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WASTE REDUCTION TECHNOLOGY EVALUATIONS AT THREE PRINTED WIRE BOARD MANUFACTURERS
Citation:
Harten, T. AND D. Folsom. WASTE REDUCTION TECHNOLOGY EVALUATIONS AT THREE PRINTED WIRE BOARD MANUFACTURERS. U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Washington, D.C., EPA/600/J-95/376, 1994.
Description:
Technologies at three printed wire board (PWB) manufacturers were evaluated for waste reduction, and costs were compared to existing operations. rom 1989 to 1993, these evaluations were conducted under US EPA's Waste Reduction Innovative Technology Evaluation (WRITE) Program, in cooperation with Battelle and the Minnesota Technical Assistance Program. perational changes to reduce drag-out at one company's PVM "sensitize line" were shown to reduce drag-out by up to 51%, with rinse water reduction predicted at the same amount; payback was immediate. t a second company, drag-out was also reduced (by 65%) with installation of polyvinyl alcohol sponge rollers, in place of hard rubber squeegees, at a horizontal cleaning line for flexible circuits; payback occurred in four days. t the same company, a conductivity-activated flow controller installed at the final rinse of a tin-lead line reduced rinse waste water by 76%; simple payback was 5 months. t a third company, through-hole coating by an electroless copper line was compared to coating by a new line based on a patented carbon-dispersion coating. hemical use for the two lines, and copper and total solids waste in the rinse water were all shown to be reduced by the new process; simple payback was calculated at 2.6 years.