Liquid crystal displays: knowledge exchange and its role in the treatment of mercury-containing backlights in liquid crystal display equipment

Liquid crystal display (LCD) monitors and televisions are entering the waste stream in increasing numbers. The Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment (WEEE) Directive requires that mercury-containing backlights in LCD equipment must be removed for mercury recovery. The difficulties in removing these backlights mean that breakages are inevitable, allowing mercury to escape into the environment. The lack of data and knowledge on LCD recycling has brought together an interested stakeholder group to investigate the best practical environmental option for the recovery and recycling of the mercury. This paper shows how knowledge transfer has played a key role in developing a solution. The containment of mercury-bearing waste into a closed loop system between the LCD and mercury recycler has been the objective. The synthesis of research and experiential data between academia and commercial organisations has led to the development of an environmental management protocol for LCD that can extend upstream in the WEEE hierarchy. This paper was initially presented at IEMA's Knowledge Exchange Event in Manchester, in January 2010