Abstract

Governments, customers and the public are increasingly interested in the proper disposal or reuse of used electronics. Product donation, reuse and recycling divert waste from landfills and can result in recovered materials being recycled into other products.

As a competitive contract manufacturer in the world, Prosoyo's largest impact on the environment is through our production lines.  Prosoyo is committed to providing products and services that are environmentally sound throughout their life cycles.

Many countries are adopting or proposing legislation requiring responsible end-of-life product management. In Europe, the Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment (WEEE) Directive requires manufacturers to ensure that electronic products disposed of by customers in the EU are recycled. The WEEE Directive is scheduled to be implemented in 2005. Other regulations affecting the recycling and disposal of electronic waste, or 'e-waste', are emerging globally, including in the United States, Canada, Mexico, China, Taiwan and Korea. The variety of legislative approaches presents a considerable challenge for Prosoyo.

 
To successfully achieve lead-free electronics assembly, each participant in the manufacturing process, from purchasing to engineering to maintenance to Quality/Inspection, must have a solid understanding of the changes required of them. This pertains to considerations regarding design, components, PWBs, solder alloys, fluxes, printing, reflow, wave soldering, rework, cleaning, equipment wear & tear and inspection. 

Introduction

With the WEEE and RoHS Directive in Europe potentially outlawing lead from electronics produced and imported in the EU as early as 2006 and foreign
competition driving the implementation of lead-free electronics assembly around the world, additional questions regarding how manufacturers can successfully transition to lead-free assembly continue to arise.

A great deal of consortia work and empirical data exists on lead-free soldering. What has been lacking, however, are studies directly related to real-world applications and advice on such topics as procurement, design, processes, maintenance, inspection, etc. This paper shall address each step of the manufacturing cycle and discuss the means to overcome the many challenges of lead-free assembly.

The transition to fully lead free manufacturing incurs two main issues, the first of which are the problems caused by the use of lead free components in
the electronic manufacturing environment, not least of which are concerns about the reliability of tin lead plated components in a lead free joint, however, the acceptance of lead free processes is continuing to grow within the electronic industry.

The second, is the supply of lead free components. Component manufacturers are demonstrating very different levels of commitment to lead free manufacturing, and unfortunately, this can cause additional logistical problems, for example, some component manufacturers do not intend to change part numbers for lead free components, which may cause difficulties in differentiating lead free and non lead free components.  Prosoyo is committed to addressing these issues by careful supply chain management and close liaison with our component suppliers.