• PCB = Printed Circuit Board
• Other name: printed wiring board (PWB)
• What we consider is a PCB without any electronic components on it = naked PCB
• It is used to connect components to one another in an electronic circuit.

They are various types of PCBs.

They can differ in terms of technology:

• Through-Hole Technology (THT), old technology. Still used for power electronics.
• Surface-Mount Technology (SMT), used in most digital equipment

They can have different structures:

• Rigid
• Rigid-flex
• Flex

They can be very different depending on their specialization too:

• High temperature
• Heavy copper
• High frequency
• Metal core
• High density
• Substrate-like

• Naked PCB
  • Rigid
  • Double-sided or multilayer

• ICs on top of the PCB
• R&D activities to develop the PCB

• What is the functional unit?
• What are the reference flows?

⇒ Goal: Define state of the art on life cycle stages to be considered.

* What are the already existing data (dataset, parametric model, paper, etc.)?

⇒ Goal: List the technical information needed for the LCI.

• What is it made of?
• Raw materials
  • FR-4 = glass-reinforced epoxy laminate material (epoxy resin + glass fiber)
  • copper
• Chemicals
  • potassium carbonate
  • dicyanoaurate
  • sodium hydroxide
• Who are the main mining? Where are they located?
• Is there mining processes information available?

⇒ Goal: List the technical information needed for the LCI.

For each system sub-part: * What are the manufacturing processes? * laminating * drilling * etching * plating

• What are the assembly processes?
• For each process, what is the energy consumption?
• For each process, what are the inputs (water, chemicals, etc.) ?
• For each process, what is the yield? Are they co-products and/or losses?
• How the “main” manufacturers can be characterized: by the number of components manufactured, the market share (€), other?
• Who are the main manufacturers? Where are they located?

⇒ Goal: List the technical information needed for the LCI.

• What are the packaging? Made of which materials?
• Which are the transport modes?
• What are the transport distances?

⇒ Goal: List the technical information needed for the LCI.

• What is the service lifespan? (durée d'utilisation)
• Is there a reparation factor?
• Is there sub-parts replacement?
• Where is it used?
• Who are the users?
• Which + how much energy does it need?
• Is there emissions from use?

⇒ Goal: List the technical information needed for the LCI.

• What is the lifetime? (durée de vie)
• Is it different from lifespan and why?
• Is it refurbished? + Where?
• Is it recyclable? Can it be dismantled? Which material can be separated? + Where and how?
• Is it incinerated with energy recovery? Just incinerated? Buried? + Where?
• Which part of waste can be considered as mismanaged (neither recycled, nor incinerated, nor buried)?

⇒ Goal: Define state of the art on environmental impacts.

• What are the impact assessment methods used (EF, ReCiPe, others)?
• What are the known environmental impacts associated to the system (indicators)?
• What are the known hotspots? Which raw material? Which life stage?
• Processes
  • PCB factory
• Energy use
  • Electricity

Data needed from manufacturer :

• production volume
• line capacity
• installed power
• water usage
• What are the potential parameters affecting environmental impacts?

Impactful parameters :

• Technology: Through-Hole Technology (THT) or Surface Mount Technology (SMT)
• Substrate material: FR4 (mostly used), bio-based material, etc.
• Number of layers (1 to 16 generally)
• Surface (m2) → yield
• Type of surface finish
• What are the main source of uncertainty?

⇒ Goal: Source every data we cited previously

• List of our sources
• Data origin: bibliographic source / consortium hypothesis / expert opinion - required if a Data Quality Rating (DQR) must be completed

⇒ Goal: List challenges and clarify priority areas for action

• What do we know we don't know?
• What are the identified challenges?
• What paths/ideas should be explored?