Case study of a printed-wire-board concerning (Re-)Design for environment

Nowadays, printed-wire-boards (PWBs) appear in nearly every electr(on)ic appliance. The fast pace of technological innovation and the consequent shortening of the product lifetime lead to a rapidly growing waste stream of electronic products. Therefore, solutions regarding the end-of-life are urgently required. Our goal is to extend the lifetime of electronic products in order to decrease the environmental impact. Therefore, this case study focused on designing PWBs for maximum reusability of the components and for a better separation of hazardous components. The project became possible by building a flexible semiautomatic disassembling cell Sigma! 1592-Disassembly Factory within the Strategic CARE initiative for extracting valuable components from PWBs. Finally, design guidelines are going to be presented that address the layout of PWBs, important properties of components and integrated circuits (ICs), connection technologies, and others. The intention of this paper is to close the loop among the actors of the product lifecycle and particularly between recycling companies and manufacturers. The checklist will help product designers to identify the most important aspects in terms of reusability and environmentally conscious design of PWBs.