The production of printed circuit boards, which form the basis of virtually all electronics, is one of the most environmentally demanding parts of the electronics industry. It is associated with high consumption of chemicals, energy and water, and recycling these components after the end of the product's life is also problematic. In the Czech Republic alone, more than 150 thousand tons of electronic waste were collected in 2025, with approximately six percent of them being printed circuit boards. This is precisely the problem that a joint project of researchers from the Department of Electrical Technology at CTU and the Institute of Polymers at the Institute of Chemical Technology in Prague focused on, which was supported by the Technology Agency of the Czech Republic in 2024–2026 as part of the Environment for Life program and the National Recovery Plan.
"Our goal was to find a technology that would significantly reduce the use of toxic chemicals and at the same time enable the use of plastic waste as a valuable raw material. After two years of development, we managed to create a functional production process and verify its ecological benefits," says Petr Veselý, head of the CTU research team.