Impact on the Environment of Electrical and Electronics Products Essay

Impact on the Environment of Electrical and Electronics Products Introduction Electrical and Electronics products are now commonly found all around the world and the number is on the rise. The amount of such products that is being disposed is also on the rise. There is a concern on the environmental effect by such products that is being disposed as well as when it is being manufacturer. This is because most of these products contain either harmful substance or non bio-degradable materials which cause an impact on the environment. For these reasons, regulations and directives are being set up to safe guard and prevent more harm from being done to the environment. This report would be discussing on the harmful effects by traditional manufacturing and some of the regulatory and directive being set up around the world. Also, responses from the electronics industry with regards to the directives and regulations would be discussed. 1 Traditional manufacturing of electronic equipments 1.1 The use of soldering lead Solder comprised of tin and lead is currently a fundamental material joining electronic components to circuit boards in the assembly of almost every type of electronic product. Worldwide, over 20 million pounds of tin-lead solder are used annually. [1] 1.2 The manufacturing of PCBs In the process of making PCBs using the "subtractive" process, the circuit pattern is created by chemically etching copper from the unprotected (non-circuit) areas of the copper-coated panel, leaving circuit traces protected with photoresist. Etching can be accomplished with acids or bases, depending on the etch rate and the line width required. The most commonly used etchant is an aqueous solution of ferric chloride (FeCl3), used at temperatures over 50 Â °C. FeCl3 is acidic, relatively cheap, comparatively innocuous and versatile, attacking aluminium, copper, iron, nickel and their alloys. However, the spent etchant and its rinse water contain heavy metal ions such as nickel and chromium which are hazardous to the environment and most difficult to render harmless. Approximately 60% of the copper on the board is removed in the typical etching process. As the copper content of the etchant increases, the etchant cannot effectively remove the copper from the board, and it is consi... ...le. This also reduced the assembly time and lowered the production cost [17][18] References: [1] http://www.epa.gov [2] http://www.lsc.cc.mn.us/lib/classes/emuseum/disposal/disposal.html [3] http://www.nsc.org/library/facts/lead.htm [4] http://www.epa.gov/ttn/atw/hlthef/chromium.html [5] http://www.pp.okstate.edu/ehs/training/mercury.htm [6]http://home.datacomm.ch/raabe/e_ee_1.pdf#search='DIRECTIVE%20OF%20THE%20EUROPEAN%20PARLIAMENT%20AND%20OF%20THE%20COUNCIL' [7] http://www.entecuk.com/client/ec/fr_appendixa.html#1 [8] http://www.dti.gov.uk/sustainability/weee/ [9] http://www.epa.sa.gov.au/pdfs/weee.pdf [10] http://www.dti.gov.uk/sustainability/pdfs/finalrohs.pdf [11] http://www.2001elec.co.uk/RoHS/index.htm [12] http://www.epa.gov/dfe/pubs/solder/solderfact.pdf [13] http://www.eia.org/new_policy/environment.phtm [14] http://www.iaer.org/communications/NL0200.html [15] http://www.svtc.org/cleancc/pubs/spheres_ehp.htm [16] http://techrepublic.com.com/5100-6265-1058179.html [17] Electronic Product Recovery and Recycling Conference Summary Report, Environmental Health Center, 1998 [18] Gertsakis, Ryan & Hoy, 1996 http://www.rsc.org On Rohs: References for my part. Impact on the Environment of Electrical and Electronics Products Essay Impact on the Environment of Electrical and Electronics Products Introduction Electrical and Electronics products are now commonly found all around the world and the number is on the rise. The amount of such products that is being disposed is also on the rise. There is a concern on the environmental effect by such products that is being disposed as well as when it is being manufacturer. This is because most of these products contain either harmful substance or non bio-degradable materials which cause an impact on the environment. For these reasons, regulations and directives are being set up to safe guard and prevent more harm from being done to the environment. This report would be discussing on the harmful effects by traditional manufacturing and some of the regulatory and directive being set up around the world. Also, responses from the electronics industry with regards to the directives and regulations would be discussed. 1 Traditional manufacturing of electronic equipments 1.1 The use of soldering lead Solder comprised of tin and lead is currently a fundamental material joining electronic components to circuit boards in the assembly of almost every type of electronic product. Worldwide, over 20 million pounds of tin-lead solder are used annually. [1] 1.2 The manufacturing of PCBs In the process of making PCBs using the "subtractive" process, the circuit pattern is created by chemically etching copper from the unprotected (non-circuit) areas of the copper-coated panel, leaving circuit traces protected with photoresist. Etching can be accomplished with acids or bases, depending on the etch rate and the line width required. The most commonly used etchant is an aqueous solution of ferric chloride (FeCl3), used at temperatures over 50 Â °C. FeCl3 is acidic, relatively cheap, comparatively innocuous and versatile, attacking aluminium, copper, iron, nickel and their alloys. However, the spent etchant and its rinse water contain heavy metal ions such as nickel and chromium which are hazardous to the environment and most difficult to render harmless. Approximately 60% of the copper on the board is removed in the typical etching process. As the copper content of the etchant increases, the etchant cannot effectively remove the copper from the board, and it is consi... ...le. This also reduced the assembly time and lowered the production cost [17][18] References: [1] http://www.epa.gov [2] http://www.lsc.cc.mn.us/lib/classes/emuseum/disposal/disposal.html [3] http://www.nsc.org/library/facts/lead.htm [4] http://www.epa.gov/ttn/atw/hlthef/chromium.html [5] http://www.pp.okstate.edu/ehs/training/mercury.htm [6]http://home.datacomm.ch/raabe/e_ee_1.pdf#search='DIRECTIVE%20OF%20THE%20EUROPEAN%20PARLIAMENT%20AND%20OF%20THE%20COUNCIL' [7] http://www.entecuk.com/client/ec/fr_appendixa.html#1 [8] http://www.dti.gov.uk/sustainability/weee/ [9] http://www.epa.sa.gov.au/pdfs/weee.pdf [10] http://www.dti.gov.uk/sustainability/pdfs/finalrohs.pdf [11] http://www.2001elec.co.uk/RoHS/index.htm [12] http://www.epa.gov/dfe/pubs/solder/solderfact.pdf [13] http://www.eia.org/new_policy/environment.phtm [14] http://www.iaer.org/communications/NL0200.html [15] http://www.svtc.org/cleancc/pubs/spheres_ehp.htm [16] http://techrepublic.com.com/5100-6265-1058179.html [17] Electronic Product Recovery and Recycling Conference Summary Report, Environmental Health Center, 1998 [18] Gertsakis, Ryan & Hoy, 1996 http://www.rsc.org On Rohs: References for my part.