Variation of elemental compositions and the recovery potential of light-emitting diodes (LED) packages

Abstract

E-waste is the fastest growing waste stream in the world with 9% contribution from lightings. The global market of lightings today had already been taken over by Light Emitting Diodes (LEDs) lighting therefore the increasing amount of its waste shall be expected. By separating the LED products to its components fractions, it allows for higher concentrations of elements in the components. LED packages hold the smallest portion in the components of LED products with the most concentrated amounts of critical elements. All packages differ in elemental values based on their manufacturers and functionalities. This is the first study to assess the differences in concentrations of metals from three generations of LED packages (PIN, SMD and COB LED). The SMD LED package shows the highest containing amount of precious metals compared to others. The economic assessment of gold was done to predict the potential of recoverable metal from the packages. This study contributes to a more comprehensive database about LED samples so feasible recycling and recovery strategy can be developed.