What Does It Mean to Build Electronics Sustainably?
Companies have obligations to balance environmental, social, and economic sustainability drivers. Within electronics industry value chains, these obligations are increasing in number and scope.
IPC’s engagement with industry stakeholders and expert insights from the Sustainability for Electronics Leadership Council indicates that you and your company have obligations to:
- Fulfill sustainability reporting and disclosure requirements
- Meet resource efficiency targets and minimize waste
- Ensure value chain resiliency
- Develop and support workforce talent
As a member of the electronics industry value chain, your company needs solutions that help it to stay balanced and thrive in the face of continual change.
IPC’s Sustainability for Electronics program provides data-driven and evidence-based solutions that support you. We create industry standards, workforce training, certification and validation programs, industry intelligence, and advocacy.
IPC has a global reach, is dedicated to electronics manufacturers, and has a long history of collaborating with the industry. We know the industry and we know how to help it to build electronics better.
Sustainability for Electronics Leadership Council
The Sustainability for Electronics Leadership Council comprises industry experts responsible for helping IPC to identify the most pressing sustainability topics the electronics manufacturing industry is facing and ensuring a strategy to address these topics.
Standardization Activities that Provide a Foundation for Circular Materials
IPC standards provide information needed for materials and supplier declarations, electronic product data description, design for excellence, corporate social responsibility management, and greener cleaners. We look to expand the sustainability-related topics covered by IPC standards and welcome your participation in leading the way.
Materials and Supplier Declarations Committee and associated task groups covering these topics:
- Materials Declarations
- Conflict Minerals
- Materials and Substances Declaration for the Aerospace, Defense, HE and Other Industries
- Lab report data transfer
Visit the Materials Data Exchange homepage for more information.
Electronic Product Data Description Committee and associated task groups covering these topics:
- Obsolete and Discontinued Products
- Digital Product Model Exchange (DPMX)
- Digital Sustainability Credentials
- Connected Factory Exchange (CFX)
Plus, other subcommittees covering:
- Design for Excellence (DFX)
- Halogen-Free Materials
- Corporate Social Responsibility and Sustainability in the Supply Chain in China
- Greener Cleaners in Electronics Manufacturing
Standardization Activities Enabling Supply Chain Traceability and Transparency
Materials and Supplier Declarations Committee and associated task groups covering these topics:
- Generic Requirements for Declaration Process Management Materials Declaration
- Conflict Minerals Data Exchange
- Lab Report Data Transfer
- Declaration Process Chemicals (In Development)
- Materials and Substances Declaration for the Aerospace, Defense, HE and Other Industries
Electronic Product Data Description Committee and associated task groups covering these topics:
- Generic Requirements for Digital Twin
- Model Based Definition (MBD) for Digital Twins
- Cybersecurity Protection
- Obsolete and Discontinued Products
- Digital Product Model Exchange (DPMX)
- Critical Components Traceability
- Trusted Supplier Component-level Authentication (CLA)
- Digital Sustainability Credentials
- Connected Factory Exchange (CFX)
IPC Education
IPC’s education team develops relevant workforce training. IPC member companies have free access to training modules covering electrostatic discharge (ESD), safety, and foreign object debris (FOD) in an electronics manufacturing environment. Non-member companies can still engage with these and other important electronics industry training courses.
Advocating for Sustainable Electronics
IPC’s advocacy team ensures industry expertise informs policymakers and each other. Sustainability policy priorities include chemical and product policies and environmental and social sustainability policies.
Some recent activities include:
- IPC responded to the European Chemicals Agency on the proposed universal restriction on PFAS in September 2023
- IPC co-hosted a webinar “Unpacking the TSCA PFAS Reporting Rule: Impacts on the Electronics Sector” in November 2023
- IPC co-hosted a webinar “Navigating Plastics Use and Management in the Electronics Value Chain” in March 2024“
Electronic Design and Manufacturing Sustainability Whitepaper
IPC’s Chief Technologist Council published the white paper “Electronic Design and Manufacturing Sustainability” to provide an overview of eight sustainability topics that affect the electronics industry: product life cycle assessment; bio-based polymers; modularity, repairability, and reuse; eco-design; data needs and management; energy use; and carbon footprints.
Altium OnTrack Podcast with Dr. Kelly Scanlon
Hear from IPC’s Lead Sustainability Strategist Kelly Scanlon as she talks with Altium OnTrack podcast host Zachariah Peterson on how IPC is working to help electronics manufacturers navigate sustainability issues.
A Sustainable Community
Sustainability for electronics takes center stage in each issue of IPC Community, a quarterly magazine created to meet industry’s needs for information on manufacturing and management best practices and solutions, emerging technologies, IPC standards, government relations and environment, health and safety issues, industry intelligence, sustainability, and more.
Sustainability Events
IPC APEX EXPO 2024
The industry is talking about sustainability for electronics. We have more sustainability-related papers, posters, and professional development courses at the APEX EXPO 2024 than any year in the past. Look for the green leaf logo to identify sustainability sessions.
Connect with Dr. Scanlon to learn more about IPC's Sustainability Initiative.
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Engage on LinkedIn
Follow IPC's Sustainability Initiative on LinkedIn for up-to-date information on current work, and how you and your company can become involved.