CAVE CREEK, AZ -- The High Density Packaging User Group International has launched a project group focusing on printed wiring board environmental life-cycles.

"Recent studies have indicated that, depending on the product, as much as 50% of its total life time environment impact can occur before the product reaches its end-user," said HDPUG project director Brian Smith. "The life-cycle analysis approach assists greatly in understanding which material and process selections have the biggest repercussions on the environmental profile of a product. This is a very proactive technique in determining optimum design and manufacturing decisions and thereby significantly reducing the impact."

The project aims to conduct a life-cycle analysis on the environmental impact of a selection of PWB designs, and will focus on bare board fabrication and assembly processes. Electronic components will not be included in the study. The project is in the idea stage and open to any interested companies and individuals.

Environmental life cycle analysis, while still a fairly new technique, is becoming increasingly recognized as a tool in measuring producers' environmental credentials. It is likely, HDPUG says, that end-users will demand data from their supply chain that indicates the impact of each system/product type that they procure.

While there have been a number of studies on electronic systems, to date detailed life-cycle analysis studies focusing on PWBs are limited and are specific to certain product types. Obtaining data from the full spectrum of the supply chain has proven difficult and few companies have become actively involved in this activity. It is clear, however, HDPUG says, that decisions made at the design stage of a product can have a major impact on environmental footprint of a printed circuit assembly. Such decisions include selection of plated finishes, laminates and solder alloys.

"Life Cycle Assessment is a tool for analyzing environmental impacts from a holistic perspective with reference to a product system and their related environmental impacts throughout its life-cycle (e.g., from product inception to end of life activities)," notes Albert Tsang, Dell Environmental Affairs. "Dell is committed to undertake LCA studies and identify opportunities to reduce the environmental impact from our products. However, LCA findings are as good as the underlying data and based on our current understanding, this data requires improvements. The HDP User Group LCA PWB study can greatly contribute to the overall quality of this data by performing this assessment with other stakeholders in this proposed project."

For further information on the new project visit the project's webpage or contact Smith at brians@hdpug.org.

HDPUG is a nonprofit cooperative electronics manufacturing research and development organization.