Environmental Technologies and Eco-innovation in the Czech ...

Equipment containing CFC is processed in two stages. In the first stage, CFCs are
vacuumed off insulation and cooling circuits in a mixture with oil into a low-temperature
condensing unit and then separated through thermal degasification 1 (both components
are separated). CFCs are further pumped into pressurised containers and forwarded for
disposal. In the second phase, insulation is crushed in vacuum. Materials obtained by
adjusting electrical equipment are sent out for further use.
8.1.2 | Plasma technology in electric waste processing
One of the latest technologies for processing electronic waste is a plasma melting
technology. In the Czech Republic, this technology is possessed by SAFINA, a.s,
which has developed a unique process called PlasmaEnvi ® . The process was designed
specifically for processing industrial catalytic converters with the main emphasis on
those containing precious metals. Low-purity materials from scrapped electrical
equipment are processed through plasma melting. These metals are mainly nonferrous
metals containing copper and precious metals. Outputs of the technology
are copper bars containing precious metals (gold, silver, palladium, platinum), i.e.
predominantly non-ferrous metals containing copper and precious metals. In a plasma
smelter, the aforementioned materials are re-melted and the obtained metals are then
re-used. All pre-treated waste gases are combusted. Therefore, valuable raw materials
are obtained from waste while environmental burdens caused by emissions are
minimised. More extensive utilisation of the technology is anticipated in the future.
There is no other low-purity waste processing technology in the Czech Republic.
8.1.3 | The recycling of plastics
In the Czech Republic, the recycling of plastics is performed either from mixed plastics
or sorted plastics, e.g. PET 2 bottles, waste from the manufacture of plastics, etc.
Mixed plastic waste recycling is performed by Transform a.s. in Lázně Bohdaneč.
They treat sorted plastics from communal waste. The waste is crushed, ground or in
the case of film, agglomerated 3 and mixed in suitable proportions to make a product
of required properties. The pre-treated mixture is then used to produce glass blocks,
1 thermal degasification – the process of heating a liquid and the gases bound in the liquid are released
2 PET – polyethylenterephthalate
3 agglomeration – thermal processing by sintering films in granules
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