Eco-designing Hybrid & Printed Electronics

In this master class, we will focus on a collection of circular practices applied to hybrid &; printed electronics (HPE) with the aim of reducing their environmental impacts. HPE offers many advantages compared to printed circuitry boards (PCBs), including reduced thickness and weight, increased design and form freedoms, simplified product integration, wear comfort and conformability, the use of recyclable thermoplastics, and additive printing of metals. A direct comparison between HPE and PCB-based electronics at product level reveals that HPE indeed offers reduced environmental burdens. Moreover, several circular practices may be used to further build on this first favorable outcome. Lifecycle assessments reveal several hotspots for HPE, namely plastics, printed metals and the electricity involved in production. Material related hotspots may be addressed by substituting petrochemical plastics and mined metals with recyclates or bio-based alternatives instead. A more optimized process flow with reduced production losses and a greener energy mix will lead to further cradle-to-gate emission reductions. End-of-life related burdens are less easily improved. At present, most HPE is not readily recycled, in part due to their unique selling points. HPE typically contains less (printed) metal than PCBs, making recycling of these metallized plastics less attractive for recyclers. Furthermore, the high level of integration combines metals, semiconductor components and plastics seamlessly, thereby increasing the complexity of material liberation at end-of-life. Especially when considering the unique form factors, lightweight and flexibility and/or stretchability of this unique class of electronics as well. Repairability, refurbishment and reuse are not widely pursued yet despite forthcoming regulations in the EU intended to increase consumer rights. But innovations that improve HPE sustainability and circularity are just around the corner. This master class will describe several HPE use cases wherefor the environmental impacts
have successfully been reduced by means of decarbonization, material circularity and/or lifetime extension.