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50 SMT007 MAGAZINE I JUNE 2023 Feature Article by Art Wall NEXTFLEX When you hear about sustainability, odds are that electronics don't come to mind. e man- ufacturing process alone is riddled with pro- cesses that generate large amounts of waste and utilize volatile chemicals and compounds. Consumers dispose of their personal elec- tronic devices, which, added to the waste from the manufacturing process, accumulates into quite a large sum. According to a report from the UN environment program 1 , the world pro- duces approximately 50 million tons of elec- tronic and electrical waste (e-waste) a year. is e-waste is filled with toxic compo- nents—such as mercury—that are involved in electronic processes and are oen not dis- posed of properly. e same report highlighted that only 20% of e-waste is being formally recy- Finding Sustainability in Additive Processes cled each year; the remainder most likely ends up in a landfill or is improperly recycled. Over time, this can have a large impact on environ- mental surroundings. What's Being Done Recently, sustainability has been a hot topic, not only in terms of electronics, but across the broader technology industry. At CES 2023, for example, sustainability was one of its key pil- lars 2 and the topic of consideration in three panel discussions. e entire electronics com- munity is trying to come together to ring in a new era of sustainable electronics. To begin working toward a more sustain- able workplace, the International Organiza- tion for Standardization (ISO) developed the