The value of circuit boards comes from copper and other metals, but the resin and fiberglass in the base material also cause wear and dust. The focus of the project is to dissociate the components at the appropriate particle size, rather than grinding all materials into the finest form.
Material characteristics
- Electronic waste contains metals, engineering plastics, cables and electronic components. The degree of disassembly determines the incoming material boundary of the crushing section.
- Batteries, live parts, compressors, seals and liquid-containing parts cannot be fed directly as ordinary solid waste.
- The crushing target should serve dissociation and sorting. Too fine particles may increase dust, metal loss and difficulty in sorting.
Key processing challenges
- Fiberglass substrates are highly abrasive and contain fine dust.
- Components, heat sinks and slots vary incoming material thickness.
- When fine metals and non-metals are mixed, the sorting window becomes narrower.
Equipment-selection criteria
- Establish procedures for disconnecting power, draining fluids, removing batteries, and identifying hazardous parts before discussing mechanical handling equipment.
- Determine primary volume reduction, secondary dissociation, magnetic separation, eddy current or specific gravity separation routes based on the target metal and plastic components.
- Check the tool wear resistance, temperature rise, dust and target component recovery effects through sample testing.
Typical process flow
The battery, radiator and directly recyclable components are removed first, and the circuit boards are then graded, broken, screened and physically sorted. Dust removal, containment transport and local e-waste regulations should be implemented simultaneously.
Information required before project evaluation
Complete information helps us define equipment limits, test plans and the full line accurately:
- E-waste categories, sources and dismantling status
- Maximum dimensions, weight and main material composition
- Condition of batteries, liquids, refrigerants and hazardous parts
- Target recycled metal and plastic quality
- Fluctuations in throughput, shifts and incoming materials
- Dust collection, fire protection, electrical and local compliance requirements