Experimental investigation of the effect of e-waste fillers on the mechanical properties of Kenaf woven fiber composites

Electronic waste is one of the environmental issues that is worsening rapidly around the globe and is of particular concern to developing nations. A significant quantity of e-waste is dumped in landfills without regard for the recycling process, which has a potentially adverse impact on the global ecosystem. In this work, waste printed circuit boards (WPCB) and cassette discs (CD) are grinded into powder form and used as fillers with lignocellulosic kenaf woven fabric blended with epoxy resin. Fabrication is carried out by hand lay-up techniques assisted by vacuum bagging. Laminates are made with different proportions of 5%, 10%, 15%, and 20% of e-waste filler by weight percentage of kenaf fabric. Mechanical, water absorption, and surface roughness tests were carried out. The result shows that a 5% addition of waste printed circuit board filler and a 10% addition of waste cassette disc (WCD) filler gave better results. In comparison, waste printed circuit board filler laminates show higher strength than waste cassette disc filler laminates. Experimental results indicate that e-waste filler can be reinforced with lignocellulosic biomass fiber composites and better used for domestic and industrial applications instead of being dumped into landfills, which causes environmental and health hazards.