In2tec’s sustainable electronics featured in CBS documentary

The Economy 4.0 series produced by Acumen Media for distribution on CBSNews.com, focuses on technologies and circularity that will shape the future.

In2tec thought leaders Neil Armstrong, Emma Armstrong, and Mark Hudman outline how the British company’s technologies offer a much-needed revolution within the wasteful electronics industry.

For over 70 years the electronics industry has made printed circuit board assemblies (PCBAs) that are impossible to fully recycle, hazardous to burn, don’t break down in landfill, and the manufacturing has a huge carbon footprint.

Neil Armstrong, Managing Director of In2tec, says: “The growth of digitalisation on the planet is significant. We’re consuming electronics at a rate of 6% more year on year.

“We’re draining the natural resources of the Earth and we’re not replenishing them. We can’t replenish them.

“We genuinely haven’t had the right solution. Until now.”

ReUSE is a suite of patented inks, adhesives, materials, and processes to manufacture PCBAs, while ReCYCLE is the ultra-low energy process for unzipping PCBAs to the original bill of materials (BoM).

The state-of-the-art tech allows components to be recovered without causing stress or damage, allowing for their reuse in other products or resale in the growing second-life market.

Neil adds: “The idea that a PCBA that can be unzipped, harvested, and reused at end-of-life means they are now valuable, and we have a situation where people want to recycle them. It turns around this cost process from a liability to an asset.

“Being featured in Economy 4.0 is a wonderful recognition of our transformative ReUSE and ReCYCLE.”

Ewaste causes devastating pollution to our water, soil, and air while raising the earth's temperature to unstable levels. More than 90% of materials are either lost or remain unavailable for reuse. The Global Electronics Council reported that within the ewaste generated in 2021, over $68bn of valuable components were wasted.

Emma Armstrong, Sustainable Electronics Ambassador at In2tec Ltd, lays out the scale of the problem.

“By 2030 we will need two planets just to manage our consumption and the absorption of our waste,”

“We first developed ReUSE and ReCYCLE 15 years ago but the world was just not ready.

“Companies are generally not going to do things for the betterment of the planet without there being financial gain for stakeholders. We offer significant value for everybody from consumers through to manufacturers, recyclers, and OEM component manufacturers”.

ReUSE and ReCYCLE is the paradigm shift needed within the electronics industry, bringing a sustainable and circular approach to product design, manufacturing, and end-of-life management. Minimising resource consumption, reducing waste, and promoting responsible consumption practices, this technology creates a more environmentally resilient and socially equitable Economy 4.0.

Emma adds circular electronics “ReUSE and ReCYCLE underpin advancing technology whilst increasing profits across the supply chain, lowering the cost of products for consumers, and ensuring the preservation of our planet.”