X-ray fluorescence analysis of waste electrical and electronic equipment

Abstract

The paper evaluates the composition of waste electrical and electronic equipment most often used by today’s society. For the five electronic devices (mobile phone, computer mouse, keyboard, web-camera, and computer monitor), the components have been identified and elemental composition has been measured using x-ray fluorescence analysis. As expected, most of the devices weight accounts for plastic (since the casing is mostly made from plastic). Cables also have a significant weight. In the devices analysed, 28 chemical elements were found during the study: the greatest diversity were found in monitor. It is worth noting the high content of titanium in all the devices