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Published online: 20 August 2008 | doi:10.1038/nchina.2008.194

Recycling: From computers to park benches

Jane Qiu

Introduction

© (2008) ACS

Recycling of printed circuit boards is important not only for resource preservation, but for decreasing environmental pollution in treating electric waste. At the moment, only metals are recycled; non-metallic materials, which constitute 70% by weight, are disposed of by combustion or landfill. Zhenming Xu and co-workers at Shanghai Jiao Tong University¹ have developed a way to recycle these non-metallic materials.

The non-metallic materials of printed circuit boards mainly consist of thermoset resins and glass fibre — materials that are difficult to recycle using current technology. Xu and co-workers found that unsaturated polyester could serve as an effective bonding agent when mixed with pulverized non-metallic materials; the mixture could then be hot-pressed into non-metallic plates (NMPs).

The researchers then went on to characterize the structural and mechanical properties of the NMPs. They found that the NMPs made from materials that had been pulverized into a fine powder — with particles less than 0.07 mm in diameter — are harder, stronger and better at withstanding stress and shock loading than their counterparts containing larger non-metallic particles.

The NMPs could be used to produce diverse items, such as sewer gates, park benches and fences. Moreover, they are almost as strong as reinforced concrete, and could therefore be a substitute for wood and other building materials.

The authors of this work are from:
School of Environmental Science and Engineering, Shanghai Jiao Tong University, Shanghai, China.

Reference

1. Guo, J., Cao, B., Guo, J. & Xu, Z. A plate produced by nonmetallic materials of pulverized waste printed circuits boards. Environ. Sci. Technol. 42, 5267–5271 (2008). | Article | ChemPort |