Assessing the sustainability of the material recovery system for CRT glass

In recent years, electronic waste has emerged as a waste stream of concern for many reasons; including the need to handle hazardous or extract valuable materials. Within this e- waste stream, cathode-ray tube (CRT) glass waste, from televisions (TVs) and computer monitors, is of particular concern because of high recycling costs and low secondary material value. Economic issues are thus a significant consideration when assessing the sustainability of this material recovery system. In particular, there are questions as to whether the demand for recycled CRT cullet will remain sufficient to sustain the secondary material market. The authors present two models developed to characterize the global mass flow of primary and secondary CRT glass. The first model assesses future supply and the second evaluates potential future demand for secondary CRT cullet.