The Centre for Materials for Electronics Technology (C-MET) in Hyderabad, India has opened a printed circuit board (PCB) recycling facility capable of processing one tonne of materials per day.
India’s Secretary of the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology, Shri Alkesh Kumar Sharma, kicked off operations at the start of the year. Government officials estimate that India generates over 3.2 million tonnes of used electronics annually. The new PCB hub is meant to boost the recovery rates of precious metals and other valuable technology metals.
The centre has developed innovative recycling technologies targeting PCBs as well as lithium-ion batteries, permanent magnets and silicon-based solar panels. C-MET says the ‘one of a kind’ R&D venture is the result of a public-private partnership. The next step is commercialising state-of-the-art recycling solutions.
India is among those Asian countries witnessing the most rapid growth in PCB sales, which exceeded EUR 2.4 billion in 2020. This number is expected to grow steadily in the next three years, reaching EUR 6.8 billion by 2026.
