논문 상세보기
pp.705-712
In order to promote the resource circulation and upcycling of waste refrigerators, it is necessary to analyze the material flow of recovered valuable resources and low-value residues after they are discharged. This study divided the flow of waste refrigerators into the five steps of discharge, collection, pretreatment, resource recovery, and sale/export/disposal and conducted material flow analysis (MFA) in each step. Waste refrigerators are treated via official (formal sectors, 65.6% of total amount) and unofficial (informal sectors, 34.4% of total amount) channels. Officially, waste refrigerators are collected through free collection by national and local governments, recovery by product producers and distributors, and waste collection·transportation·recycling companies and are recycled at public and private recycling centers. Unofficially, waste refrigerators are collected through junk shops and individual collectors. Waste refrigerators recycled in the formal sectors undergo pretreatment processes such as the disassembly, shredding, and separation and recovery of resources such as scrap irons, plastics, PCB (printed circuit board), cables, glasses, waste refrigerants, urethane, etc. Waste refrigerators recycled in informal sector treated through disassembly of the exterior, the shredding process by the excavators in illegal facilities and recovered waste refrigerants, plastics, glasses, scrap irons, copper, nickel silver, PCB, urethane, etc. MFA results show that in 2015, the amount of waste refrigerators collected from formal sectors reached 121,642 ton/year, the amount of recycling was 107,684 ton/year, and the amount of residues was 13,955 ton/year respectively. Thus, actual recycling rate per a waste refrigerator was estimated 88.15% in 2015. To promote the resource circulation and upcycling of waste refrigerators, it is necessary to find a way to improve the recycling of urethane, which accounts for 10.8% of the total weight of a refrigerator.
