| الوصف: |
Waste and electrical and electronic equipment (WEEE), generally disposed of in landfills, contains precious elements, called rare earth metals, which are applicable in many industrial sectors. Only 1% of the rare earth elements are recycled from the residues as mentioned above. This study aims to verify the technological trend, through the patent analysis, of the methods for recovering rare earth metals from end-of-life electronic equipment. The patented methods were searched on the Orbit Intelligence database, using a combination of keywords and classification codes (IPC and CPC). Japan is, in fact, the first country for several patents in this sector. However, the filing trend of patent applications has been decreasing since 2018. |
