A Dandenong electronic waste processor has been applauded alongside the state’s top manufacturers.
PGM Refiners was among the finalists for the Victorian Manufacturing Hall of Fame Awards, announced at a gala dinner on Thursday 9 June.
The awards recognise exemplary companies and individuals in the manufacturing industry.
In January, the Journal reported that PGM had launched an Australian-first fully-automated electronic waste processing system that can take apart and sort up to 2500 tonnes of e-waste a year.
The BluBox machine can dismantle 300 LCD-screen TVs in an hour, compared to just two to three an hour by hand.
During the process, the plant safely extracts the potentially-hazardous liquid metal mercury from the waste.
The plastics and precious metals like gold, silver and platinum are extracted for re-use as a raw material.
“All the components, except for the mercury, are a commodity,” PGM chief technical officer Karvan Jayaweera said.
He said big-screen TVs were increasingly the television of choice since 2007 and were becoming an “emerging problem” at landfill waste sites.
Electronic waste is regarded as the fastest growing type of waste in Australia.
