Copper scrap and copper alloys production from recycled used objects is 10 or 15% of mine production. In addition, there is considerable re-melting/re-refining of scrap generated during fabrication and manufacture.

The treatment given to copper scrap depends on its purity. The lowest grade scrap is smelted and refined like concentrate in a primary or secondary (scrap) smelter/refinery. Higher-grade scrap is fire-refined, then electro-refined. The highest-grade scrap (mainly manufacturing waste) is often melted and cast without refining. Its copper is used for non-electrical products, including tube, sheet, and alloys. Alloy scrap (brass, bronze) is melted and cast as alloy. (Excerpt from Extractive Metallurgy of Copper)

There are many types of waste electronic and electric elements. Because of the hazardous property, inappropriate treatment to WEEE/PCB may impose irreversible threaten to local environment. Metalcess offers two solution for different treatment capacity.

Small capacity application: separation of metal and non-metal + rotary furnace smelting + copper electro-refining + anode slime recovery

Medium to large capacity application: TBRC smelting + copper electro-refining + anode slime recovery 

Black copper is the product of low grade copper scrap or WEEE/PCB by simple smelting. The composition of black copper is very complicated and impurities has to be removed by fire-refining in order to get copper anode possible for further processing by electro-refining to produce standard copper cathode and byproduct anode slime.

Soldering tin, is one of the products from WEEE recycling process. In the past, soldering tin was re-melt to adjust the composition to produce tin alloy ingot. However, the recent requirement given by RoHS (Restriction of Hazardous Substance) request that the soldering tin has to be free of lead for recycling use. To separate lead from soldering tin, Metalcess suggests using a treatment process combining spiral finned crystallizer and vacuum distillation to produce lead-free soldering tin. 

Hard zinc is a kind of zinc-based alloy as the byproduct of certain zinc processing, including waste galvanizing zinc (Zn-Fe alloy) from hot dip galvanizing of steel industry, the zinc residue (containing Zn, Fe/Ge/In/Ag, etc.) from the refining process of crude zinc, zinc-cadmium alloy, zinc-containing slag from waste incineration, etc. Hard zinc can be used to recover zinc as well as other valuable metal. 

Can shell is made from steel-plated tin electrolytic (abbreviated as SPTE), which is a cold-rolled low carbon steel sheet plated with pure tin on both sides for anti-corrosion, thus the material integrates both features of steel and tin, high strength and formability, of and the good appearance, corrosion resistance and solderability. 

Recycle of SPTE first comes to tin recycling, the key point of all the recycling steps. The accessible process for tin recycling from SPTE includes : 

Alkaline Electro-winning

Alkaline Solution Treatment

Chloridization Treatment 

Nickel & cadmium battery once occupied a big share at the battery market. Though its production is nearly stopped for its weakness of small cell capacity and short service lifetime, it is still a long way to go to get all the spent nickel & cadmium battery recycled when it is out of service. Proper handling of spent nickel & cadmium battery means recycling in a sustainable way and environmental friendly manner. 

Spent lithium battery contains valuable metals, with each representing in mass friction, including 5-20% cobalt, 5-7% lithium, 5-10% nickel, 5-10% copper and 5-10% aluminum, etc. The recovery of spent lithium battery will, especially, mitigate the shortage of cobalt.