9561683 Spencer This Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Phase I project will address mechanical liberation followed by optical sortation for automated, high-speed extraction of metals from the electronic fraction of post-consumer electronic products and durables. Disposal of consumer electronic goods is a growing environmental concern and is expected to add significantly to the cost of U.S. electronics production. Thus, the project is also part of NSF's 1995 initiative in Environmentally Conscious Manufacturing. Optical sortation is presently applied to separate plastic bottles and to high-speed removal of contaminants from a stream of plastics. This research will establish the feasibility of extending this technology to the separation of one metal from another and from other materials typically used in electronics and durable goods.
