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Sigma Mecer: Turning Copper ‘Green’
October 5, 2023 | Nolan Johnson, PCB007 MagazineEstimated reading time: 1 minute
Andreas Littorin is CEO at Sigma Engineering AB. The company has been manufacturing equipment for the PCB industry for 45 years, mainly a mature product for copper recycling of alkaline and acidic etchants in the PCB manufacturing process.
Nolan Johnson: Andreas, Sigma Mecer has installed equipment at the Schweitzer Engineering Laboratories (SEL) facility. Tell me about the products in your portfolio.
Andreas Littorin: We are an equipment manufacturer for the PCB industry and have been in operation for 45 years. We have a mature product for copper recycling of alkaline and acidic etchants in the PCB manufacturing process.
Johnson: You were recently selected by SEL for its brand-new facility here in Idaho. Tell me about your equipment that was selected for its facility.
Littorin: SEL chose an acidic copper recycling system, a quite large one. It's capable of recycling 15 kgs (about 33 pounds) of copper per hour, all day, all year long. There's also a subsystem for oxidation and regeneration of the etchant. So, they have an oxidation reactor system connected to the etching line, and soon one more for the second etching line that is coming.
Johnson: When a facility is looking to reduce waste, or even to be zero waste, how important is this sort of equipment?
Littorin: In terms of etching operations, it is very important. In terms of PCBs, in general, it's just one of the processes customers have in their plant. But without the copper recycling system, you need to “feed-and-bleed” the chemistry, sending in new and sending out spent chemistry all the time. It's paramount to do recycling to achieve zero waste for the etching operation.
To read this entire conversation, which appeared in the September 2023 issue of PCB007 Magazine, click here.
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