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Electronic Components Environment

Increase in lithium battery recycling

Increase in lithium battery recycling

The Department of Energy (DOE) is making further investments in lithium battery recycling.

In late February the DOE loaned battery recycling company Li-Cycle $375 million to build a plant near Rochester, New York.

This followed several other recycling companies’ announcements about lithium battery recycling facilities, including Ecobat and Redwood Materials.

The latest facility will be Li-Cycle’s fifth in North America.

Significant investment

Many facility announcements have come as production and popularity of EVs grows in the US. Not only in recycling, but also lithium battery production. Earlier this year the DOE announced a $700 million loan for a processing facility at the Rhyolite Ridge lithium deposit in Nevada.

The company in charge of the facility, Ioneer, states there will be enough lithium produced from the site to build 400,000 EVs each year.

The goals

The US is aiming for 500,000 EV chargers and 50% of all new light-duty vehicle sales being electric by 2030. They are further hoping to be a net-zero emissions economy by 2050.

Sales of EVs in the US were 630,000 in 2021, according to the International Energy Agency. This would need more than 7,560 tonnes of lithium. To reach the goals stated by the Biden Administration, 90,000 tonnes of lithium would need to be produced. This is 1700% more than the lithium currently mined in the US.

Slow and steady

A lithium mine takes between four and 20 years to begin commercial production. Although there are several projects underway in the country, there’s no telling when these might become steady sources of lithium.

Lithium mining is a concern due to the water consumption and toxic chemicals that can leak into the environment. There are also lithium shortages predicted as soon as 2025. Recycling would make the production of lithium batteries more sustainable and potentially mitigate future shortages.

The cost of recycling these batteries can be high. There are additional risks with lithium batteries, demonstrated by the 245 fires across 4 waste facilities caused in the past. The process is pretty time-consuming too. Consequentially, the price of running safe recycling facilities is quite high.

There is hope, though, that it will be worth it in the future. 

Guaranteed

Lantek is a distributor with decades of experience in the electronic components industry. Whether you’re looking for new shortage components or obsolete ones, trust Lantek to provide what you need. Call us today on 1-973-579-8100 or send us an email at sales@lantekcorp.com.

Categories
Electronic Components Environment

Anglia goes solar with new photovoltaic cell range

Anglia goes solar with new Photovoltaic cell range

Anglia Components has announced a new PCB-mounted photovoltaic solar cell line for electronics applications in collaboration with Anysolar, offering a new way for electronics manufacturers to harness light energy.  

The technology

The Anysolar PCB-mounted photovoltaic solar cell range can replace battery and mains power for low-power applications. It can be reflow soldered onto PCBs and parts compatible with traditional hand soldering processes.

The advantages of using Anglia’s photovoltaic cells include:

  • Clean energy for sensors
  • Low cost
  • Long lifespan
  • No cell degradation
  • No emissions from energy production
  • Replaces batteries and mains
  • Discreet design
  • Powered by indoor and outdoor light energy

The technology is based on monocrystalline silicon free from impurities, so the cells do not degrade like traditional solar cells do. This enables a longer lifespan and peak performance, to reduce recycling rates and keep electronics in service.

The partnership

Anglia has invested in a profile of all the most popular cell sizes and formats of Anysolar’s Gen 3 solar cells. The cells offer a viable alternative power source to battery and mains power for simple sensors. The cell range offers power from 5.5 mA to 1.02 A so is suited to a variety of low-power sensor applications.

Commenting on the partnership, David Pearson, Technical Director at Anglia said, “Anglia is delighted to partner with Anysolar for this new product range which complements many of our established lines, such as low power MCU’s and sensors.”

“Anysolar provides a viable alternative power source for many of our customers applications such as remote IoT sensor nodes.”

KY Choi, President of Anysolar, added, “We are delighted to partner with a distributor that is so well-respected in the UK and Ireland industry. We really value our relationships with our customers and look for partners that share that value. Our solar modules offer Anglia customers an environmentally friendly new power source for their designs.”

How it works

A photovoltaic (PV) cell, also known as a solar cell, generates electricity when exposed to light particles (photons). The Anysolar PCB-mounted photovoltaic solar cell line optimises this process with a large surface area and monocrystalline silicon.

The photovoltaic effect is a physical and chemical phenomenon. When applied to electronics, it can be used to power low-power sensors. This reduces energy draw on a device’s core power source to optimise performance and efficiency.

For devices to become autonomous, PCB-mounted photovoltaic solar cells will also be necessary for energy. IoT devices are a good example. These devices require a self-sufficient power source to run separately from the grid.

In the future, it’s expected that IoT devices will be able to run without wires or batteries and light energy provides the best possible solution.

Anglia’s PCB-mounted photovoltaic solar cell line is capable of powering a wide range of sensors in IoT devices, including robots, drones and consumer electronics. Remote IoT sensor nodes (nodes that collect data and information related to objects passing by, such as in autonomous cars) are a good example of components prime for PV cells.

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Electronic Components Environment

How does recycling electronics help create sustainability within the industry?

How does recycling electronics help create sustainability within the industry?

Thanks to advancements in material science and recycling technologies, it’s possible to recycle around 80% of most new electronics. For example, the smartphone in your hand or pocket has around 80% recyclable components.

The most valuable components in electronics are rare and precious metals. The quantity of these metals in your phone is tiny but the number of phones (and other electronics) that enter landfill is huge. This creates a lucrative opportunity for recyclers to invest in processes that can extract the most valuable components efficiently.

Recycling in the electronics industry

Recycling electronics is important to not only reduce e-waste, but also our dependency on the mining and manufacturing of new materials. 

The electronics industry is at odds with environmentalists because the industry that’s pioneering solar and renewable energy technologies generates a lot of e-waste. You can’t have it both ways. If you want technology to fight climate change, it first has to advance to a point where it becomes neutral and self-sustained.

Mass recycling is the process that will enable this in the future. For now, it is a stop-gap to minimise the electronics industry’s impact on the environment. And it’s working, with 15% of e-waste recycled globally in 2019. This figure is rising by 2-3% per year. In 2030 we expect the global e-waste recycling rate to hit 50%.

European legislation requires every manufacturer and producer to arrange and finance the collection, treatment, recycling and disposal of WEEE (Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment). This is a positive step. In the future, we want to see 100% recycling efficiency, although this will require different materials to those used today.

Excess inventory management

Another area of the electronics industry where recycling is important is excess electronic components. These components are not assigned for manufacturing and have no purpose in production. They take up space and are depreciating assets.

These components tend to be discarded and written off. However, recycling is not the best thing for them. The best thing for them is putting them back into production. The old phrase “One man’s trash is another man’s treasure” springs to mind.

This process is known as excess inventory management and it requires an electronic component distributor to purchase unwanted stockpiles of components. These stockpiles are then re-sold through a distribution network.

This provides a few benefits to the seller:

  • An instant, positive cash injection
  • Reduced stockholding costs
  • Reduced time spent managing surplus stock

For example, our excess inventory specialists purchase and manage stock that has been identified for disposition. This process turns unwanted electronic components into cash and introduces new revenue streams into existing businesses.

Where does excess inventory end up?

Most excess inventory ends up on the production line with manufacturers and OEMs to create new products. This puts the components into production and significantly increases the time from manufacture to end of life.

Other components can find no end user. In this case, the components are sent to specialist recycling centres who purchase the components as scrap. Around 10% of excess inventory is sent on for recycling. The majority enters production.

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Electronic Components Environment

How Lantek help tackle environmental issues in the electronics industry

How Lantek help tackle environmental issues in the electronics industry

There’s no industry as polarising as the electronics industry when it comes to the environment. This is the industry that generates 70% of all toxic waste on the planet, yet it’s also the industry that’s pioneering renewable energy to address climate change.

The best way to look at the electronics industry from an environmental point of view is as a work in progress. We know that the industry is facing several environmental challenges now and in the future. The question is, how should we respond to them?

We are a global electronic component distributor, supplying electronic components to global customers. Our position in the industry has given us a unique perspective of the environmental challenges it faces. In this article, we’ll discuss some of the challenges we are facing and how we are addressing them.

Improper component storage

One of the biggest problems in the electronics components industry is the lack of environmentally-controlled storage facilities.

The biggest danger to electronic components is humidity which has to be controlled to ensure the components do not degrade. Problems like moisture absorption and contact corrosion have to be considered in storage.

Lantek only operates environmentally-controlled storage facilities. Our facilities are designed to ISO 9001 standards. ISO 9001 is the international standard that sets out the requirements for a quality management system.

Delivery emissions

Electronic components and electronic devices are shipped via land, sea and air. Some packages find their way in transit covering several countries in a single day. This generates unavoidable emissions as a natural by-product of operating.

These emissions can be reduced or offset in a few ways. The simplest way is to always use the most efficient transit methods and logistics firms that offset their emissions. This means the sender doesn’t have to offset their own emissions.

We go with this method because it allows us to meet our environmental obligations while also ensuring a high-quality delivery service.

Electronic waste (e-waste)

Electronic waste is the biggest issue facing the electronics industry. Only around 20% of e-waste is recycled each year. The rest enters landfill. It accounts for 70% of all toxic waste on the planet, which is an astonishing figure.

Lantek is helping to reduce the amount of electronic waste that enters landfill by putting components that would otherwise enter landfill back into use.

You’d be surprised by the number of components we save that are new old stock. We save hundreds of thousands of components each year. Many of these are rare legacy electronic components that are no longer being made.

Looking ahead

The electronics industry gave you the smartphone in your hand and the internet that connects you to this article. There’s no denying it’s an immeasurably valuable industry and our future will have more technology. That’s a certainty.

As civilisation becomes more reliant on technology, we will develop technologies that address the industry’s biggest environmental challenges. In particular, we hope to see a significant reduction in e-waste and emissions soon. For now, the future is what we make of it, and we’re optimistic about what the future holds.