In2tec's Sustainable Electronics

In2tec has innovated throughout its’ 25 years in electronics, pushing boundaries in process and placement capabilities within additive manufacturing. They created this video to help raise awareness of the effects that the current approach to manufacturing electronics assemblies has on our planet.

Ewaste is one of the fastest growing waste streams in the world as electronic devices increasingly underpin our lives, yet when they reach the end of their usable life they will be buried, burned, or sent to landfill, leaching toxins into our earth and water table. They will never break down! Most materials surrounding the electronics are stripped for recycling or reuse, such as the outer casings and mechanical parts, but with current printed circuit board assemblies the electronic components and substrates cannot. Each year over 58 million metric tons of ewaste is generated globally, and sadly over $60Bn of valuable components are wasted.

In2tec’s solution is a simple one, an unzippable PCBA that allows the electronic components to be removed and reused in other technologies. This high-tech solution uses the same manufacturing principles that have underpinned their Smart HMI technologies for over 25 years. In using proprietary electronics design and manufacturing techniques along with patented conductive adhesives, inter-layer adhesives, printed inks and dielectrics, In2tec deliver printed circuit board assemblies with full recyclability, allowing for the components to re-enter the supply chain.