Company Develops Circuit Board Recycling System

Northeast Surplus & Materials LLC, Syracuse, N.Y., has reportedly developed a new circuit board recycling system.

According to a press release, the patent-pending system efficiently and safely recovers reusable parts and valuable metals from discarded circuit boards. Jim Moltion, president of Northeast, says the “depopulator” system removes more than 300,000 parts a week during a normal 40-hour workweek using a single operator. Northeast reports that the system uses very little energy and leaves virtually nothing to go into landfills.

Other U.S. electronics recyclers take a more labor-intensive approach, using hotplates and hair dryers to separate these parts, Moltion says. “That’s an expensive, messy process that unnecessarily exposes workers to toxic fumes.”

The development of the system was made possible through the New York State Energy Resource Development Authority (NYSERDA) in 2000 as part of its Environmental Products Development Program, which assists in the development of products and systems designed to treat, process or reuse waste products using less energy in the process. NYSERDA provided funding in the amount of more than $230,000, with the overall project totaling more than $460,000.

The company looks to sell systems to some of the country’s largest computer manufacturers to recover usable circuit board components, Moltion says. All the raw metals recovered from the process are sold to smelters for reuse in making such items as new electronics and jewelry.

Northeast is seeking investments for a commercial-ready system and is planning to sell or license it to others in the worldwide recycling industry, Moltion says.