferrous metals with non-ferrous metals and plastics. The air jet process varies air pressure
to lift materials of different densities (plastics and metals). Because this air jet process is
hard to contain we will also be using air filter systems to prevent accidental inhaling of the
finely ground materials.
Computers will be briefly powered to ensure they are usable and sent through a 20 minute
stress test using Prime95 to ensure memory and cpu is stable at 100% load. Computers
that do pass the inspection test will have to be standardized when leaving our facility. To
ensure this, a memory wipe will be performed and Ubuntu 10.0 will be installed.
For our grinding method, we would like to use Cryogenic Fine Grinding Technology. By
using this method we will be able to produce finely ground materials at a size of about 200
microns. This is possible by cryogenically freezing the particles using liquid nitrogen. When
the raw materials are at temperatures below their glass transition state they will be brittle
enough to break into particles in the 100’s of microns in diameter. A special grinding
machine will be used to regulate temperature and use nitrogen to stabilize the
environment. The benefits of this method will ensure: smaller particle sizes, more uniform
particle size distribution, efficient processing, process cooling/temperature control and
stable inertness.
The size of these particles will be perfect for recycling plants in reformulating and
recorporating into primary products, generally through a molding process. Other plants
that use molding and extrusion techniques can take advantage of the quality and size of our
materials.
We will need: a feeding container to feed our raw materials in, a conveyor belt to carry and
cool the materials before being grounded, a controller will control the nitrogen enriched
environment and to regulate temperature.
Our metal grinding plant will be contracted, designed and built for $3,120,300.00 see
Appendix B. for the full price allocation. This metal grinding plant will consist of infeed
conveyors to ease the process of feeding in metals, shredders and hoppers to contain and
shred the raw materials, conveyors to move shredded materials to other locations,
scaffoldings to provide pathways for our employees, electromagnets to filter ferrous
metals, several granulators to process shredded materials into smaller bits, an air filtration
system, and several gravity tables.
Resale of materials will entail taking processed material and selling it back to vendors. The
type of vendors we resell to will be heavily dependent on what materials we can acquire
from the waste, although the majority of it will likely be vendors interested in recycled
plastic and heavy metals.
Resale will also require transportation equipment, much the same as collection. By
handling transportation costs, we hope that we can convince resale vendors to partner
with us by reducing their costs for obtaining materials.
Resale will likely occur on a time frame similar to collection: if we collect materials once a
month, we will likely also resell materials once a month. This ensures that we never enter a
situation where we have a standing appointment to meet with a resale vendor but have
nothing to sell them.
BUSINESS PLAN
The following section will outline Team DJJW’s basic work plan for the completion of our
proposal. It will describe, in detail, the manner in which we will execute our operation, and
allow the investor to gain a better understanding of how funds will be allocated and what
milestones can be expected. Our plan for the creation of an electronic waste recycling
facility will be divided up into four phases:
Phase I – Obtain a Location
Phase II – Construct the Facility
Phase III – Establish Partnerships
Phase IV – Begin Recycling
The completion of the final phase will lead us into the operation of our facility, which will
be approximately two years from the beginning of our project.
Phase I – Obtain a Location
Our facility will be serving the major urban centers in the Pacific Northwest, with our focus
on Seattle, Tacoma, Olympia, and Portland. In order to have access to these major cities, we
must chose a centralized location somewhere along I-5. In addition to easy access to these
areas, we also must choose a site where we can purchase land for a reasonable price.
The warehouse that we must construct for our facility is going to have to be approximately
125,000 square feet in order to house the assembly lines, recycling equipment, and
administrative offices. Our current research shows that sites of this size have been
procured for approximately five million dollars, but further cost analysis is going to have to
be performed in order to get an exact price for the land needed. Initial findings suggest that
possible areas to purchase would include the stretch of land in between Lacey, WA and
Vancouver, WA. This area would provide for the cheapest land and the most efficient access
to the areas that we will need to reach.
Phase II – Construct the Facility
The warehouse facility will be divided up into three different sections. There will be an area
for two assembly lines, one for the dismantling of the electronics and the other for the
extraction of materials. This area will need to be large enough for two conveyor belts and
room for employees to move around and work efficiently. The second area will house all of
the machinery and equipment required for the recycling of the different materials that will
be extracted from the components. Lastly, there will be some space allocated for the
administrative offices.
To execute our plan, we are going to need to purchase several pieces of heavy machinery.
An industrial sized plastic grinder and pulverizer is going to have to be purchased in order
to shred the plastic pieces of the electronics, so that they can then be transported to a
plastic recycling center. During this process of shredding the plastics, there is much dust
that is produced, so we will also need a collection system for proper ventilation and
collection of dust. One thing we will not be doing at our facility is the actual smelting of the
various heavy metals that are used in electronics, however, the chemical processes
required to separate materials and other processes associated with breaking down certain
components tends to create a large amount of hazardous gases and bi-products. In order to
maintain our employees safety, and create an environmentally safe facility, it is of upmost
importance that we have an extensive waste management system. This system will include
machinery for the collection and containment of solid, liquid, and gaseous bi-products that
may be harmful to the environment. For more details on machinery pricing, see Appendix
B.
This facility will have to conform to all OSHA and EPA standards of safety and waste
management. This is for the benefit of our employees and our environment. Initial research
on the pricing of facilities of similar magnitude is estimated around ten million dollars,
although further analysis must be completed in order to get an exact estimate. This price
could also fluctuate in order to meet the standards discussed and to allow for a truly
sustainable facility.
Phase III – Establish Partnerships
Our electronics recycling facility will be focused on the dismantling, extraction, and
separation of materials found in different electronic devices. In order to focus our efforts
on these processes and maintain a proper scope, there are several tasks that must be
contracted out to other entities. The first major task that must be completed is the
collection of the electronic waste. We will have to partner with organizations that either
have donation or drop-off facilities such as charities, schools, or other recycling facilities.
Once collected, the electronics must be transported to our facility, which requires the
contracting of a large-scale truck and transport company. After the electronics are
processed, we then need to send the individual materials to different places for further
recycling. This means partnering with smelting facilities and plastic recycling plants.
Phase IV – Begin Recycling
The final phase of our operation will involve the processes necessary to start recycling
electronics. We are going to have to hire employees in order to fill the positions of
collecting and extracting materials, performing maintenance and engineering of
equipment, and also administration for the facility. Once these positions are filled, we are
going to have to train the employees for their individual jobs. Several standards are also
going to have to be established to define what constitutes a working vs. non-working
component and how to properly handle the waste created by the recycling process.
PERSONNEL INFORMATION
We will build 4 main groups of employees. These employees are: administration,
maintenance, collectors, and extractors. The administration will be working on getting
companies to partner with us. Maintenance employees will do custodial work around all
sections of the facility. The collectors are our transportation crew which will go from
auctions and donations to collect e-waste from schools, businesses, and the municipal
collection system. Extractors will manage the our grinding machines, inspect computers
and dismantle components for recycling.
Our current four chairs include:
David Li, a student in the mechanical engineering department at the University of
Washington is specializing in control systems (mechatronics). His experience with
designing parts and managing projects will help along the proposal.
James Truitt with a background in manufacturing and designing process. James’
contribution to the project will be overseeing the contracting work to be done.
John Willey, a student with a degree in Chemical Engineer which provides him the
technical abilities required to operate a plant as a process/plant/maintenance engineer. He
has practical hands on experience in manufacturing settings from working at Boeing for 3
months, at one of the largest fabrication facilities in the North West. He is on course to
graduate with honors, will have a minor in applied math, and a specialization in
nanoscience (ideal for milling small particles and theory of colloidal seperation.
Wayne is graduating with a B.S. in Computer Engineering and a B.A. in Chemistry which
allows him to assist with both the electrical testing process and the extraction process. He
has worked before in several high-profile research labs, though admittedly Biological
research labs, but which included working with electrical equipment and circuitry design.
PROJECT TIMELINE
We propose the following timeline for completing this project:
Figure 4: Project Timeline Chart
We estimate this project will take approximately two years to complete, of which a
substantial part will involve building the facility. Some of the above objectives can be
broken down further into the following milestones:
●
Find contracts
○ Find waste disposal partners
○ Find resale partners
Determine equipment needs
○ Determine and purchase extraction equipment
○ Determine and purchase collection equipment
○ Determine and purchase administrative equipment
● Hire employees
○ Hire administrative staff
○ Hire collection staff
○ Hire extraction staff
●
SUMMARY
Our proposal has hopefully convinced you of the following things:
●
●
●
●
Electronic waste is a problem not being addressed currently
There is a profitable solution to dealing with electronic waste
Our qualifications make us well-suited to solve this issue
We estimate we can provide you with a 120% return on your investment over the
course of 20 years
Our major obstacle to this solution (and the reason why these solutions don’t readily exist
already) is the high initial cost, but we hope that Team DJJW has convinced you that we
understand the intricacies of these projects and can provide you with a significant return
on your initial investment.
APPENDICES
APPENDIX A: Profit estimations
Table A.1: Cost allocation
APPENDIX B: A proposed and quoted metal recycling assembly:
Table B.1 Inventory List of quoted metal grinding plant
COMPONENT
QUANTITY SUB TOTAL
13
$164,800.00
VARIOUS CONVEYORS
SHREDDER WITH RAM HOPPER AND STAND $350,000.00
DISC SCREEN
MAGNETIC DETECTOR
MAGNETS
RASPER
RASPER VIBRATORY
RASPER AUGER
RASPER AIR SYSTEM
SCAFFOLDING
RASPER GRANULATOR
RASPER GRANULATOR WAFFLE CLEANER
RASPER GRANULATOR MAG PLATE
RASPER GRANULATOR STAND
RASPER GRANULATOR AIR SYSTEM
RASPER WIRE CLEAN GRINDER
RASPER WIRE BALER
GRAVITY TABLE
CONTROL PANEL $75,000.00
TOTAL
4
1
1
2
2
10
2
2
2
8
8
8
8
2
2
2
8
1
$1,250,000.00
$12,000.00
$2,500.00
$15,000.00
$700,000.00
$67,000.00
$5,000.00
$11,000.00
$3,000.00
$440,000.00
$20,000.00
$12,000.00
$8,000.00
$19,000.00
$90,000.00
$130,000.00
$96,000.00
$75,000.00
$3,120,300.00[4]
REFERENCES
[1] Kahhat, R., Williams, E. (2009, August 1). Product or Waste? Importation and End-of-life Processing of
Computers in Peru. Environ Sci Technol Environmental Science & Technology v. 43 no15 (August 1 2009) p.
6010-6.
[2] Guo, J., Guo, J., Xu, Z. (2009, September 15). Recycling of non-metallic fractions from waste printed circuit
boards: A review. Journal of Hazardous Materials, v168 n2-3 p. 567-590.
[3] Schecter A, Ryan JJ (1992, July). Persistent Brominanated and Chlorinated Dioxin Blood-Levels in a
Chemist – 35 Years After Dioxin Exposure. Journal of Occupational and Environmental Medicine, v34, issue 7
p. 702-707
[4] http://www.tpatrituratori.com/Download-document/50-Full-Shredding-System-for-
3.1-M.html