How Electronics Technology Trends Translate into Environmental Trends

Based on material data for electronic components gathered from industry and from geometric and chemical analysis, new printed circuit board technologies can be compared using environmental screening parameters. The general trends of microelectronics influence the materials and processes used, and are therefore important for most evolving products. The trends can be used to predict the environmental improvements or the suitability of technology changes for similar product groups. The main examined trends are: - increasing complexity of integrated circuits (ICs), - miniaturisation of IC-packages and the board level (printed circuit boards), - rising total number of components and units on the market. The paper will include a discussion of the data sources, the data processing and data quality issues.