Estimation of uncertainty for measuring metals content in waste printed circuit boards
Résumé
The amount of waste printed circuit boards (WPCBs) currently represent a fast-growing issue that must be properly managed to limit their impact on the environment and human health. Due to their metal content, they can also be considered as a resource. Their characterization is a key point for evaluating different valorisation processes. The conventional methodologies to characterize wastes and/or metal resources are hardly applicable to such waste, as they are highly heterogeneous, difficult to micronize, and their individual components (plastics, glass, ceramics, and metals) are hard to liberate. Thus, in parallel to developing analytical tools that allow their accurate characterization, a sampling strategy suitable for WPCBs must also be established. In this study, an empirical approach was developed that aims at estimating the uncertainty arising from sampling WPCBs. To do so, the duplicate method of uncertainty estimation was followed, to compare the metal content in different sub-samples and to determine confidence intervals.
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