Economic and environmental aspects of electrochemical copper recovery from LCD manufacturing process and through hole plating process for PCB circuit board wastewater were evaluated. The extraction rate of copper per unit energy was decreased as HRT increased and initial copper concentration decreased. About 65 minutes was determined as the optimal HRTs which could maximize the productivity of copper recovery on energy. The extracted mass of copper from the wastewater were 0.045 g at 50 mg Cu/L, 0.083 g at 1,000 mg Cu/L and 0.098 g at 3,000 mg Cu/L by unit energy (Wh) for 60 minutes, respectively. LCA (Life Cycle Assessment) technique determined the electrochemical recovery of copper to have more effect on global warming than other environmental impact categories.

• 전관수(영남대학교 환경공학과) | Kwan-Soo Jun Corresponding author
• 권상우(㈜ 에코앤파워) | Sang-Woo Kwon
• 양봉호(영남대학교 환경공학과) | Bong-Ho Yang