Economic model for end of life management of printed circuit boards

The objective of this research is to develop an economic model for the recycling of printed circuit boards. The process of extraction of copper using traditional recycling methodology is considered. Both cost and energy models are develop for this process. The various factors affecting the costs are identified and the assumption of linearity between the individual costs and the total cost is validated using test of hypothesis. The costing methodology used is activity based costing. All the activities and cost centers are defined and the total cost is arrived at.

The energy calculations are performed by analyzing the energy inputs that go into each process step. The energy computation is then made based on these energy inputs and the total energy is arrived at.

The cost and energy models are validated by making use of a case study. Also, the energy estimate for new process of recycling like super critical fluids is computed based on the energy model developed. The economic model provides a framework where both cost and energy calculations can be performed and the process can be evaluated and improved upon.