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Title: Pollution prevention assessment for a printed circuit board plant

Technical Report ·
DOI:https://doi.org/10.2172/125058· OSTI ID:125058
;  [1];  [2]
  1. Colorado State Univ., Fort Collins, CO (United States). Dept. of Mechanical Engineering
  2. University City Science Center, Philadelphia, PA (United States)

The US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has funded a pilot project to assist small and medium-size manufacturers who want to minimize their generation of waste but who lack the expertise to do so. In an effort to assist these manufacturers Waste Minimization Assessment Centers (WMACs) were established at selected universities and procedures were adapted from the EPA Waste Minimization Opportunity Assessment Manual. The WMAC team at Colorado State University performed an assessment at a plant that manufacturers printed circuit boards. Templates for the circuit design are generated from customer-supplied circuit information. Copper/epoxy laminates and copper foil are cut into blank boards and layers. Circuit patterns are generated through a series of photolithographic and plating processes. The team`s report, detailing findings and recommendations, indicated that the onsite ion-exchange treatment of metal-containing rinse water generates regenerant solutions that could be further treated by electrowinning to recover metals and to achieve significant cost savings. This Research Brief was developed by the principal investigators and EPA`s National Risk Management Research Laboratory, Cincinnati, OH, to announce key findings of an ongoing research project that is fully documented in a separate report of the same title available from University City Science Center.

Research Organization:
National Risk Management Research Lab., Cincinnati, OH (United States)
Sponsoring Organization:
Environmental Protection Agency, Washington, DC (United States)
OSTI ID:
125058
Report Number(s):
EPA-600/S-95/020; ON: DE96004030; TRN: AHC29528%%93
Resource Relation:
Other Information: PBD: Sep 1995
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English