A review of LED lamp recycling process from the 10 R strategy perspective

Abstract

Recycling LED lamp technology requires a change from the traditional bulk material-based recovery process. Unlike preceding lighting technology, LED lamps cannot be recycled to meet the regulatory minimum recycling rate of 80% due to multi-materials, including small quantity precious metals, which reduce the sorting efficiency. Therefore, it is crucial to understand how the challenges have been approached in the scientific literature in this context. The review article investigates the circular solutions to the challenges that the end of life LED lamp management is facing. This review applies PRISMA systematic literature review to locate the relevant studies and investigate whether the proposed processes can increase the recycling rate, using the circular economy strategy as a theoretical framework. Several recycling processes have been proposed in the academic literature. However, the techniques have not been evaluated against the circular economy strategies to identify current gaps and possible ways. This review attempts to fill this gap by assessing the current approaches against the 10 R strategies (refuse, rethink, reconsider, reuse, repair, refurbish, remanufacture, repurpose, recycle and recover). The study suggests that recycling is the dominant strategy, but the higher R strategies such as reuse, repair, and remanufacture have also been discussed as potential life extension strategies. The study concludes by proposing an integrated treatment approach that focuses on higher R’s (reuse, repair, refurbish, remanufacture and repurpose) instead of focusing on lower R’s (e.g., recycling).