NTU collaborates with French scientists to develop metal X-ray sorting machine to quickly sort and recycle electronic waste

In collaboration with French Alternative Energies and Atomic Energy Commission (CEA), NTU scientists have been collaborating with French scientists under the NTU Singapore-CEA Alliance for Research in Circular Economy (NTU SCARCE) to develop a new technology for sorting and recovering of precious metals from e-waste such as printed circuit board, lithium-ion batteries and silicon solar panels. 

Dr Xia Dong, a senior researcher from NTU SCARCE, said a circuit board usually contains more than 70 elements, and many key elements are extracted from minerals, which can be exhausted. Thus, to recover these materials, they have invented and patented an X-ray transmission sorter that efficiently classifies and recovers metals from electronic components. This method which is registered as a patent by the Intellectual Property Office of Singapore (IPOS), simplifies and increases recovery efficiency while reducing costs. Prof J.C. Gabriel, who leads the project, said that SCARCE has obtained intellectual property rights and patents in the recycling fields of lithium batteries, photovoltaic panel recycling, printed circuit boards, and electronic equipment plastics, and is ready for commercialization.

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