Sustainable Production Insight Through LCA and LCC Analysis of Injection Overmolded Structural Electronics Manufactured through Roll-to-Roll Processes

Minna Räikkönen*, Laura Sokka, Lotta Hepo-oja, Sirpa Nordman, Thomas Kraft

*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journalArticleScientificpeer-review

2 Citations (Scopus)
44 Downloads (Pure)

Abstract

Printed electronics (PE) have provided new material and application opportunities for devices and systems as well as new manufacturing routes that all need to be considered for commercialization. This paper introduces a case study with universally relevant manufacturing processes and applications in the PE area, focusing on the Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) and Life Cycle Costing (LCC) of the Personal Activity Monitor (PAM) device. In the study, the PAM device's most important costs and environmental impacts during the prototype pilot production and device use phases are identified and assessed. Additionally, the potential environmental impacts of post-consumption scenarios are considered. The LCA results indicate that the roll-to-roll (R2R) assembly of electronics and the R2R injection over-molding are generally the most prominent production process steps affecting the results. From the LCC perspective, the CAPEX contributor is the R2R assembly pilot line, due to its high investment cost and long operating time compared to other production assets. The traditional electronic components are the major OPEX, especially the MCUs and accelerometers, in contrast to the low impact from the printed electronics. There are several advantages to applying LCA and LCC since they provide explanations of the relationships between cost, environmental, design, and manufacturing characteristics.
Original languageEnglish
Article number2300015
Number of pages11
JournalGlobal Challenges
Volume7
Issue number11
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - Nov 2023
MoE publication typeA1 Journal article-refereed

Funding

This paper was supported by the European Union's H2020 research and innovation programme under grant agreement no. 760973, project DecoChrom (Decorative Applications for Self‐Organized Molecular Electrochromic Systems) (https://decochrom.com/).

Keywords

  • LCA
  • LCC
  • sustainability assessment
  • sustainable production
  • printed and hybrid electronics
  • roll-to-roll (R2R) manufacturing

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