Section Seven
INDUSTRIAL WASTES
A. ELECTRONIC MFG. WASTES
57    USING A WASTE AUDIT APPROACH TO DETERMINE
WASTE MANAGEMENT ALTERNATIVES AT A
PRINTED CIRCUIT BOARD MANUFACTURING
PLANT
Robert C. Harries, Project Manager
CANVIRO Consultants
Waterloo, Ontario
Canada N2J 1P8
Ken C. Bradley, Manager
Waste Reduction
Ontario Waste Management Corporation
Toronto, Ontario
Canada M1W 3E2
David Gardiner, General Manager
Graphico Space Circuits
Waterloo, Ontario
Canada N2J 3Z9
INTRODUCTION
The implementation of increasingly complex and stringent environmental regulations have forced
industries in North America to reconsider their approaches towards waste management and to reevaluate the impact of environmental issues on their company's ability to survive in the market place.
The emphasis is now on improving process efficiency, minimizing wastes and optimizing waste
treatment and disposal practices to ensure compliance with discharge and disposal regulations. But
how does a company go about assessing the status of their operations with respect to waste management? The best way to start is to conduct an in-plant survey or waste audit. To date, there has been
little guidance available on how to go about conducting a waste audit but in 1987, CANVIRO
Consultants (A Division of CH2M HILL Engineering Ltd.) developed an Industrial Waste Audit and
Reduction Manual for the Ontario Waste Management Corporation (OWMC)1 which was designed as
a practical guide to conducting an in-plant survey. This chapter describes the application of the waste
audit approach to determine the waste management alternatives available at a printed circuit board
manufacturing plant, Graphico Space Circuits, in Waterloo, Ontario.
PRINTED CIRCUIT BOARD MANUFACTURING
The wastewaters generated from printed circuit board manufacturing operations certainly present a
challenge with respect to optimization of treatment processes. The manufacturing operations involve
a complex series of physical and chemical processing stages, including deburring, electroless plating,
electroplating and etching, and as a result, the wastewaters are complex, of variable composition and
difficult to treat. To compound the treatment problems, many of the operations involve proprietary
process chemicals, including chelators, whose formulations are not available to end user. A systematic
approach to determine the major sources of waste and develop a sound strategy with respect to waste
minimization and wastewater treatment is therefore essential.
43rd Purdue Industrial Waste Conference Proceedings, © 1989 Lewis Publishers, Inc., Chelsea, Michigan 48118.
Printed in U.S.A.
489