A comparative life cycle assessment of stretchable and rigid electronics: a case study of cardiac monitoring devices

S Kokare,N Salehi,G Mårtensson,F M A Asif,S Shoaib-Ul-Hasan,M Roci,A Rashid

doi:10.1007/s13762-021-03388-x

Abstract

Stretchable electronics is a new innovation and becoming popular in various fields, especially in the healthcare sector. Since stretchable electronics use less printed circuit boards (PCBs), it is expected that the environmental performance of a stretchable electronics-based device is better than a rigid electronics-based device that provides the same functionalities. Yet, such a study is rarely available. Thus, the main purpose of this research is to perform a comparative life cycle analysis of stretchable and rigid electronics-based devices. This research combines both the case study approach and the research review approach. For the case study, a cardiac monitoring device with both stretchable and rigid electronics is used. The ISO 14044:2006 standard's prescribed LCA approach and ReCiPe 2016 Midpoint (Hierarchist) are followed for the impact assessment using the SimaPro 9.1 software. The LCA results show that the stretchable cardiac monitoring device has better environmental performance in all eighteen impact categories. This research also shows that the manufacturing process of stretchable electronics has lower environmental impacts than those for rigid electronics. The main reasons for the improved environmental performance of stretchable electronics are lower consumption of raw material as well as decreased energy consumption during manufacturing. Based on the LCA results of a cardiac monitoring device, the study concludes that stretchable electronics and their manufacturing process have better environmental performance in comparison with the rigid electronics and their manufacturing process.

Highlights

The production and consumption of electrical and electronic equipment (EEE) in the European Union (EU) are on the rise (Eurostat 2020)
This is attributed to the lower amount of raw materials consumed in the stretchable device, especially for the printed wiring boards (PWB) used in printed circuit boards (PCBs) production
A comparative life cycle assessment of stretchable and rigid electronics-based cardiac monitoring devices is conducted to establish which device is better from an environmental point of view

Summary

Introduction

The production and consumption of electrical and electronic equipment (EEE) in the European Union (EU) are on the rise (Eurostat 2020). Due to low levels of reuse, collection, recycling, and other forms of recovery of waste EEE, the consumption of rare and expensive natural resources is increasing. This imposes higher economic and environmental pressure on manufacturers of modern electronic devices. To achieve better environmental performance, electronics manufacturers are searching for and implementing new manufacturing methods and technologies to reduce both the material used to produce the PCBs and the energy demand of the manufacturing process (Esfandyari et al 2015). One such emerging technology is stretchable electronics (He et al 2015; Khan et al 2020)

Objectives

Results

Conclusion