Page 39 from: March 2012

39March 2012

the business is booming. For this reason,

Florida-based Creative recycling purchased

12 BluBoxes to offer this recycling service.’

Valuable materials
‘What the BLUBOX does is process hazardous

waste into valuable raw materials,’ Mr Burri goes

on to explain. ‘Our innovation and technology

enable it to simultaneously recycle several kinds

of mercurial wastes. The flat screens, for instance,

contain very valuable materials such as, for

instance, polymethyl methacrylate (PMMA) – a

transparent plastic sometimes called acrylic glass.

Currently, the price of PMMA is between

US$ 600 and US$ 800 per tonne.’ The BLUBOX

is suitable for processing a wide range of wastes,

including: all fluorescent tubes and lamps up to

three metres in length; fluorescent tubes with

plastic protection; compact fluorescent lamps;

all electronic compact fluorescent lamps, also

with heavy sockets; all halogen lamps; most high-

pressure discharge lamps; all kinds of light bulbs

and lamp scrap; all types of flat screens up to 100

cm in length; notebooks; and mobile phones.

Payback
The composition of the output depends on the

type of waste processed, while the grain size is

determined by the installed screen grids. The

fractions from flat screen recycling are in gen-

eral: ferrous; non-ferrous (aluminium, elec-

trodes); plastics; printed circuit boards and

other LCD/plasma parts sorted out by the grids;

non-ferrous parts not fitting through the grids;

powder (fluorescent powder, glass dust, metal

dust); and foils and films (including indium-

tin-oxide and LC parts).

The fractions from lamp and tube recycling are:

ferrous electrodes and wires (with brass pins

attached); glass which is directly saleable to the

glass processing industry; an end fraction com-

prising aluminium caps and sockets, PC boards,

plastics, etc; and powder (fluorescent powder

and a small amount of glass dust).

‘In general, a payback time of four years should

be easily achievable,’ Mr Burri says of the plant.

‘I am so convinced that our clients will be satis-

fied with the BLUBOX that, in case they are not,

Air Mercury is ready to buy the machine back

after two years for the sales price.’

Safety first
Safety was a big issue when designing the

BLUBOX – after all, the workers must deal with

mercury-containing dust. However, Mr Burri

stresses that no mercury can leak from the con-

tainer because even in stand-by mode, the

BLUBOX is permanently maintained under

negative pressure to ensure a totally clean envi-

ronment and to protect the operating staff.

Several easily-accessible emergency stop but-

tons have also been incorporated into the

design and, even in situations where these are

used, the ventilation system continues to run.

A sophisticated mercury measuring instrument

alerts the crew if ambient air readings exceed

healthy standards. For safe handling, all moving

parts are contained. The capacity fits with the

wastes to be processed and the skills of the

operating personnel. In general, the following

capacities can be achieved assuming an eight-

hour working day: 500 kg of flat screens per

hour plus 500 kg of lamp waste per hour, total-

ling 2000 tonnes of lamps and flat screens per

year. The BLUBOX requires three people to

operate.It takes only four days to install the

plants at customers’ site.

For more information:
BLUBOX Trading, Birrwil, Switzerland,
Phone: +41 62 785 1003,
E-mail: [email protected]
www.blubox.ch

Air Mercury at a glance
Air Mercury is active in three business areas:
• Waste and metals trading: The com-

pany buys copper-containing e-scrap and
residues from shredder plants, but also buys
and sells high-priced metals such as cobalt,
mercury, indium and nickel-containing metals
worldwide. In addition, it buys small volumes
of metals from battery recyclers.

• Warehousing: In 2010, Air Mercury built
a warehouse where it stores metals for third
parties such as banks. Currently, it has some
5000 tonnes of metals in stock. A non-LME
member, the company offers its services to,
among others, processing industries, private
investors and the fi nance business. A new and
even bigger warehouse has been planned for
this year.

• Machinery: The BLUBOX, a fully-automat-
ic LCD screen and mixed lamp recycling plant,
was originally developed for the Swiss market
but is now marketed globally.

www.airmercury.com www.metaldepot.ch

Creative Recycling seals
BLUBOX dealership
During the International Electronics Recycling Congress
held in the Austrian city of Salzburg in January this year,
an agreement was signed between Air Mercury and
electronics recycling company Creative Recycling of
Florida in the USA, Creative Recycling has purchased
twelve BLUBOXes and has the exclusive rights to use
the technology in North America. Air Mercury will train
Creative Recycling’s staff and they will create a US
maintenance team for the machines.

All the equipment
is embedded in a
modifi ed 40-foot
high-cube contai-
ner – making it
easy to transport.

Roger Burri, CEO of Swiss
company Air Mercury.

The BLUBOX is suitable for
processing all types of fl at

screens up to 100 cm in
length; notebooks; and

mobile phones.

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