AFTER THE SORTING AND WEIGHING
After they are collected, mobile phones are handed over to recycler Virogreen, which is located within the same Tuas industrial area.
Up to 90 percent of a mobile phone can be recycled, Virogreen told CNA.
Once received, the load – whether bags or pallets – containing mobile phones is weighed, said its director of business development Tommy Yeo.
Phones are then brought to a well-lit table at the corner of the facility, where they are manually dissected by workers donning safety glasses and gloves.
Parts such as the phone’s screen, plastic cover, battery and mainboard, also known as the printed circuit board, are separated into different boxes. As only a small amount of each part can be obtained from each phone, Virogreen will usually wait to hit a certain weight for each part before sending them to downstream recyclers.
For example, Virogreen collects 25,000kg of printed circuit boards – from both mobile phones and other electronics – before sending them for processing.
During processing, precious metals such as gold, silver, platinum and other more common metals like copper, tin and zinc, can be extracted from the mainboard. The battery contains cadmium, iron, cobalt, nickel, copper and aluminum while the touchscreen can consist of glass and plastic.
After harvesting, these materials can be remade into new products. The 10 percent of a mobile phone that cannot be recycled will go into the incinerator.
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