A review on computer waste with its special insight to toxic elements, segregation and recycling techniques

Being a significant part of waste electrical and electronic equipment (WEEE), computer waste is gaining more attention due to its tremendous generation and toxic environmental concerns. The complex and diverse material content in the computer makes them ideal for recycling. At the same time, presence of hazardous contents such as flame retardants and heavy metals makes obstructions in recycling procedure. An enormous amount of computer wastes are either landfilled or incinerated, which results in leaching of chemicals and emission of toxic gases respectively. This paper reviews the information related to the role of computers in WEEE stream, hazardous components in computer waste stream, possibilities of segregation and the recycling of different components of the computer waste. A methodological segregation and recycling of the computer waste components is more economical as compared to landfilling and incineration. Ultimately, natural petroleum resources can be conserved by recycling waste products which leads to the sustainable development of novel products. Furthermore, this review is helpful to sustainable development, in recycling procedure product formulation from computer waste products. (C) 2018 Institution of Chemical Engineers. Published by Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.