Recycling mobile phone impact on life cycle assessment

Electronic waste (e-waste) is one of the fastest growing waste streams in the world due to the rapid pace of technology enhancement and development. The exponential growth of e-waste contributes to a rapid increase in the rate of contaminants and waste entering landfills. This paper assesses the waste produced from the recycling of mobile phones in different countries highlighting the material flows and the amount of waste released to the environment. A comparison of mobile phone Printed Circuit Boards (PCBs) recycling through the formal recycling facilities in Malaysia and Australia were used as case studies. The results presented highlight the toxicity of waste and the impact to the environment. A life cycle assessment (LCA) approach was carried out focusing on the end-of-life (EOL) phase of mobile phone PCBs. The IMPACT 2002+ version 2.10 was used as the assessment tool to indicate the environmental impacts quantitatively. The results show the toxicity of the waste produced from the mobile phone PCBs recycling in Malaysia and Australia. This study identifies that the demand for recycled materials, law enforcement, and the e-waste recycling system are significant drivers to reduce the environmental impact of mobile phone recycling

The Effect of Consumer Behaviour on the Life Cycle Assessment of Energy Efficient Lighting Technologies

AbstractEnergy efficient lamps offer significant energy savings throughout their life. However, there is a variety of energy saving lamps available and it is unclear which impacts the environment least throughout the lifecycle under different use patterns. Different use patterns have a significant impact on the lifetime of each light globe alternative and therefore affect the life cycle impact of each globe.This paper undertakes a series of Life Cycle Assessments on two alternative lighting choices (Light Emitting Diodes and Compact Florescent Lamps) under a range of use conditions. It was found that the environmental impacts were comparable for CFLs and LEDs, though significantly less than traditional incandescent, for a range of different use cases. The sensitivity analysis carried out shows that the variation in lamp parameters has a far greater effect on the lifecycle impact rather than the use patterns

Multi-signal quality monitoring of aluminium resistance spot welding using principal component analysis

The current migration to lighter materials in car bodies, such as aluminium, has resulted in significant challenges for joining in production. Resistance Spot Welding (RSW) is the primary sheet metal joining technique in the automotive industry due to its quick cycle time, low cost and high strength. However, aluminium RSW suffers from problems with quality consistency compared to steel, requiring more frequent interventions. This results in a higher cost in production through increased cycle times and the use of consumable electrodes. To address this issue, a new multi-signal quality monitoring technique is proposed to allow for complete real-time quality monitoring of aluminium spot welds in production. The proposed solution utilises multiple signals during welding and an efficient algorithm using Principal Component Analysis to determine the signal shapes of interest. It was found that an RMSE of 119N could be achieved when predicting the strength of aluminium spot welds using multiple signals, which is approximately ±5% of the mean strength of the welds and an improvement on previous attempts.This research was supported by an Australian Government Research Training Program (RTP) Scholarship

Sustainable aluminium recycling of end-of-life products: A joining techniques perspective

The sustainable management of aluminium has become crucial due to the exponential growth in global demand. The transition to a sustainable society with lightweight electric vehicles has led to the increasing use of aluminium in the transportation sector. This has consequently led to the importance of aluminium recycling to prevent the valuable material stream going to landfill. In addition, the extraction of primary aluminium has high environmental impact due to the high energy consumption and waste generation in comparison to secondary aluminium processing. Despite being one of the most recycled metals, ongoing trends of multi-material designs and the associated joining choices have caused increasing difficulty of separating aluminium with high purity. This paper evaluates the types of joining techniques causing impurities in the aluminium streams, and the relationship between particle size reduction and the presence of impurities due to joints particularly for end-of-life vehicles. An empirical experiment in a leading European recycling facility was conducted and demonstrated that mechanical fasteners, such as machine screws, socket screws, bolt screws and rivets, are the major types of joining technique causing impurities. Based on the observations from this case study, the characteristics of imperfectly liberated joints are examined. A Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) is also performed to evaluate the environmental impact of recycling different aluminium scrap qualities with varying impurity levels. The outcomes are then used to provide ecodesign guidelines aimed at improving the quality and increase the quantity of recycled aluminium.This study is supported by the Commonwealth Government CRC Program (AutoCRC), the Australian National University, and the Centre for Industrial Management, University of Leuven

Epidemic syphilis exhibits diverse manifestations

Copyright to Australian Family Physician. Reproduced with permission. Permission to reproduce must be sought from the publisher, The Royal Australian College of General Practitioners.There are recent reports of a sustained increase in the incidence of syphilis around the world, including in the Australian cities of Sydney and Melbourne. In Queensland, there has been both an increase in the number of notifications and also a change in the epidemiology of the disease. While syphilis was previously predominantly seen in indigenous men and women, it now mostly occurs in nonindigenous men who have sex with other men - although per capita, indigenous Queenslanders remain overrepresented. Efforts to improve screening and treatment have shortened the time from diagnosis to treatment and appear to have been successful in reducing the rates of disease in remote indigenous populations. These efforts have included the establishment of a state wide syphilis register and active encouragement to remote practitioners to offer testing to patients aged 15–39 years as a part of the annual adult health check. Adoption of single dose azithromycin for syndromic treatment of urethritis and cervicitis and their contacts, albeit at a dose of only 1 g, may be having an impact as well.Andrew M Redmond; Craig M Dancer; Andrew R Doolan; Diane F Rowling; Marion L Wood

Using stamping punch force variation for the identification of changes in lubrication and wear mechanism

The growth in use of Advanced High Strength Steels in the automotive industry for light-weighting and safety has increased the rates of tool wear in sheet metal stamping. This is an issue that adds significant costs to production in terms of manual inspection and part refinishing. To reduce these costs, a tool condition monitoring system is required and a firm understanding of process signal variation must form the foundation for any such monitoring system. Punch force is a stamping process signal that is widely collected by industrial presses and has been linked closely to part quality and tool condition, making it an ideal candidate as a tool condition monitoring signal. In this preliminary investigation, the variation of punch force due to different lubrication conditions and progressive wear are examined. Linking specific punch force signature changes to developing lubrication and wear events is valuable for die wear and stamping condition monitoring. A series of semi-industrial channel forming trials were conducted under different lubrication regimes and progressive die wear. Punch force signatures were captured for each part and Principal Component Analysis (PCA) was applied to determine the key Principal Components of the signature data sets. These Principal Components were linked to the evolution of friction conditions over the course of the stroke for the different lubrication regimes and mechanism of galling wear. As a result, variation in punch force signatures were correlated to the current mechanism of wear dominant on the formed part; either abrasion or adhesion, and to changes in lubrication mechanism. The outcomes of this study provide important insights into punch force signature variation, that will provide a foundation for future work into the development of die wear and lubrication monitoring systems for sheet metal stamping

Focusing a NIR adaptive optics imager, experience with GSAOI

The Gemini South Adaptive Optics Imager (GSAOI) to be used with the Multi-Conjugate Adaptive Optics (MCAO) system at Gemini South is currently in the final stages of assembly and testing. GSAOI uses a suite of 26 different filters, made from both BK7 and Fused Silica substrates. These filters, located in a non-collimated beam, work as active optical elements. The optical design was undertaken to ensure that both the filter substrates both focused longitudinally at the same point. During the testing of the instrument it was found that longitudinal focus was filter dependant. The methods used to investigate this are outlined in the paper. These investigations identified several possible causes for the focal shift including substrate material properties in cryogenic conditions and small amounts of residual filter power

Comparative Study of End-of-Life Vehicle Recycling in Australia and Belgium

The increasing complexity of multi-material vehicle designs has created challenges for vehicle recycling. Many countries have implemented different end-of-life vehicles (ELVs) treatment policies and guidelines. For example, the European Commission has set recycling and recovery targets for end-of-life vehicle (ELV). This paper discusses a comparative study on the legislative boundaries and environmental performance of the current ELV recycling processes analysed between recycling companies in Australia and Belgium. It is shown that the strict implementation of the ELV Directive in Belgium has led to better environmental performance, by a factor of 7.9 in comparison to the Australian scenario. The enactment of strict ELV legislation, adoption of advanced recycling technologies, and improvement of the recycling efficiencies of revenue streams are identified as the major influencing factors for a sustainable ELV management system.This study is supported by the Commonwealth Government CRC Program (AutoCRC) and The Australian National Universit

Plasmacytoid dendritic cells appear inactive during sub-microscopic Plasmodium falciparum blood-stage infection, yet retain their ability to respond to TLR stimulation

Plasmacytoid dendritic cells (pDC) are activators of innate and adaptive immune responses that express HLA-DR, toll-like receptor (TLR) 7, TLR9 and produce type I interferons. The role of human pDC in malaria remains poorly characterised. pDC activation and cytokine production were assessed in 59 malaria-naive volunteers during experimental infection with 150 or 1,800 P. falciparum-parasitized red blood cells. Using RNA sequencing, longitudinal changes in pDC gene expression were examined in five adults before and at peak-infection. pDC responsiveness to TLR7 and TLR9 stimulation was assessed in-vitro. Circulating pDC remained transcriptionally stable with gene expression altered for 8 genes (FDR < 0.07). There was no upregulation of co-stimulatory molecules CD86, CD80, CD40, and reduced surface expression of HLA-DR and CD123 (IL-3R-α). pDC loss from the circulation was associated with active caspase-3, suggesting pDC apoptosis during primary infection. pDC remained responsive to TLR stimulation, producing IFN-α and upregulating HLA-DR, CD86, CD123 at peak-infection. In clinical malaria, pDC retained HLA-DR but reduced CD123 expression compared to convalescence. These data demonstrate pDC retain function during a first blood-stage P. falciparum exposure despite sub-microscopic parasitaemia downregulating HLA-DR. The lack of evident pDC activation in both early infection and malaria suggests little response of circulating pDC to infection

Interferon-Inducible CXC Chemokines Directly Contribute to Host Defense against Inhalational Anthrax in a Murine Model of Infection

Chemokines have been found to exert direct, defensin-like antimicrobial activity in vitro, suggesting that, in addition to orchestrating cellular accumulation and activation, chemokines may contribute directly to the innate host response against infection. No observations have been made, however, demonstrating direct chemokine-mediated promotion of host defense in vivo. Here, we show that the murine interferon-inducible CXC chemokines CXCL9, CXCL10, and CXCL11 each exert direct antimicrobial effects in vitro against Bacillus anthracis Sterne strain spores and bacilli including disruptions in spore germination and marked reductions in spore and bacilli viability as assessed using CFU determination and a fluorometric assay of metabolic activity. Similar chemokine-mediated antimicrobial activity was also observed against fully virulent Ames strain spores and encapsulated bacilli. Moreover, antibody-mediated neutralization of these CXC chemokines in vivo was found to significantly increase host susceptibility to pulmonary B. anthracis infection in a murine model of inhalational anthrax with disease progression characterized by systemic bacterial dissemination, toxemia, and host death. Neutralization of the shared chemokine receptor CXCR3, responsible for mediating cellular recruitment in response to CXCL9, CXCL10, and CXCL11, was not found to increase host susceptibility to inhalational anthrax. Taken together, our data demonstrate a novel, receptor-independent antimicrobial role for the interferon-inducible CXC chemokines in pulmonary innate immunity in vivo. These data also support an immunomodulatory approach for effectively treating and/or preventing pulmonary B. anthracis infection, as well as infections caused by pathogenic and potentially, multi-drug resistant bacteria including other spore-forming organisms