A Review of Electronic Waste (e-Waste) Recycling Technologies "Is e-Waste an Opportunity or Treat?"

The purpose of this review is to raise awareness about e-waste problem in the World. Whether generated at our home or our office, e-waste is most rapidly growing waste problem in the world. Even though there are conventional disposal methods (such as landfill and incineration) for e-waste, these methods have both economic and environmental disadvantages; recycling is a new waste management option which diverts end-of-life (EOL) electrical and electronic equipment (EEE) from landfill and incineration [1, 2]. Successful diversion strategy must be based on economic sustainability, technical feasibility and social support [3]. Recycling infrastructure includes transportation, collection, recovery and resale establishments. The first part of this paper describes the e-waste facts, how big is the e-waste problem and existing recycling programmes and collecting methods in the USA and EU; second part, describes various methods available to recover valuable materials (glass, plastic and metals (Pb, Cu, Al, Steel, Ni, Au, Pd, Cu etc)) in e-waste for a safe and environmental friendly disposal