Meet us at MECAPLASTRONIC in Lyon

November 26 – 27, 2024

How can circular materials meet the technical requirements of printed circuit boards?

The EU-funded project CircEl-Paper is heading to close the loop for circular economy for reliable PCB: by using paper and paper recycling processes, by exploiting secondary raw materials, by using biobased materials, and by cost and material efficient printing processes.
In its workshop event at MécaPlasTronic 2024 in Lyon, the CircEl-Paper project team will present first results on new paper and ink formulations, on paper-based PCB manufacture and on the adaptation of paper recycling processing to recover PCB materials. In addition, well-known international experts will cover a range of further aspects on the road to sustainable electronics.

Curious? Take the opportunity and meet us on

November 26th from 2:05 – 5:35 PM

at MécaPlasTronic/Lyon and discuss the latest results and/or visit our booth (No. 26) at the exhibition to learn more about CircEl-Paper – Circular materials for sustainable electronics

Program

2:05 PM – 2:15 PM
CircEl-Paper, Circular Materials for Sustainable Electronics : How can circular materials meet the technical requirements of printed circuit boards? (Valerio Beni, RI.SE)
2:15 PM – 2:35 PM
An industrial vision to eco-conception: a case study with printed electronics smart label (Chloé Bois, Printability & Graphic Communications Institute)
2:40 PM – 3:00 PM
CircEl-Paper, a European Project towards sustainable electronics : project motivation and current achievements (Daniela Collin, Fraunhofer ISC)
3:05 PM – 3:25 PM
Assessing the environmental impacts of novel technologies: a methodological approach (Sara Carniello, Joanneum Research)
3:55 PM – 4:20 PM
Paper as key enabler for sustainable PCB : recyclability assessment(Gaël Depres, Fedrigoni and Arnel Brzovic, Grenoble INP)
4:25 PM – 4:45 PM
PCB technologies transferred on paper : inks, VIA, lamination, characterization (Oliver Werzer, Joanneum Research, Valerio Beni, RI.SE)
4:45 PM – 5:05 PM
Advancing sustainability in PCB manufacturing using printed flexible electronics (Lina Kadura, CEA LITEN)
5:10 PM – 5:35 PM
Closing round table, with speakers from the CircElPaper workshop (Moderated by Gerhard Domann, CircEl-Paper Coordinator, Fraunhofer ISC)

CircEl-Paper movie by Joanneum Research

Why running a project like CircEl-Paper? Take a look at the short video by project partner Joanneum Research, which gets to the heart of the matter.

The original movie was presented in german language on the Joanneum Research Zukunftskonferenz 2023 by Sara Carniello and Oliver Werzer. CircEl-Paper provides an english version – many thanks to Oliver and the creative team from Joanneum Research – great job!

Click on the right-hand screenshot picture and visit our CircEl-Paper playlist on youtube: https://youtu.be/ryek-xPCbCs

Meet CircEl-Paper on the LOPEC 2024 in Munich 

Functional electronics for green, circular and digital economy – 10 projects in one poster session

Under this heading, eight large collaborative Horizon Europe projects with a total budget of 35 million euros an 2 Projects financed with the Joint Undertaking Key Digital technologies (KDT) present their view on sustainable, climate-neutral and green electronics

The projects in detail:

UNICORN – Unveiling Innovation Potential of Circular Approaches in Automotive Electronics and Beyond
ECOTRON – How to minimize the ecological footprint for functional electronics?
HyPELignum – Exploring wooden materials in hybrid printed electronics: a holistic approach towards functional electronics with net zero carbon emissions
SusFE – Innovative Processes & Methodologies for Next Generation Sustainable Functional Electronic Components and Systems
SUINK – SUstainable self-charging power systems developed by INKjet printing
Sustain-a-Print – Sustainable materials and process for green printed electronics
CircEl-Paper – Circular Economy Applied To Electronic Printed Circuit Boards Based On Paper
REFORM – Printed Electronics for the Circular Economy
Sustronics – Sustainable and green electronics for circular economy
Eecone – European ECOsystem for greeN Electronic

At LOPEC 2024, on the initiative of CircEl-Paper and HyPELignum, these projects will present themselves with a short status report as part of a dedicated poster session in the foyer of the ICM, booth 12/13 during the LOPEC conference and exhibition.

First testing with new “CircEl-Paper” paper and inks 

The first functional tests device (daisy chain array) using VFP conductive ink and built on paper from Fedrigoni modified at RISE. Design, printing and assembling performed at Joanneum. The first “bright” milestone towards our paper PCB.

It works!

See our little video about bilateral RI.SE – Joanneum Workshop

Press release published:
CircEl-Paper – recyclable paper-based electronics

Abstract:

Millions of tons of electronic waste are produced in the EU every year. With a novel approach, the new EU project “CircEl-Paper” could sustainably improve the recycling process for electronics in the future.

Globally, 53 million tons were produced, only about 17 percent of waste was verifiably collected and properly disposed of, according to the Global E-Waste Monitor 2020 – a large amount of valuable materials produced at great expense is thus regularly lost.

The CircEl-Paper project team will demonstrate the diverse areas in which paper-based PCB technology can be applied with three use cases from the fields of medicine, logistics and consumer electronics: A medical sensor for measuring glucose levels on the skin, packaging with an integrated time-temperature indicator (TTI) or greeting cards that play music exemplify the technology’s performance and adaptability.

Our new project leaflet is available online!

CircEl-Paper contributes to the aim to increase the amount of e-waste recycling in the EU by feeding it in the paper recycling process that is well established throughout the EU and accepted by the consumers.

CircEl-Paper focusses on the widely used board technology (Printed Circuit Board PCB) and aims for replacing the fiber-composite core material FR4 by paper technology. Based on recently developed manufacturing processes of circuitry on paper, integration density has to be increased and sound evaluation of separation of used electronic materials in the recycling process has to be carried out.

In order to transfer the PCB technology to circular economy each process step is scrutinized and alternative approaches are developed in order to increase the part of the materials that are recyclable, bio-based, or based on secondary raw materials, or at least harmless for the environment.

Three different use cases in the field of medical application, logistics and consumer electronics, are realized demonstrating the performance of the paper-based PCB.

The CircEl-Paper project is carried out by wellknown RTO, academic partners and manufacturing enterprises:
Fraunhofer (project coordinator), Joanneum Research, RISE, ArjoWiggins, VFP, Malmö Mönsterkort, and G-INP.

Read more soon on this page or on our social media channels.
If you have any questions about the CircEl-Paper project, please contact our research team.