'Active disassembly using Smart Materials' End of Life technology for WEEE - Results from the framework V project

The three and a half year 'Active Disassembly using Smart Materials' (ADSM) project was set up to investigate a new generic way of dealing with waste electrical and electronic equipment (WEEE). Currently manual disassembly allows for the highest degree of separation of the required fractions, however the costs associated with this treatment are very high. This poses a difficult problem that ADSM aims to tackle. Self-disassembling products are not currently available but development of these could ease WEEE recycling. Active Disassembly may be defined as a process by which a product that is at its 'End of Life' (EoL) condition can self dismantle with the aid of embedded devices, integral or discrete. These devices may be triggered by external or internal stimuli. Active Disassembly using Smart Materials (ADSM) is the implementation of temperature-triggered mechanisms as the fixing systems. At EoL the product is raised to an increased ambient temperature exceeding in use conditions. The smart materials react to this stimulus resulting in the release of the fastening elements and thus self-disassembly. Unlike other forms of recycling ADSM is a generic EoL process.