Abstract: A new method for efficient recovery of copper from waste printed circuit boards (WPCBs) by pre-leaching combined with Cyclone and vertical electrodeposition process was proposed. Firstly，the impurities such as Zn，Fe，Ni and Al in WPCBs were removed by hydrochloric acid pre-leaching. The ef‐ fects of hydrochloric acid concentration，leaching temperature，stirring speed and leaching time on the pre-leaching effect were systematically studied，and the optimum leaching conditions were obtained. The concentration of hydrochloric acid was 1.0 mol/L，the leaching temperature was 35 ℃，the stirring speed was 500 r/min，and the leaching time was 5 min. Under these conditions，the leaching rates of Zn，Fe，Ni and Al reached 99.99%，94.20%，85.10% and 95.20%，respectively. After pre-leaching，the copper con‐ tent in WPCBs was enriched from 38.50% to 60.10%，and the impurity content was significantly reduced. On this basis，Cyclone and vertical electrodepositionwas conducted，the effects of H2SO4 concentration， initial Cu2+ concentration，current density，electrode spacing and liquid-solid ratio on copper recovery and current efficiency were investigated. The optimal electrowinning parameters were obtained as follows. H2SO4 concentration was 180 g/L，initial Cu2+ concentration was 50 g/L，current intensity was 1.5 A，elec‐ trode spacing was 3 cm，and liquid-solid ratio was 50 mL/g. The verification test results show that under the optimal conditions，the copper recovery rate reaches 95.62%，and the purity of cathode copper is high‐ er than 99.9%. The research method provides a feasible process route for the efficient and clean recovery of copper from WPCBs.

Key words: waste printed circuit boards (WPCBs), pre-leaching, cyclone and vertical electrodeposi‐ tion, hydrometallurgy