Electronics product companies and their contract manufacturers have environmental guidelines for nearly all they do: They can join the Electronics Industry Code of Conduct, and meet energy-efficiency ratings such as EnergyStar. Electronic hardware is covered by the RoHS Directive and more stringent environmental requirements around the world. Chemicals are covered by the REACH Regulation and system design by the EuP Directive. And at the end of the product’s life comes the WEEE Directive and other regulations around the world governing responsible collection. (I’m not implying that all of these measures are adequate or optimally designed to reverse the industry’s and products’ environmental impacts, but at least the guidelines are there.)

But the large automated systems used to assemble components onto printed-circuit boards have not yet been covered by an environmental standard. A few of us are interested in developing one, and before we proceed we’d like to know what you think.

First, here are early notions as to what the standard would be like:

Q. What environmental aspects might the eco standard address?
A. Production, usage, and disposal of the systems, according to energy consumption, usage of materials to assemble, and lifecycle analysis (LCA). LCAs typically address the environmental impact of the systems from extracting the materials from the earth through manufacturing, transportation, use, reuse, and recycling.

Q. How would environmental impact be measured?
A. “Eco-points” would be awarded according to all the environmental impacts considered within the lifecycle of the product – in the case of PCB assembly equipment perhaps 7 years. The data would be normalized and weighted to arrive at the sum (1,000 eco-points equals the impact of one European citizen for one year).

Q. Would a standard force companies to “comply”?
A. No, the standard would be voluntary. Suppliers and users of PCB-assembly equipment not wanting to get involved would not need to do so.

It doesn’t surprise me that Assembléon is a driver of an industry standard for energy efficiency of pick-and-place equipment. The company is part of Philips, an long-time environmental leader; I was impressed with Philips’ thought leadership on design-for-environment as early as 10 years ago when documenting their Lean and Green accomplishments.

Here’s why we at TFI Environment are interested in a potential eco standard governing PCB-assembly systems: Many electronic-product companies and their contract manufacturers are measuring their environmental impact, and a significant part is the impact of massive PCB-assembly systems often working 24/7. They want to make the best environmental choices they can, and a standard would provide valuable comparative information. In fact, if the industry is going to the trouble to create standards for pick-and-place equipment, why not also cover everything in the assembly line starting with screen printing through assembly and soldering, and testing?

However, developing this standard could be challenging. Is it possible to have an objective standard? Enjoy this blog entry on the notion of “objective” standards. Can the standard be developed quickly enough to avoid duplication with other eco standards that are broadening their scope of product coverage?

Please give your view on the value of and methods for eco standards for PCB-assembly equipment by leaving a comment on this blog, writing to me at PGordon@TFIenvironment.com, or–if you are in Europe—joining me at the Green Manufacturing Conference in Birmingham, England, where Assembléon will discuss this potential eco standard.

Posted by Pamela J. Gordon, March 6th, 2009

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