{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,2,23]],"date-time":"2026-02-23T12:18:38Z","timestamp":1771849118026,"version":"3.50.1"},"reference-count":44,"publisher":"MDPI AG","issue":"18","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2024,9,13]],"date-time":"2024-09-13T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1726185600000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"funder":[{"name":"Coordena\u00e7\u00e3o de Aperfei\u00e7oamento de Pessoal de N\u00edvel Superior\u2014Brasil (CAPES)"}],"content-domain":{"domain":[],"crossmark-restriction":false},"short-container-title":["Sustainability"],"abstract":"<jats:p>To ensure that metal recovery processes in electronic waste are truly sustainable from an industrial perspective, studies on the performance of such methodologies are necessary to verify the economic, environmental, social, and technological viabilities. The importance of conducting multicriteria and comparative investigations into the actual performances of methods used in the recovery of these materials is emphasized, considering trade-offs such as high efficiency in metal extraction balanced against intense consumption of energy and chemical reagents. The analytical hierarchy process, multicriteria decision support tool, and the life cycle assessment tool are proposed to be used in combination in this work to assess and contrast the environmental effects of two hydrometallurgical paths for the recuperation of copper in electronic circuit boards (PCBs). The results indicate that the sulfuric acid method had a copper solubilization efficiency of 90.05%, whereas the route employing the combination of ammonium sulfate and ammonia had an estimated copper solubilization efficacy of 49%. It was feasible to calculate the life cycle effects of the hydrometallurgical procedures connected to the copper recovery activities on the PCBs with regard to the LCA. Compared to the acidic leaching pathway, alkaline leaching was responsible for about 71% of the environmental damage discovered in the study, according to the AHP tool.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.3390\/su16188002","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2024,9,13]],"date-time":"2024-09-13T03:03:37Z","timestamp":1726196617000},"page":"8002","update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3390\/mdpi_crossmark_policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":4,"title":["Systematic LCA-AHP Approach to Compare Hydrometallurgical Routes for Copper Recovery from Printed Circuit Boards: Environmental Analysis"],"prefix":"10.3390","volume":"16","author":[{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0001-6865-851X","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Josinaldo","family":"Dias","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"Wood and Forestry Science Department, Federal University of Esp\u00edrito Santo, Vit\u00f3ria 29075-910, Brazil"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0001-7409-0027","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Jos\u00e9 Nilson Fran\u00e7a","family":"de Holanda","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Laboratory of Advanced Materials, State University of the Northern Rio de Janeiro, Rio de Janeiro 28013-602, Brazil"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-7908-8919","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"S\u00edlvia Cardinal","family":"Pinho","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"LEPABE, Department of Metallurgical and Materials Engineering, Faculty of Engineering, University of Porto, Rua. Dr. Roberto Frias, 4200-465 Porto, Portugal"}]},{"given":"Gilson Mendon\u00e7a","family":"de Miranda J\u00fanior","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Agricultural Sciences and Engineering Center, Federal University of Esp\u00edrito Santo, Vit\u00f3ria 29075-910, Brazil"}]},{"given":"Angelus Giuseppe Pereira","family":"da Silva","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Laboratory of Advanced Materials, State University of the Northern Rio de Janeiro, Rio de Janeiro 28013-602, Brazil"}]}],"member":"1968","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2024,9,13]]},"reference":[{"key":"ref_1","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"79","DOI":"10.1016\/j.jclepro.2019.05.329","article-title":"An overview of LCA application in WEEE management: Current practices, progress and challenges","volume":"232","author":"Ismail","year":"2019","journal-title":"J. Clean. Prod."},{"key":"ref_2","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"228","DOI":"10.1016\/j.jhazmat.2008.02.001","article-title":"Metallurgical recovery of metals from electronic waste: A review","volume":"158","author":"Cui","year":"2008","journal-title":"J. Hazard. Mater."},{"key":"ref_3","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"172","DOI":"10.1016\/j.seppur.2016.01.048","article-title":"A hydrometallurgical process for the recovery of rare earth elements from fluorescent lamp waste fractions","volume":"161","author":"Tunsu","year":"2016","journal-title":"Sep. Purif. Technol."},{"key":"ref_4","first-page":"142","article-title":"Literature review of hydrometallurgical recycling of printed circuit boards (PCBs)","volume":"6","author":"Cui","year":"2016","journal-title":"J. Adv. Chem. Eng."},{"key":"ref_5","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"20","DOI":"10.1016\/j.resconrec.2019.05.025","article-title":"Comparative life cycle analysis for value recovery of precious metals and rare earth elements from electronic waste","volume":"149","author":"Li","year":"2019","journal-title":"Resour. Conserv. Recycl."},{"key":"ref_6","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"3062","DOI":"10.1016\/j.matpr.2022.07.364","article-title":"Recovering valuable metals from Waste Printed Circuit Boards (WPCB): A short review","volume":"66","author":"Udayakumar","year":"2022","journal-title":"Mater. Today Proc."},{"key":"ref_7","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"Jadhav, U., and Hocheng, H. (2015). Hydrometallurgical recovery of metals from large printed circuit board pieces. Sci. Rep., 5.","DOI":"10.1038\/srep14574"},{"key":"ref_8","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"118","DOI":"10.1016\/j.hydromet.2014.07.007","article-title":"Optimizing the thiosulfate leaching of gold from printed circuit boards of discarded mobile phone","volume":"149","author":"Ha","year":"2014","journal-title":"Hydrometallurgy"},{"key":"ref_9","first-page":"2587","article-title":"A Potential alternative for precious metal recovery from e-waste: Iodine leaching","volume":"50","author":"Sahin","year":"2015","journal-title":"Separ. Sci. Technol."},{"key":"ref_10","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"122642","DOI":"10.1016\/j.jhazmat.2020.122642","article-title":"Eco-friendly recovery of metals from waste mobile printed circuit boards using low temperature roasting","volume":"395","author":"Panda","year":"2020","journal-title":"J. Hazard. Mater."},{"key":"ref_11","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"1288","DOI":"10.1016\/j.jece.2018.01.032","article-title":"Novel technologies and conventional processes for recovery of metals from waste electrical and electronic equipment: Challenges & opportunities\u2014A review","volume":"6","author":"Chauhan","year":"2018","journal-title":"J. Environ. Chem. Eng."},{"key":"ref_12","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"253","DOI":"10.1016\/j.wasman.2020.07.008","article-title":"Recycling of spent lithium-ion batteries: Selective ammonia leaching of valuable metals and simultaneous synthesis of high-purity manganese carbonate","volume":"114","author":"Wang","year":"2020","journal-title":"Waste Manag."},{"key":"ref_13","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"138","DOI":"10.1016\/j.jhazmat.2016.03.062","article-title":"Recycling of spent lithium-ion battery cathode materials by ammoniacal leaching","volume":"313","author":"Ku","year":"2016","journal-title":"J. Hazard. Mater."},{"key":"ref_14","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"153","DOI":"10.1016\/j.wasman.2019.04.039","article-title":"Recycling valuable metals from spent lithium- ion batteries by ammonium sulfite-reduction ammonia leaching","volume":"93","author":"Wu","year":"2019","journal-title":"Waste Manag."},{"key":"ref_15","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"123491","DOI":"10.1016\/j.jhazmat.2020.123491","article-title":"A promising selective recovery process of valuable metals from spent lithium-ion batteries via reduction roasting and ammonia leaching","volume":"402","author":"Ma","year":"2021","journal-title":"J. Hazard. Mater."},{"key":"ref_16","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"269","DOI":"10.1016\/j.seppur.2015.10.012","article-title":"Recovery of copper and recycling of acid from the leach liquor of discarded Printed Circuit Boards (PCBs)","volume":"156","author":"Choubey","year":"2015","journal-title":"Sep. Purif. Technol."},{"key":"ref_17","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"Wu, Z., Yuan, W., Li, J., Wang, X., Liu, L., and Wang, J. (2017). A critical review on the recycling of copper and precious metals from waste printed circuit boards using hydrometallurgy. Front. Environ. Sci. Eng., 11.","DOI":"10.1007\/s11783-017-0995-6"},{"key":"ref_18","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"90","DOI":"10.1080\/08827508.2010.530720","article-title":"Hydrometallurgical process for copper recovery from waste printed circuit boards (PCBs)","volume":"32","author":"Longle","year":"2011","journal-title":"Miner. Process. Extr. Metall. Rev."},{"key":"ref_19","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"Ajiboye, A.E., Olasehinde, F.E., Adebayo, O.A., Ajayi, O.J., Ghosh, M.K., and Basu, S. (2019). Extraction of copper and zinc from waste printed circuit boards. Recycling, 4.","DOI":"10.3390\/recycling4030036"},{"key":"ref_20","first-page":"86","article-title":"Recovery of Copper and Silver of Printed Circuit Boards from Obsolete Computers by One-Step Acid Leaching","volume":"14","author":"Caldas","year":"2021","journal-title":"Detritus"},{"key":"ref_21","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"20","DOI":"10.1016\/j.jece.2015.11.021","article-title":"Study of multi-step hydrometallurgical methods to extract the valuable content of gold, silver and copper from waste printed circuit boards","volume":"4","author":"Birloaga","year":"2016","journal-title":"J. Environ. Chem. Eng."},{"key":"ref_22","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"Trinh, H.B., Kim, S., and Lee, J. (2020). Selective Copper Recovery by Acid Leaching from Printed Circuit Board Waste Sludge. Metals, 10.","DOI":"10.3390\/met10020293"},{"key":"ref_23","first-page":"e00066","article-title":"Sustainable recycling process for metals recovery from used printed circuit boards (PCBs)","volume":"17","author":"Dutta","year":"2018","journal-title":"Sustain. Mater. Technol."},{"key":"ref_24","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"387","DOI":"10.1007\/s10230-022-00858-7","article-title":"A New Application of Solvent Extraction to Separate Copper from Extreme Acid Mine Drainage Producing Solutions for Electrochemical and Biological Recovery Processes","volume":"41","author":"Nobahar","year":"2022","journal-title":"Mine Water Environ."},{"key":"ref_25","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"1788","DOI":"10.2320\/matertrans.47.1788","article-title":"Copper leaching behavior from waste printed circuit board in ammoniacal alkaline solution","volume":"47","author":"Koyama","year":"2006","journal-title":"Mater. Trans."},{"key":"ref_26","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"392","DOI":"10.1016\/j.jenvman.2010.10.057","article-title":"Examining the technology acceptance for dismantling of waste printed circuit boards in light of recycling and environmental concerns","volume":"92","author":"Duan","year":"2011","journal-title":"J. Environ. Manag."},{"key":"ref_27","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"105843","DOI":"10.1016\/j.hydromet.2022.105843","article-title":"Selective recovery of nickel from obsolete mobile phone PCBs","volume":"210","author":"Rao","year":"2022","journal-title":"Hydrometallurgy"},{"key":"ref_28","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"343","DOI":"10.1016\/j.rser.2019.01.031","article-title":"Life Cycle Analysis with Multi-Criteria Decision Making: A review of approaches for the sustainability evaluation of renewable energy technologies","volume":"104","author":"Espinosa","year":"2019","journal-title":"Renew. Sustain. Energy Reviews"},{"key":"ref_29","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"76202","DOI":"10.1007\/s11356-022-21292-w","article-title":"Eco-friendly ceramic bricks: A comparative study of life cycle impact methods","volume":"29","author":"Dias","year":"2022","journal-title":"Environ. Sci. Pollut. Res."},{"key":"ref_30","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"758","DOI":"10.1016\/j.jenvman.2019.06.047","article-title":"Assessing the environmental externalities for biomass- and coal-fired electricity generation in China: A supply chain perspective","volume":"246","author":"Wang","year":"2019","journal-title":"J. Environ. Manag."},{"key":"ref_31","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"114689","DOI":"10.1016\/j.jenvman.2022.114689","article-title":"Life cycle assessment and cost analysis for copper hydrometallurgy industry in China","volume":"309","author":"Yang","year":"2022","journal-title":"J. Environ. Manag."},{"key":"ref_32","unstructured":"UNEP\/SETAC (2024, July 11). Methodological Sheets of Sub-Categories in Social Life Cycle Assessment (S-LCA). Available online: https:\/\/www.lifecycleinitiative.org\/library\/methodological-sheets-for-subcategories-in-social-life-cycle-assessment-s-lca-2021\/."},{"key":"ref_33","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"9","DOI":"10.1016\/0377-2217(90)90057-I","article-title":"How to make a decision: The Analytic Hierarchy Process","volume":"48","author":"Saaty","year":"1990","journal-title":"Eur. J. Oper. Res."},{"key":"ref_34","unstructured":"Taha, A.H. (2013). Operational Research, Pearson. [8th ed.]."},{"key":"ref_35","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"503","DOI":"10.1016\/j.wasman.2015.08.030","article-title":"Printed circuit board recycling: Physical processing and copper extraction by selective leaching","volume":"46","author":"Silvas","year":"2015","journal-title":"Waste Manag."},{"key":"ref_36","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"123989","DOI":"10.1016\/j.jclepro.2020.123989","article-title":"Pressure leaching of selenium and tellurium from scrap copper anode slimes in sulfuric acid-oxygen media","volume":"278","author":"Rao","year":"2021","journal-title":"J. Clean. Prod."},{"key":"ref_37","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"242","DOI":"10.1177\/0734242X20931929","article-title":"Studies on leaching characteristics of electronic waste for metal recovery using inorganic and organic acids and base","volume":"39","author":"Das","year":"2021","journal-title":"Waste. Manag. Res."},{"key":"ref_38","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"e21348","DOI":"10.1016\/j.heliyon.2023.e21348","article-title":"Evaluation of the effect of physical and chemical factors in the recovery of Cu, Pb and Fe from waste PCB through acid leaching","volume":"9","author":"Duran","year":"2023","journal-title":"Heliyon"},{"key":"ref_39","unstructured":"(2006). Environmental Management\u2014Life Cycle Assessment\u2014Principles and Structure. (Standard No. NBR 14.040)."},{"key":"ref_40","unstructured":"(2006). Environmental Management\u2014Life Cycle Assessment\u2014Requirements and Guidelines (Standard No. NBR 14.044)."},{"key":"ref_41","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"304","DOI":"10.1016\/j.spc.2019.07.005","article-title":"Why using different Life Cycle Assessment software tools can generate different results for the same product system? A cause\u2013effect analysis of the problem","volume":"20","author":"Silva","year":"2019","journal-title":"Sustain. Prod. Consum."},{"key":"ref_42","unstructured":"(2000). Decision Making for Leaders, RWS Publications. [3rd ed.]."},{"key":"ref_43","unstructured":"Costa, H.G. (2024, July 11). Introdu\u00e7\u00e3o ao m\u00e9todo de an\u00e1lise hier\u00e1rquica-An\u00e1lise Multicrit\u00e9rio no Aux\u00edlio \u00e0 Decis\u00e3o. Biblioteca da Escola de Engenharia e Instituto de Computa\u00e7\u00e3o da UFF. Niter\u00f3i, Available online: http:\/\/www.din.uem.br\/sbpo\/sbpo2004\/pdf\/arq0279.pdf."},{"key":"ref_44","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"323","DOI":"10.1016\/j.seppur.2016.09.045","article-title":"A novel sandwich supported liquid membrane system for simultaneous separation of copper, nickel and cobalt in ammoniacal solution","volume":"173","author":"Duan","year":"2017","journal-title":"Sep. Purif. Technol."}],"container-title":["Sustainability"],"original-title":[],"language":"en","link":[{"URL":"https:\/\/www.mdpi.com\/2071-1050\/16\/18\/8002\/pdf","content-type":"unspecified","content-version":"vor","intended-application":"similarity-checking"}],"deposited":{"date-parts":[[2025,10,10]],"date-time":"2025-10-10T15:55:16Z","timestamp":1760111716000},"score":1,"resource":{"primary":{"URL":"https:\/\/www.mdpi.com\/2071-1050\/16\/18\/8002"}},"subtitle":[],"short-title":[],"issued":{"date-parts":[[2024,9,13]]},"references-count":44,"journal-issue":{"issue":"18","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2024,9]]}},"alternative-id":["su16188002"],"URL":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3390\/su16188002","relation":{},"ISSN":["2071-1050"],"issn-type":[{"value":"2071-1050","type":"electronic"}],"subject":[],"published":{"date-parts":[[2024,9,13]]}}}