TY - JOUR A1 - Simon, Franz-Georg A1 - Holm, Olaf A1 - Berger, Wolfgang T1 - Resource recovery from urban stock, the example of cadmium and tellurium from thin film module recycling T2 - Waste Management N2 - Raw material supply is essential for all industrial activities. The use of secondary raw material gains more importance since ore grade in primary production is decreasing. Meanwhile urban stock contains considerable amounts of various elements. Photovoltaic (PV) generating systems are part of the urban stock and recycling technologies for PV thin film modules with CdTe as semiconductor are needed because cadmium could cause hazardous environmental impact and tellurium is a scarce element where future supply might be constrained. The paper describes a sequence of mechanical processing techniques for end-of-life PV thin film modules consisting of sandblasting and flotation. Separation of the semiconductor material from the glass surface was possible, however, enrichment and yield of valuables in the flotation step were non-satisfying. Nevertheless, recovery of valuable metals from urban stock is a viable method for the extension of the availability of limited natural resources. PB - Pergamon Press CY - New York, NY KW - Flotation KW - Cadmium KW - Tellurium KW - Thin film technology KW - Sand blasting PY - 2013 UR - https://opus4.kobv.de/opus4-bam/frontdoor/index/index/docId/29312 AN - OPUS4-29312 SN - 0956-053X VL - 33 IS - 4 SP - 942 EP - 947 AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany