G R E E N E L E C T R O N I C S

Presented byJohn Paul

Mehjabin Abdurrazaque

M. E. S Kalladi College, Mannarkkad

CONTENTS

What is electronics?

De-merits of electronics

Green Electronics as a solution

What is Green Electronics?

Methods in Green Electronics

ELECTRONICS

I think I thought it would be

important for electronics as we

knew it then, but that was a much

simpler business and electronics

was mostly radio and television

and the first computers.

Jack Kilby

The branch of physics and technology concerned with

• the design of circuits using transistors and microchips, and

• the behaviour and movement of electrons in a semiconductor, conductor, vacuum, or gas

ELECTRONICS

In the 21st century we are enjoying well

developed electronics

Everyday we deal with the electronic devices

several times, from toys for children to highly

efficient digital systems

Electronics made life easier – effortless

But this omnipresence has a seamy underside…!!!

Among the harmful

elements are

1. Lead

2. Cadmium

3. Mercury

4. Polybrominated diphenyl

ether (PBDE)

Certain materials used in electronic products are toxic and pose a threat to the environment

DISPOSAL OF E-WASTE

E-waste can be disposed in

three ways:

Incineration

Land-filling

Recycling

Destroying the e-waste including computers

and other electronic devices and

components by burning.

But this waste contributes significantly to

heavy metals and halogen Ted substances.

variety of different substances found

together in electro scrap

incineration is dangerous

Disposing the e-waste by burying it

But all landfills leak

For instance,

when brominates flame-retarded plastic or

cadmium-containing plastics are land-filled, both

PBDE and cadmium may leach into the soil and

ground water.

Land-filling

RecyclingThe waste amount from electrical and electronic equipment is rapidly

increasing, partly because of the growing demand, and partly because

of the still shorter life-cycle of equipment.

Landfill and Incineration are not complete solutions.

To minimize waste the solutions are:

1. Extended life of equipment (repair/upgrade)

2. Re-use

3. Recycling

Recycling of hazardous products has little environmental benefit -it simply moves the hazards into secondary products that eventually have to be disposed of.

Unless the goal is to redesign the product to use non- hazardous materials, such recycling is a false solution. 

When incinerated, lead contents become easily

soluble, leading to increased leaching from the

landfills where residues from waste incineration

end up.

Hazardous emissions to the air result from the

recycling of e-waste containing heavy metals,

such as lead and cadmium.

These emissions could be significantly reduced by

pretreatment operations.

An improved way must be invented. 

And, this improved way is

GREEN ELECTRONICSGETTING GREENER

IMPLEMENTING LEAD-FREE AND ECO-

FRIENDLY ELECTRONIC EQUIPMENTS

WHAT IS GREEN ELECTRONICS?Electronic products and components that have minimum

environmental effects throughout their lifecycle

• No environmentally harmful materials used (WEE / RoHS)

• Eco-efficient manufacturing process

• Consume less power (in operation and stand-by modes)

• Fully recyclable, no hazardous waste

New electronics applications that enable sustainable and environmentally friendly solutions both in

industrial and consumer sectors

ECO DESIGN - HOW TO GET STARTED?

There are three mains steps to take:

• Establish specific and measurable environmental targets for each product-type, and specify these targets in the requirements specification

• Include the environmental issues in the agenda for design reviews during the development phases

• Establish metrics in order to make the environmental performance of the products visible and measurable

USE LESS MATERIALS

• Minimize the equipment weight

• Specify materials with established recycling systems (steel,

aluminium, pure thermoplastics etc.)

• Specify the use of recycled materials (primarily polymers)

• Consider alternatives to materials listed as limited resources

• Minimize material waste during production

REDUCE ENERGY USE• Design with automatic power-down and stand-

by functions

• Switch off parts of the circuit, which are not in

use all the time

• Change clock-frequencies dependant on the

need for speed

• Consider power consumption when choosing

components and component-families

• Priorities high efficiency in power supplies

lower power consumption

lower temperature

less need for cooling /fanshigher reliability

longer life

lower Cost-of-Ownership

Minimize waste• Design equipment with possibilities for repair, upgradability and reuse

• Design for recycling means:

1. easy to dismantle

2. easy to obtain 'clean' material-fractions, that can be recycled (e.g.

iron and copper should be easy to separate)

3. easy to remove parts/components, that must be treated separately

4. use as few different materials as possible

5. mark the materials/polymers in order to sort them correct

6. avoid surface treatment in order to keep the materials 'clean'

Phase out or minimize use of substances/chemicals - it seems sound to avoid lead in tin solders and to use other metals. 

The soldering process takes place in closed systems, reduces or eliminates the risk of human exposure in work-related situations. 

silver (Ag), tin (Sn), copper (Cu)Lead (Pb)

Use of modern production equipment

Changing to lead-free alloys is uncertain seen from an eco-toxicological perspective because it is uncertain how the alternative metals spread and degrade.

Silver, for example, which is present in almost all lead-free alternatives, is far more toxic to aquatic organisms than lead.

THANK YOU

The electronic computer equipment is a

complicated assembly of more than 1000

materials, many of which are highly toxic:

1. chlorinated and brominate substances

2. toxic gases

3. toxic metals

4. photoactive and biologically active materials

5. acids

6. plastics and plastic additives

DRIVERS/MOTIVATORS OF GOING GREEN

Potential

competi

tive ad

vantag

e

Growth opportu

nity fo

r compan

y

Corporat

e socia

l resp

onsibilit

y

Meeting c

ustomer

expect

ations /

require

ments

New te

chnology

opportunities

Ability t

o enter

new m

arkets

Green im

age

Product

develo

pment

Potential

cost

savings

Levera

ge ex

isting m

arkets

0

10

20

30

40

50

60

70

80

EXAMPLES OF GREEN ELECTRONICS

Electronics products that consume less energy

• LED lightning, ”low-power electronics”

• Portable devices

Non-toxic, eco-efficient products and manufacturing processes

• Printed (disposable) sensors, recyclability

• RFID in life-cycle management

Energy solutions• Printed solar cells, Energy harvesting• Energy storage technologies, batteries

Environmental monitoring• (Industrial) emissions measurement

(CO2, …),• Quality monitoring of liquid and solid

fuels

Environmentally friendly electronics solutions

• Water taps with optical sensors, sensor technologies

• for monitoring industrial processes

The ever-increasing functionality of information technology (IT) products is enabled by semiconductors.

Lead is the glue that binds all the semiconductor devices to make them work efficiently.

Without lead solders and leaded glass

Lead alloy solders enable your computer to send electronic data. 

you would not be able to safely sit in front of your computer.

But why lead is used in electronic components?

Lead can meet performance requirements in a cost-efficient manner.

Lead can be easily remoulded and refined. 

Lead has the highest recycling rate of all the industrial metals in the world.

Leads natural properties are well suited to electronics applications: low melting point high strengthductility fatigue resistancehigh thermal cycling joint integritycorrosion resistance malleabilitylong life