Issue link: https://iconnect007.uberflip.com/i/1236528
130 PCB007 MAGAZINE I APRIL 2020 Sitting in my home office, writing this month's column due to social distancing caused by the COVID-19 outbreak, I realized it was March 18 th : Global Recycling Day. April's topic could not be more suitable. Should we go green, recycle more PCBs, or save working ones from being scrapped? Green manufacturing has been on every- one's lips for a long time. However, it feels like one of those buzzwords that just doesn't get the buzz it deserves. In Norway—particularly in Oslo—over the last years, we have seen "the green wave" hit us. The world experienced the leadership and "young green enthusiasm" of Swedish Greta Thunberg. The green wave is sweeping the world, but are we missing an easy and quick fix in the industry to be even greener? RoHS and REACH teach us that substances and chemicals used in electronics are not to be thrown away and can be toxic to nature. We create laws and standards that restrict us from using metals from restricted mines and smelt- ers and substances that can infect nature when disposed of. At the end of the life of any elec- tronic product, we have rules on how to sepa- rate the most toxic elements. Home appliance electronics are taken back by the shops and manufacturers, and we dismantle and recycle them. The process goes on. The PCB Norsemen by Jan Pedersen, ELMATICA Can Better Guidelines on Cosmetic Failures 'Save' Functioning PCBs? Jan Pedersen.