Re: Looking for biodegradable anti-static (ESD) bags

James Morrison wrote:
> On Mon, 2006-01-16 at 14:00 +0100, Deefoo wrote:
> > > Perhaps there is a better solution out there. In general, we need to
> > > ship an electronic device (a PCB inside an aluminium enclosure) and we'd
> >
> > And your pcb, is it biodegradable? Or otherwise easy to recycle?
>
> I sense some sarcasm in this statement. The PCB itself is clearly the
> least recyclable part of the system. We will take it back at the end of
> the life cycle. There are no good, financially-sound solutions that I
> am aware of yet, although I do believe that there is plenty of research
> into this. Taking the lead out is a small step in the right direction.
>
> Our policy currently is to use _no shipping material_ that isn't
> biodegradable. And where possible, we use enclosure materials that are
> not plastic, in this case aluminium. However, there are places where
> you can't use metal and something that is an insulator is required (like
> devices that come close to AC lines).
>
> We are prepared to take a small hit in margin in order to follow this.
> Basically, our cost of goods sold equation has some fuzzy value that
> includes the cost to the planet. Its hard to quantify but we're doing
> our best. We have to leave this planet to our children!
>
> > Please post if you find the packing material you are looking for.
>
> I will.
>
> James.

Well, it's not biodegradable, but aluminum foil is pretty easy to
recycle. At least it is most places I've been that do recycling. I've
never used it to ship products, but I've bought surplus computer boards
that came wrapped in it (luckily none had a battery). It provides
excellent static protection.

With regards to getting the lead out of electronics, I agree. I'm not
sure how big of an issue disposing of old consumer electronics really
is. Lead is pretty stable in a metallic form. But getting manufacturers
to use something else that's not as nasty has benefits. One place I
worked found out that their waste water discharge was a few parts per
million of lead above the legal rate that you could dump into the sewer
system. Their solution was to just add more tap water to the production
process. They were still dumping the same amount of lead into the
environment, it was just more dilute, which probably doesn't make much
difference in how it gets absorbed into the environment. By the way,
what they did was legal at the time they did it. I just don't think it
was very ethical.

I just hope whatever process is used to replace lead doesn't have more
problems. Look at the problems using MTBE has caused in the US.
Refiners used it as a cheaper alternative to adding ethanol to
gasoline. And as long as you burn it, it's not that big of a problem.
But when it gets into your water table ...

It's refreshing to find a company interested in the life cycle of their
product. And looking for a less obnoxious packaging material is nice
too.

You've aroused my curiosity, what are you making?

Mark

.

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