Frequently asked questions about PCB recycling.

What is there to recycle in printed circuit boards?
Answer: Printed circuit boards generally contain mostly plastic and copper, and some circuit boards contain other types of precious metals such as silver, palladium, gold, and platinum. These precious metals, including copper, are, in most cases, reclaimable.

Which printed circuit boards are known that contain no precious metals for recycling?
Most printed circuit boards contain precious metals. However, some printed circuit boards such as boards out of TVs, CRT monitors, stereos, DVD players, VCRs, and other boards out of consumer appliances are known as boards with minimal amounts of precious metals for recovery; therefore, these boards are graded as "low-grade" and not worth dealing with in most cases. Please note that we do not buy CRT monitors for recycling.

Which precious metals do Printed Circuit boards contain?
Answer: Circuit boards contain Copper, Gold, Palladium, and Silver. Not all circuit boards have similar amounts of precious metals. Some boards have only copper and do not contain any other precious metals, and others might contain silver with no silver.

How much do printed circuit boards worth for recycling?
Answer: The short answer is that it can range from $0.00 to $10.00 per lb. The recycling value of printed circuit boards is a calculation of the precious metals content in them and also the amount of work a precious metals refinery needs to spend to recover the precious metals.

How do you know which boards have precious metals for recovery and how much?
Answer: It is tough to determine the amounts of precious metals in printed circuit boards, however, with the experience we have gained over 30 years, we can estimate the quantities of precious metals in many types of printed circuit boards, but it's never an "accurate science" type of estimate.

Does B.W. Recycling, Inc. pay for printed circuit boards for recycling? Also, do you pick up? B.W. Recycling, Inc. does pay for printed circuit boards in many cases, but there are cases in which we do not pay. We also provide pick-up services for printed circuit boards. In some cases, it is free, and in others, we charge for the service. It depends on a few factors, such as the grade of the boards for recycling, the total quantity, the way they are packaged, and where they are located..

What does B.W. Recycling, Inc. need to provide me with the specific information about the boards I have for recycling? Answer: For us to provide specific information on how we can handle your printed circuit boards for recycling, we will need the following: A few photos of the printed circuit boards you have - We always recommend sending us a picture of the back and front of each board type for recycling. However, if you have many types, we can start with a few photos of many printed circuit boards.
Quantity: We will need to know the total weight of the printed circuit boards you have and the total number of palettes/boxes of printed circuit boards.
Location of the material for recycling - you can provide us with the full address, and we can also start with the ZIP code.

Do you take electronic devices that contain PCBs inside? Answer: If the device is plastic and the PCB inside is considered average grade, we can take it and offer a payment. If the device is metal and the PCB inside is low-grade, we might not pay for it.

Do you accept computer towers, or must we take them apart? If you have 1-200 towers, it will be considered a small volume, and you must bring it to us. If the quantity is over 200 units, we can pick it up. If you want the best price, you will need to take it apart, and we will accept all the Motherboards, daughter boards, Memory RAM, and CPUs.

If you have more questions about printed circuit board recycling, please feel free to contact us by filling out the contact form at the top or the bottom of this page, and we will be glad to assist you further.