Electronic waste is the world’s fastest-growing waste stream. Traditional circuit boards are a major culprit, as they are optimised for performance rather than circularity. Materials and resources are lost in linear flows – currently, less than 25 per cent of total e-waste is recycled. As society becomes more electrified and connected, its environmental impact grows.

As Asia dominates the conventional printed circuit board manufacturing sector, Sweden and Europe find it difficult to influence production processes and the recycling rate of printed circuit boards. Dependence on other players poses problems not only from an environmental perspective, but also in terms of Europe’s self-sufficiency and resilience.

"We are extremely dependent on Asia when it comes to electronics,’ says Astrid Armgarth. In Sweden, we have a strong foundation in assembly — that is, fitting components onto existing circuit boards — but we only have a handful of circuit board manufacturers," says Astrid Armgarth, continuing:

"On the other hand, however, Sweden is well placed to develop disruptive, resource-efficient solutions. There's no need for us to try to be like Asia. We can reach the world more quickly with innovative solutions than by trying to increase our production capacity for conventional circuit boards."

Roll-to-roll manufacturing methods for printed electronics.

Several technological trends are converging to transform the way printed circuit boards are manufactured. Printed electronics enable functional materials to be applied to flexible substrates instead of etching the circuit board pattern using chemicals and then mounting components on top. Combining this principle with roll-to-roll production yields a new manufacturing approach.

Printed electronics produced using a roll-to-roll process can be compared to newspaper or wallpaper printing, except that electronic components are used instead of words and patterns. While this isn’t suitable for all applications, it can be useful for certain distributed electronic systems, i.e. systems comprising many smaller units that work together. One example is modern buildings fitted with sensors to control ventilation and lighting. “It is much easier to make production resilient in Sweden, and it becomes both cost-effective and large-scale,” she says.

Meanwhile, new bio-based and recyclable materials are being developed to replace the PCB composites currently used for printed circuit boards. RISE, for example, has developed a paper composite material that is compatible with existing assembly methods. This means that electronics manufacturers can switch without having to invest in new equipment.

Duncan Platt, Head of the Printed Electronics Unit at RISE, provides examples of applications for the new substrate, which is the base on which electronics are built.

"LED lighting is suitable for vehicles and indoor use. We also believe in the potential of this technology for IoT and 6G. The 'install and forget' concept is particularly interesting. This could involve installing sensors and leaving them in place at the end of their life cycle. The sensors can either biodegrade or remain in place as they do not contain any problematic materials", says Duncan Platt.

Astrid Armgarth and Duncan Platt are discussing companies in the furniture and pulp industries that are branching out into electronics to see if their materials could be used to make printed circuit boards.

From research demonstrator to industrial opportunity.

In recent years, innovative substrates and roll-to-roll manufacturing methods have progressed from the research and design stage to the point where they are entirely feasible for industrial application. According to Duncan Platt, the main challenge is that the electronics industry is conservative.

This is where access to test and demonstration environments becomes crucial. At the facility run by Duncan Platt and Astrid Armgarth, both printed electronics and hybrid variants, which involve mounting conventional components on new materials, are being tested.

Moving away from conventional printed circuit board manufacturing entirely is a significant undertaking. RISE hopes to facilitate a pilot project and, in the long term, establish an assembly industry for hybrid electronics while we develop these innovative materials. 'The point is that we don’t want to end up with good technology that cannot be produced,' says Astrid Armgarth.

‘In the long term, we envisage electronics manufacturers adopting these new materials being able to incorporate additive or subtractive manufacturing into their processes.’ This will enable them to avoid chemical etching, which complicates the recycling process considerably, says Duncan Platt.

The ever-growing carbon footprint of the electronics industry and its dependence on Asia are closely intertwined problems that can be solved using the same solutions. The Swedish electronics industry is now in a position to build a resilient, cost-effective and sustainable value chain at home.