Development of environmentally sound gold plating and recycling processes

A shorter cycle of use and reuse of gold in electronics, involving fewer process steps and less energy consuming, can be achieved using hydrometallurgical processing with cyanide free, nontoxic and partly biodegradable bath solutions. This improves the overall environmental performance of gold plated electronic assemblies. The inclusion of environmental assessment at an early stage of the development besides technical and economical optimization leads to process integrated environmental protection and is profitable for the industry as well as for the environment.