A highly effective process based on a hammer mill, a pneumatic column separator a nd an electrostatic separator was developed for recovering copper from waste printed circuit boards. The factors influencing the degree of copper liberation are discussed. Two physical separation methods were compared and discussed. Experimental results show that a well-controlled impact crusher can produce satisfactor copper liberation at a relatively coarse particle size. Around 90% copper recovery form waste printed circuit boards can be achieved using a combination of electrostatic separation and pneumatic separtion.