Growing volumes of electronic waste — or e-waste — are clogging landfills as consumers discard computers, smartphones and other products. Researchers at the University of New South Wales Centre for Sustainable Materials Research and Technology (SMaRT) in Australia are addressing this environmental problem with a modular approach to resource recycling and recovery.

An e-waste microfactory system has been engineered for sites where such waste is stockpiled. The modular equipment can operate in a space as small as 50 square meters (540 sq. ft.), transforming waste into value-The microfactory is composed of small modules that can break down and repurpose e-waste. Source: University of New South Wales/SMaRTadded materials and products.

Discarded computers and other devices are first placed into a module to break them down. Subsequent modules might include a special robot for the identification of useful parts, followed by use of a small furnace to transform these parts into valuable materials by using a precisely controlled temperature process.

Recovered micromaterials can be used in industrial-grade ceramics while the specific quality plastics from computers, printers and other discarded sources can be put through another module that produces filaments suitable for 3D-printing applications. Metal alloys can be used as metal components for new or existing manufacturing processes.

This sustainable approach to waste management is expected to offer economic benefits to local communities and remote sites.