Recycling of waste printed circuit boards

Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to present an update and the latest results from work on a project aimed at enabling waste printed circuit board (WPCB) recycling to become more environmentally friendly and efficient. Design/methodology/approach: A new system was proposed and studied individually under laboratory and factory conditions, which consisted of lossless component removal, component classification, waste crushing/separating processes, and application of crushed non-metallic particles to develop resin composites. Findings: The use of these novel processes, including component lossless removal, component classification, waste crushing/separating processes, and application of crushed non-metallic particles to develop resin composites can be combined to give a more sustainable treatment process for printed circuit boards recycling. Research limitations/implications: Most parts of the WPCBs recycling system have been used. Further development work should be undertaken to establish the whole system in a factory-scale environment in order to enhance the system efficiency. Originality/value: The paper details how individual treatment technologies can be combined to enable a more environmentally friendly and efficient system for treatment of WPCBs which offers the benefits of reducing pollution and complete resource recovery for WPCBs.