Our turn-key system for printed circuit board (PCB) and e-waste processing liberates precious metals and base metals from the plastics and fibers of e-waste and other components, avoiding the use of chemicals for leaching. Using a hammer mill and shaker table, our turn-key system pulverizes the components and separates lighter waste from the denser metals. The system can be tuned for various types of feed components.
For populated PCB boards, a pass through a screen with holes will separate the larger metallic components and crush the boards to <1/8” pieces. Much of the copper, other base metals and precious metals are recovered on the shaker table in this phase. A second pass for the 1/8” board pieces, through a narrow slotted screen, will liberate nearly all of the remaining copper foil, metals and precious metals contained in them. For de-populated PCB boards, a single pass will liberate the metals using the slotted screen. For ribbon cables, cable ends and card slots with precious metal components, the screen with holes is used to separate the plastic/glass from the metal pieces.
Once the metals are separated from the plastic/glass components, the metals can be sold directly to a refiner or further up-graded by the operator via screening, re-running on the table or by chemical/electro-winning methods. When the table is tuned to “lose” a bit of valuable metals to the plastic/glass waste stream (tailings), the entire waste stream can be sold to a refiner, eliminating the costly disposal of a hazardous material.