Lead-free circuit boards force tech overhaul
In the tiny trenches of your computer's processor, countless electrons race along at breakneck speed, hanging left and right turns through wires, diodes, and other doodads made partly of toxic metals. It's the kind of circuitry that industry has built for decades, without giving much thought to the environmental consequences from trace materials buried deep in electronic gizmos' guts.
But not for much longer. Tough new rules are forcing one of the biggest manufacturing overhauls in the history of high technology, with winners and losers yet to be sorted out.
Beginning July 1, the European Union will enforce a set of "green" mandates requiring all new computers, appliances, and telecommunication devices sold in the EU to be free of hazardous substances including lead, mercury, and cadmium. The EU move is meant to promote recycling and slow the buildup of hazardous substances in landfills.
For electronics manufacturers and supply chains in the United States, China, and Japan, however, the change presents serious problems. Both the solder and components used to create circuit boards are made with materials containing lead. So, a tried-and-true manufacturing technology will have to be completely revamped. Nearly every electronics market segment, from dishwashers to PlayStations, is affected. Only medical, military, and aerospace products are exempt from the July 1 deadline.
"The EU mandate imparts a double-edged sword of opportunity," says Frank Bernhard, a technology economist at Omni Consulting Group in Davis, Calif. "On one hand, it delivers the promise of environmental efficiency, but it also raises the distinct possibility of a trade imbalance as the transition takes effect."
According to a 2005 projection by the World Trade Organization, China alone could face a $37 billion loss in foreign trade once the EU mandates are in place.
Because few companies can afford to make one set of products for the EU and another for the rest of the world, most will follow the directive. "What's happening in Europe has a way of coming across the ocean," says Bernhard. "It's changing the overall ecosystem of technology."
Indeed, the EU mandate has triggered a global response, and other countries are rapidly adopting similar restrictions. Australia, Canada, South Korea, and Taiwan have all accepted the EU directive, and Japan and China have developed their own restrictions on hazardous substances. The U.S. electronics industry, which uses less than 2 percent of the world's lead, has no pending federal directives, but the state of California has issued a hazardous-substances law to take effect next January. To remain a player in the EU market, experts say, U.S. companies will go lead free, with or without local legislation.
Lead-based solders have been a mainstay in circuit boards over the past 50 years because of their low melting temperature, low cost, and high reliability. AIM, a global solder maker based in Rhode Island, has now developed lead-free versions by alloying tin with copper or nickel. Pursuit of even better substitutes continues in many labs. C.P. Wong, a researcher at Georgia Tech, is working with Intel to develop a coating for the tin-based solder—"like siding on a house," says Wong—that can boost reliability.
"This is the biggest change in the electronic packaging industry in the last 100 years," says Robert Rietkerk, a sales manager at AIM. "It's happening as we speak." Avago Technologies is already providing lead-free components for cellphones, sensors, and LEDs to top-tier companies such as Motorola, Nokia, and Siemens. "We've been in the planning process for a long time," says Allen Chien, an Avago program manager.
Although larger manufacturers can weather the financial storm, smaller companies are left scrambling. Lead-free solders must be processed at higher temperatures, meaning companies must purchase new equipment to meet the requirements. A typical solder machine, says Rietkerk, costs somewhere between $30,000 and $150,000. What's more, tin metal costs up to 10 times as much as lead.
The increase in manufacturing cost could trickle down to consumers, slowing shipments and pushing up prices. According to a 2005 Global Sources survey of 359 companies in China, Hong Kong, Taiwan, and South Korea, approximately two thirds of these companies are expecting product prices to jump as much as 10 percent.
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency says the transition to lead-free solders presents a "significant opportunity for risk reduction" through the decreased use of lead, which is associated with a variety of health problems. The lead-free mandate could also help reduce the 220 million tons of electronic waste dumped into landfills each year in the United States alone. Ultimately, no matter which edge of the sword drives governments to make the shift, it's going to be a lead-free summer for solder.