Project description
Printing new circuits on sustainable paper
Our used electronic gadgets are multiplying – and not enough of them are recycled. The EU-funded CircEl-Paper project hopes to increase e-waste recycling by making it part of the more familiar paper recycling process. To do this, the project will examine replacing the fibre-composite material used in printed circuit boards with paper technology. In order to print circuitry on paper, each process step (lamination, gluing/soldering, encapsulation, etc.) will be reviewed to look for bio-based alternatives. The project will also consider three different use cases, in medicine, logistics and consumer electronics, to demonstrate the efficacy of paper circuit boards.
Objective
The amount of e-waste correctly recycled does not meet the targets set by the EC. The objective of CircEl-Paper is to increase the amount of e-waste recycling by feeding it in the paper recycling process that is much more accepted by the consumer. Therefore, CircEl-Paper focusses on the widely used board technology (Printed Circuit Board PCB) and aims for replacing the fiber-composite core material FR4 by paper technology. Based on positive experiences in manufacturing of circuitry on paper, integration density has to be increased and sound evaluation of separation of used electronic materials in the recycling process has to be carried out. In order to transfer the PCB technology to circular economy each process step (lamination, gluing/soldering, manufacturing of vertical interconnects, encapsulation etc..) is scrutinized and alternative approaches are developed in order to increase the part of the materials that are recyclable, are bio-based, come from secondary raw materials or are at least harmless for the environment. Three different use cases in the field of medical application, logistics and consumer electronics, are realized demonstrating the performance of the paper-based PCB.
The CircEl-Paper project is carried out by 3 RTO: Fraunhofer (project coordinator), Joanneum, RISE, that care about novel material approaches and adaptation of process techniques. Three industries: ArjoWiggins (electronic paper) replaced by F1 Paper on January, 1st, 2023, VFP (conductive inks) and Malmö Mönsterkort (Printed Circuit Board) as well as academic partners G-INP, investigating modification of recycling processes.
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HORIZON-RIA - HORIZON Research and Innovation ActionsCoordinator
80686 Munchen
Germany