Research has addressed the mounting problem of polymers from the electronics sector entering the waste stream. An EU-funded research team investigated a fully recyclable polymer and has developed new moulding methods for components, as per physorg. The 'Eco-efficient designs for end-of-life, anti-counterfeit electronic device recovery' (Separate) project worked on the water-soluble polymer polyvinyl alcohol as one possibly suitable material. Non-toxic and biodegradeable, polyvinyl alcohol is a polymer where the degree of hydrolysis, hence the number of units and the molecular weight determines the processability. The Separate team found that a polymer, PVAXX, can be dissolved in 30 seconds using a batch dissolution process and can be speeded up using ultrasonics. Moreover, the polymer can be reused and injection moulded without significant loss of properties. A novel over-moulding technology was developed using the polymer and fully encapsulated modules for a smart card application were produced. The team also developed semi-encapsulated electronic components for a contact and non-contact smart card, a memory stick and a calculator case. Separate deliverables were industrially validated. A robotic simulation of the injection moulding, handling and subsequent testing of the memory sticks was developed. To study the industrial scale, another simulation using a counter current washing principle was chosen to minimise water and energy use. The impact of Separate technology will be a decrease of the amount of electropolymeric waste discarded in Europe. As a result, there will be less organic pollutants and heavy metal water pollution.
28-Sep-12 
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