Green Electronics?

[GreenEE]

I have a question that may be bordering as much on industrial design and EE. I'm looking for resources on moving my designs into a much more green area - far beyond the scope of RoHS. For example, we used to make electronics with wood enclosures and used paper insulators. There are some good reasons we abandoned some easily recycled or up-cycleable products. There are other reasons that may not hold up in today's environment.

Does anybody have any good pointers to resources on how to deeply green electronics? I would be interested in solutions ranging from the IC level to connectors and enclosures. Are there meaningful ways to select greener suppliers? How do I evaluate an IC provider? Are there semiconductor technologies to avoid? Has anybody had recent experience making a produce that did not use a plastic enclosure? What about IC packaging? Any alternatives plastic or are there more truly recyclable plastics for electronics? Anybody design a product for end of life (design for disassemble)? I would love to hear more and know about more resources?

 

[cranky108]

If I recall some IC's were produced in like a cermanic package. I think plastic was just easer to fabricate.
(I'm not an IC guy. I play with bigger circuits).

Why isen't a steel box more recycleable than wood?

 

[MacGyverS2000]

To what purpose?

There's a reason the components are now packaged in plastic rather than ceramic (not to mention the radiation in some ceramics that was killing memory chips), it's cheaper. And cheaper doesn't necessarily mean less "green" (which in and of itself is a very vague and often meaningless term)... if the process of creating that cheaper package takes significantly less resources to manufacture, doesn't that make it better? It's not like that ceramic package is going to biodegrade any faster in a landfill than a plastic version.

The sheer effort alone you would expend to find a "green" manufacturer would probably far outweigh any benefit that could possibly be seen by using them.

If you must have green, though, what about the old paper-based phenolic PCBs? Or go even farther and use wire thrown away by the ton by telephone companies and industrial rebuilders? Better yet, save the environment completely by just telling people what your idea is rather than actually building it...

Dan - Owner

http://www.Hi-TecDesigns.com

 

[IRstuff]

And, arguably, ceramic packages might even be considered to be less "green", since they required more materials, and more toxic materials, in some cases.

TTFN

FAQ731-376

 

[Comcokid]

Just go to vacuum tube designs (valves for you UK folks) made with RoHS solder. Copper, glass steel, carbon, paper, varnish, and some phenolic for the resistors, tube sockets, and tube bases.

Of course, the power requirement may not be carbon friendly, so use a wind turbine to power it.

 

[cranky108]

Isen't plastic recylable?

 

[jimkirk]

Many countries are beginning to require companies to manage the entire life-cycle of products (Google "product life cycle management").

Packaging material reduction, energy efficient designs, intelligent sleep modes.

Unfortunately, some product categories, like cell phones and computers, are seen today as having 2 year or less product lives, but many products benefit from a good solid design that lasts. It's likely greener and less expensive to the consumer to design a clock radio that will work for 25 years than one that needs to be replaced every 3 to 5 years.

And there is a viewpoint that some aspects of RoHS is self-defeating. Lead in solder gives it qualities that promote longer product lifetimes. Removing the lead sounds like a good idea, until tin whiskers short out and you have to replace your gadget.

Replacing chemicals & elements with alternatives that still provide quality is fertile ground for research.

 

[MacGyverS2000]

Meh... I'be been using the same cell phone for over 4 years now, and I'd be using one even older than that if AT&T hadn't pulled that "You'll need to replace your phone as we're shutting down towers in your area" scam back in mid-2005 (which caused a class-action lawsuit against them). That phone would have been 6-7 years old, easily.

Dan - Owner

http://www.Hi-TecDesigns.com

 

[jimkirk]

Dan, good for you! I, too, try to buy quality goods from which I expect a long life, and I'm guessing like many of us here, will open up and fix anything that breaks in order to extend its life.

On the other hand, I know some people who are selling their month old iPods, because Apple just announced the newest flavors.

 

[IRstuff]

There are phones that last, and there are phones that don't, often from the same model line and manufacturer. My MOTO RAZR lasted barely a year before committing suicide, to the point where only replacement of the main motherboard would suffice. But a PEBL, bought at exactly the same time is still ticking, after 4 yrs.

TTFN

FAQ731-376