The resource parameter in life cycle assessments is used to evaluate present efficiency in resource recovery from printed circuit boards. It is shown that only a fraction of the resources held by PCBs are recovered today, and that in order to improve resource recovery a good knowledge of the chemical content of electronic components is necessary. Analytical techniques specially suited to the analysis of electronic components are discussed, and it is concluded that critical resources are indeed concentrated in certain electronic components. Finally, an automated system for removing components from the boards and for recognising and sorting the components is discussed.

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Abstract-The resource recovery and environmental impact issues of printed circuit board recycling by secondary copper smelters are discussed. Guidelines concerning material selection for circuit board manufacture and concerning the recycling processes are given to enhance recovery efficiency and to lower the impacts on the external environment from recycling.

It's a dogma that a long product lifetime is always an environmental benefit. But this is not always so in the case of electronics. The electronics sector contains active products, i.e. they consume electricity during use. A lower energy consumption in a new product may therefore "pay" for the total "fixed burden" of producing and disposing both the new and old products.