A PROCESS TO PRODUCE PRINTED CIRCUIT BOARDS WITHOUT GENERATING LIQUID OR SOLID WASTE

OVER 25 BILLION GALLONS OF WASTE WATER ARE PRODUCED EACH YEAR AS BY-PRODUCTS OF CIRCUIT BOARD PRODUCTION. WASTES, INCLUDING COPPER, LEAD, NICKEL, CHROMIUM, DISSOLVED ORGANICSACIDS, CAUSTICS AND CHLORINATED SOLVENTS MUST BE TREATED ANDDISPOSED OF OR RECYCLED. COMPLIANCE WITH ANTI-POLLUTION REGULATIONS HAS BECOME EXTREMELY COSTLY AND INCREASINGLY COMPLEX. A TECHNIQUE IS PROPOSED IN THIS PROJECT FOR ELIMINATING THE WASTE PROBLEM AT ITS SOURCE. IT CONSISTS OF A NEW METHOD OF PRINTED CIRCUIT MANUFACTURE WHICH ELIMINATES WET-PROCESSING AND CONSEQUENTLY THE GENERATION OF HAZARDOUS WASTE. THOUGH THE PROCESS IS TOTALLY DIFFERENT FROM ANY CURRENTLY USED, IT DOES NOT REQUIRE THE INVENTION OF NEW TECHNOLOGY. IT INCORPORATES A SERIES OF PROCESSES, ALL OF WHICH ARE CURRENTLY USED IN OTHER APPLICATIONS. THEY SIMPLY HAVE NEVER BEEN PUT TOGETHER IN THIS FASHION OR FOR THIS PURPOSE. CIRCUIT BOARDS MANUFACTURED BY THIS PROCESS WILL BE OF THE SAME MATERIALS AND WILL FUNCTION THE SAME AS THOSE MANUFACTURED BY THE CURRENT PROCESSES. THEREFORE, THEY WILLNOT REQUIRE ANY CHANGES IN ASSEMBLY OR USE. THE PROCESS, ONCE PROVEN AND PUT INTO COMMERCIAL USE, IS SO EFFICIENT AND CLEAN THAT IT CAN ELIMINATE 50% OF THE WASTE GENERATION BY THE PRINTED CIRCUIT INDUSTRY WITHIN FIVE YEARS