The boom in the use of computers is set to become one of the world’s biggest environmental headaches. Researchers are now seeking ways to dispose of discarded circuit boards, which contain high levels of pollutants such as heavy metals and flame retardants that can potentially harm humans.
The study, led by Cornelia Vasile and colleagues, have developed a simple, efficient method for recycling printed circuit boards into environmentally-friendly raw materials for use in fuel, plastic, and other useful consumer products.
The researchers collected printed circuit boards from discarded computers and processed them with a combination of high temperatures, catalysts, and chemical filtration.
The processing method adopted by them removed most of the toxic substances from the scraps, resulting in oils that can be safely used as fuel or raw materials called feedstocks for a wide variety of consumer products, researchers were quoted as saying in a report by the Science Daily online.
PTI
