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Review
. 2013 Oct 9:2:521.
doi: 10.1186/2193-1801-2-521. eCollection 2013.

A review of the recycling of non-metallic fractions of printed circuit boards

André Canal Marques  1 , José-María Cabrera Marrero  2 , Célia de Fraga Malfatti  3
Affiliations
Review

A review of the recycling of non-metallic fractions of printed circuit boards

André Canal Marques et al. Springerplus. .

Abstract

There is a big waste generation nowadays due to the growing demand for innovation and the fact that more and more products have a reduced lifetime, increasing the volume of dumps and landfills. Currently, one of the segments of large volume is the technology waste, which reflects on the printed circuit boards (PCBs) that are the basis of the electronics industry. This type of waste disposal is difficult, given that recycling is complex and expensive, because of the diversity of existing materials and components, and their difficult separation process. Regarding the material involved in PCBs, there are metal fractions (MFs) and non-metallic fractions (NMFs), of which the recycling of NMFs is one of the most important and difficult processes, because they amount to about 70% of the weight of the PCB's waste. In the present paper, a literature review of the recycling of non-metallic fractions (NMFs) has been carried out, showing different studies and guidelines regarding this type of recycling, emphasizing that this type of waste still lacks for further application.

Keywords: Non-metallic fractions (NMFs); Printed circuit boards; Recycling; Waste electrical and electronic equipment (WEEE).

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Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Environmental Damages. A) Dumping of circuit boards treated with acid and processing waste along River Lianjiang in China. B) Recovery of gold from PCB waste using acid baths Source: Ban .
Figure 2
Figure 2
PMC production flow chart. Source: Rao et al. (2008).
Figure 3
Figure 3
Schematic illustration of grinding and electrostatic separation of PCB. Source: Rao et al. (2008).
Figure 4
Figure 4
Schematic illustration of glass-nonmetals of waste PCBs filling in the PMC. Source: Rao et al. (2008).
Figure 5
Figure 5
Bricks made using recovered nonmetallic PCB material. Source: Mou et al. (2007).
Figure 6
Figure 6
Composite boards made from talc, silica, and the PCB nonmetallic material. Source: Mou et al. .
Figure 7
Figure 7
Sewer grate made from recovered PCB nonmetallic material. Source: Mou et al. .
Figure 8
Figure 8
Deck with PCB non-metallic material. Source: Mou et al. (2007).
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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