Top 3 Benefits of Recycling Printed Circuit Boards
Most people own multiple electronic devices, but few know that these devices can be recycled. This may be because e-waste is difficult to recycle. You can't simply throw your old phone in the blue trash can. Electronics cannot be recycled as a whole. Instead, the various materials must be sorted and handled separately.
Printed Circuit boards recycling is more difficult because they contain tightly bound materials. These materials may include toxins (mercury, lead, beryllium) and precious metals (gold, silver, copper). They also come in plastic (the case), as well as glass and fiberglass (the display). Fortunately, we can extract these metals from green sheets and recycle them appropriately. Here are the benefits of recycling circuit boards.
1. Recycling produces more precious metals than mining
According to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), a ton of circuit boards can contain 30-40 times and 40-800 times more copper and gold, respectively, than a ton of mined ore.
This means that circuit boards are a more valuable source of precious metals than mining from the ground. Older boards as well as high-performance boards (military, telecom services) may have higher precious metal content. Recycling prevents these precious metals from being dumped in landfills.
2. Circuit board recycling is cheaper than mining metal
Circuit boards contain precious metals such as gold, copper, and silver. These metals are commonly found in transistors, traces, IC chips, and connector pins. Extracting a metal from circuit boards requires far less money, time, and effort than mining material from the ground. Proper recycling of this e-waste can make it a great source of secondary raw materials for the manufacture of other electronic products.
3. Circuit board recycling reduces air and water pollution
Circuit boards may contain hazardous elements such as lead. Some circuit board manufacturers use tin-lead solder alloys to protect the copper from oxidation. Other dangerous elements include cadmium, mercury, and lithium commonly found in batteries and circuit board switches.
Not only that, but circuit board substrates also contain polybrominated flame retardants that, when exposed to high temperatures, release halogenated dioxins and furans that are highly toxic to humans. To prevent these toxins from polluting our environment, recycling your electronics is the way to go.
The three benefits of recycling circuit boards have been introduced above. If you plan to buy circuit boards, please contact us.
PCBQuick is a Chinese exporting sample and custom printed circuit board manufacturer. We specialize in the production of single-sided PCB, double-sided PCB, multi-layer PCB, aluminum substrate, and flexible PCB; our products are widely used in high-tech fields such as communications, computer technology, industrial control, automotive, LED lighting, etc., and are often exported to Europe and the United States, Southeast Asia, and other well-known electronic manufacturers.
