Dan’s Biz Bookshelf: ‘The Future of Sales'
Driving Innovation: Traceability in PCB Production
It’s Only Common Sense: Price—Is That All You’ve Got?
An Ultimate Goal in Sustainability: Recyclable PCBs
April 11, 2024 | Marcy LaRont, PCB007 MagazineEstimated reading time: 1 minute
Who doesn’t believe in recycling? “Re-use, repurpose, recycle” has been a drumbeat for more than two decades. Our children learn about it in primary school. Full university departments devoted to environmental science and sustainability in universities forward their discipline for the world's benefit. In theory, we all get behind the concept of recycling, even if the nuances of execution may fall short.
When I first heard of recyclable PCBs, I was skeptical. There are so many distinct elements of a printed circuit board: fiberglass, solder, metal finishes, and all manner of components. I have been far more apt to picture them being repurposed (unfortunate art deco PCB earrings come to mind) than recycled. But Jan Pedersen begs to differ with my lack of vision. As director of technology at NCAB, Jan is a true champion and visionary of the concept and is working to prove out the practice.
Marcy LaRont: Jan, can you explain the concept of circularity as it relates to recyclability? Honestly, I had not heard the term before your IPC Community article.
Jan Pedersen: Circularity, in the purest sense, is to reuse the scrapped PCB to produce a new PCB or another product. We use circularity to explain the lifecycle of materials, from nature and back to nature, or cradle to cradle, if you like. That can mean reusing the material in a new product or simply returning it back to nature.
Now, we all know that a PCB and its constituents are not good for nature, so we have to look at how we can circle the material back into a new product.
LaRont: That’s fascinating to me. I know that PCB particulates, like the fiberglass laminate, can sometimes be ground up and used in things like concrete. But it feels like true circularity with a printed circuit board would be impossible.
Pedersen: It is not easy to find a true solution. Having that said, promising projects are going on in China and the Western world.
To continue reading the entire conversation, which appeared in the March 2024 issue of PCB007 Magazine, click here.
Share on:
Suggested Items
Uyemura Expands Engineering Team in Great Lakes Region
05/30/2025 | UyemuraAndrew Jin has joined Uyemura’s Engineering Team as Technical Service Engineer for the Midwest. Jin was formerly with Sensient Technologies, Flavors and Extracts Division, where his focus was CO2 emissions and water quality; he also did capital project work with production equipment.
WellPCB, OurPCB Launch Low-Cost PCB Assembly and Custom Cable Assembly Solutions
05/29/2025 | ACCESSWIREWellPCB and OurPCB, world leading PCB manufacturing service providers, announced today that they have officially launched new Low-Cost PCB Assembly Solutions and Custom Cable Assembly services to meet the needs of the electronics manufacturing industry for high cost performance and flexible customization.
Standards: The Roadmap for Your Ideal Data Package
05/29/2025 | Andy Shaughnessy, Design007 MagazineIn this interview, IPC design instructor Kris Moyer explains how standards can help you ensure that your data package has all the information your fabricator and assembler need to build your board the way you designed it, allowing them to use their expertise. As Kris says, even with IPC standards, there’s still an art to conveying the right information in your documentation.
High-frequency EMC Noise in DC Circuits
05/29/2025 | Karen Burnham, EMC UnitedEMC isn’t black magic, but it’s easy to understand why it seems that way. When looking at a schematic like that in Figure 1, it looks like you’re only dealing with DC signals all across the board. There’s a 28 VDC input that goes through an EMI filter, then gets converted to 12 VDC power. Except in extremely rare circumstances involving equipment sensitive to magnetostatic fields, DC electricity will never be part of an EMC problem.
Canada PCB Market Report 2025-2030: Strong Growth Projected Amid EV Boom, 5G Rollout, and Defense Investments
05/29/2025 | Globe NewswireCanada Printed Circuit Board Market is projected to grow at a CAGR of 4.5% from 2025-2031F. The Canada PCB market is set for robust growth in the coming years, driven by several factors.