Feature: Sustainability
Making environmentally-responsible electronics
E
By Emma Armstrong, Group Commercial and Electronics Sustainability Director, In2tec Te evidence for rapid climate change is
waste is a health and environmental hazard, containing toxic additives and hazardous substances such as mercury, lead and cadmium. E-waste can
leak harmful toxins into the ground, air and even water that when breathed in or ingested can cause serious illnesses. It can cause damage to the brain and coordination problems, children have been known to suffer from memory and cardiovascular issues, and adults experience decrease in liver function among other health problems. Te long list of the detrimental effects of e-waste are devastatingly real. Moreover, the world as we know it
is changing fast: global temperatures increase, oceans are warming up and becoming more acidic, ice sheets and glaciers are melting and sea levels rising
– effects created by man’s continued CO2 emissions. Tere is more carbon dioxide in our atmosphere than at any other time in history.
36 March 2023
www.electronicsworld.co.uk
compelling so the aim here is not to spend time on its adverse impacts of climate change, but rather to understand and grapple with the current reality, finding solutions that can help the survival of the planet as we know it and the human race. It’s that serious! Te environmental impact of e-waste
is on a trajectory to become one of the major ecological disasters, eclipsing both plastic and chemical waste. We don’t currently have an effective solution, and even the idea of trying to implement a charge for e-waste recycling is financially crippling. So more oſten than not the solution is just to bury waste or burn it. Te drive to zero emissions is obvious,
but whilst pondering these realities it is imperative to understand the other side of the coin. Achieving Net Zero emissions is about inherent fundamental design concept changes. Net Zero isn’t simply about reducing our usage and energy consumption; there must be improvements in the materials used,
shiſts in the process of manufacture and, crucially, end-of-life reusability and environmentally-sound and safe disposal. Today there is focus on the plastics
and metalworks integrated within the electronic products and compliance with WEEE (Waste from Electrical and Electronic Equipment) requirements to attempt to dispose of the products in a more controlled manner, but that doesn’t diminish that the real issue of the recyclability of the printed circuit assemblies that are the backbone of every one of the electronic products consumed. Printed circuit board assemblies
(PCBAs) generally achieve 3-5% recyclability, with wiring harnesses at best 20% recycled. So, here’s the rub, it takes significant energy (creating considerable carbon dioxide equivalent, or CO2
e),
effort and processing time to extract the reusable materials of a populated PCB. In turn, the cost is oſten too high for this to be of commercial value. Invariably this means the materials are buried, burned in a controlled manner or shipped from
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