Introducing the Program – Rethinking the PCB: Sustainable Substrates & Greener Production
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Why Should You Join TechBlick's Sustainable Electronics RESHAPED?
Sustainable Electronics RESHAPED (21 & 22 OCT 2026, Estrel Congress Centre, Berlin) is where the global sustainable electronics industry takes form — reshaping the future of electronics layer by layer, through sustainable materials, efficient manufacturing, and circular designs. The event is co-located with Electronics RESHAPED, Electronic Textiles RESHAPED, and Perovskite Connect.
The printed circuit board sits at the heart of electronics — and at the heart of its waste problem. In this article, we highlight talks around the theme of rethinking the PCB: bio-based substrates, additive and recyclable circuit fabrication, and greener production at industrial scale. In a companion article, we cover life cycle assessment, eco-design, and circular business models.
Explore the full agenda now and register to join the event — one pass gives you access to all four co-located shows, the exhibition, and the TechBlick on-demand library.
Bio-Based PCB Substrates: Wood, Cellulose, and Natural Fibres
Holzforschung Austria (Austria) – Boris Forsthuber presents ecoPCBs on wood, developed within the EU-funded HyPELignum project. Conductive paths are printed onto wood substrates via inkjet or screen printing; the plywood ecoPCB concept prints circuitry into each veneer layer before gluing, connecting layers with vias to mimic a conventional multilayer PCB. Waterborne primers homogenize ink penetration on birch wood, and the screen-printing approach extends to timber construction (moisture and strain sensing) and furniture (touch sensing, VOC measurement with novel biomimetic smell sensors).
EMPA (Switzerland) – Thomas Geiger presents printed circuit board substrates derived from cellulose nanofibrils. Lignocellulose nanofibrils obtained from lignin-rich pulp are dewatered under pressure and heat into rigid PCB substrates with a flexural strength of ~133 MPa and thermal conductivity comparable to epoxy-glass boards. A complete demonstration — a functioning wired computer mouse with inkjet-printed circuitry on an LCNF substrate and a 3D-printed PLA/wood housing — shows the readiness of these biodegradable substrates and points the way to sustainable eco-electronics.
Jiva Materials (United Kingdom) – Steve Driver presents Soluboard — a fully recyclable rigid PCB laminate made from natural fibres and water-soluble polymers. Instead of shredding or incineration, end-of-life boards can be immersed in hot water: the substrate dissolves, releasing components and metals for clean recovery. The detailed abstract will follow in the agenda.
Voltera (Canada) – Voltera presents printing PCBs on biodegradable substrates for end-of-life recovery. Known for its desktop electronics printers used across labs and workshops worldwide, Voltera will show how digitally printed circuits pair naturally with biodegradable substrates — putting sustainable prototyping and small-batch production within reach. Speaker and final abstract to be confirmed in the agenda.
Additive & Recyclable Circuit Fabrication
Technische Hochschule Ingolstadt (Germany) – Gordon Elger presents a process-integrated approach for circular flexible electronics: biodegradable polymer substrates (PHB and bio-synthesized Polyamide-4 produced via metabolically engineered E. coli) combined with a particle-free copper complex ink sintered at just 150 °C under nitrogen. Fully additive patterning eliminates subtractive etching and copper waste; printed features reach ~3 µm thick continuous copper layers. Crucially, a solvent-based recycling protocol separates copper residues from the polymer, which is recast into second-generation films — demonstrating closed-loop substrate recovery without energy-intensive reprocessing.
University of Maryland (USA) – Huaishu Peng presents dissolvable PCBs, leveraging water-soluble 3D printing and liquid metals for fully recyclable electronics — an approach where the entire circuit carrier is designed from the outset to come apart on demand, releasing components and conductors for recovery. The detailed abstract will follow in the agenda.
CEA (France) – Lina Kadura presents the transformation of PCB production from subtractive to additive for sustainable electronics — replacing etch-and-waste process chains with additive fabrication that deposits material only where needed, cutting chemical use, energy, and scrap. Full talk details to be published in the agenda.
DP Patterning (Sweden) – Tommy Höglund asks: how can sustainability and cost efficiency combine into a true win-win — and a disruptive force in flexible electronics? DP Patterning's unique mechanical roll-to-roll process eliminates waste-intensive steps for high-performance antennas, sensors, heaters, and interconnects. The talk covers the company's strategic transition from equipment supplier to flex-PCB production partner, its growth across Europe and North America, and its micro-plant strategy for localized, scalable manufacturing — showing that sustainability is no longer a trade-off but a catalyst reshaping business models.
Greener Production at Industrial Scale
AT&S (Austria) – Christof Wernbacher outlines a practical approach to quantifying and reducing the carbon footprint of PCBs, using a Product Carbon Footprint methodology aligned with ISO 14067 combined with PCB-tailored eco-design. A dedicated bottom-up PCF tool enables hotspot identification, scenario analysis, and decarbonization monitoring across materials, processes, and energy — demonstrated through an automotive multilayer PCB use case featuring renewable energy, reduced copper and laminate thickness, material recycling, and bio-based alternatives. The talk emphasizes manufacturer–OEM collaboration to unlock the full potential of green electronics design.
Infineon Technologies (Germany) – Moritz Schlagmann presents making electronics greener at the semiconductor level — from design to manufacturing. As one of the world's leading semiconductor makers, Infineon brings the sustainability discussion to the chip itself, where design choices and fab operations set the environmental baseline for everything built on top. The detailed abstract will follow in the agenda.
Auburn University (USA) – Pradeep Lall presents AI-driven reliability: predictive life-cycle modeling for sustainable semiconductor packaging. Longer-lasting electronics are greener electronics — and Auburn's world-renowned reliability research shows how machine learning can predict degradation and lifetime, enabling packaging designed for durability rather than disposal. Full talk details to be published in the agenda.
Join Us in Berlin
Wood, cellulose, natural fibre, and dissolvable boards; additive copper on biopolymers; carbon-accounted production lines — the PCB is being reinvented before our eyes, and Berlin is where the people doing it will be.
Your pass also includes the co-located Electronics RESHAPED, Electronic Textiles RESHAPED, and Perovskite Connect — four world-class events, one venue, one ticket.
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