ABSTRACT
The modern Printed Circuit Board (PCB) can be traced back to Paul Eisler in 1936 [1], and has been developed to the current mass manufactured automated process in a relatively few but significant steps. The PCB is a major element in a large number of consumer goods, toys and industrial equipment. However, tech-
nological progress in electronic circuitry has led to a short product life cycle for many PCBs. It has been estimated that each European Union (EU) citizen (prior to the enlargement of the EU) produces 23 kg of electrical/electronic waste per annum [2], with 90% of this type of waste being deposited in landfill, incinerated or recovered without pre-treatment, thus making its pollutants a major source of the hazardous content found in municipal waste [3]. In order to protect the environment the EU directives on Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment (WEEE) and Restriction of Hazardous Substances (RoHS) [4, 5] were implemented from July 1, 2006. These directives adopted from the initial proposal of June 2000 restrict the use of disposing of WEEE in landfill, and ban the use of lead, cadmium, mercury, hexavalent chromium, and two flame retardant chemicals: polybrominated biphenyls and polybrominated diphenylethers in the manufacture of electrical and electronic equipment.
