New Chemical Process Waste Treatment Technologies For A Sustainable Printed Circuit Board Manufacturing Process

The Printed Circuit Board (PCB) manufacturing process uses large quantities of water and a wide range of chemicals. If not handled responsibly, many of these materials may ultimately have an impact on the environment or at best generate effluent that needs increasingly costly treatment. There is an opportunity to move towards a more sustainable methodology where waste is minimised, water is recycled and materials are recovered. This paper presents the results from work aimed at enabling PCB manufacturing to become more sustainable. Novel processes evaluated include special electroplating techniques, advanced oxidation methods to remove organic contaminants, and new ion exchange systems. Work has been carried out to develop these processes into viable demonstrators and the results of progress to date are reported. Descriptions of how these individual technologies may be combined to provide an integrated approach to a more sustainable PCB manufacturing methodology are also given.