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as long as possible. Another consideration in a circular supply chain is design-ing products that are easier and financially viable to repair and upgrade. Modular product design is a crucial aspect of promoting circularity. Designing products that are easy to repair and en- couraging buy-back schemes em- power end consumers to make more sustainable choices with their electronic purchases. Being able to repair devices easily encourages people to fix what they own instead of replacing them with-out thought. Circularity goes beyond reducing discarded components. Many legacy components—parts older than 10 years—may not be available via franchised distribution. Sometimes, a single legacy chip may prevent scrap from a large, old industrial piece of equipment, enabling a successful, cost- effective repair. Component Salvaging and Reclamation When harvesting electronic components from printed circuit boards, several factors need to be considered. These include the type and level of physical damage to the component, the compo- nent's electrostatic discharge (ESD) level, electrical overstress (EOS), moisture sensitivity device (MSD) level, and the environmental conditions it has inter- acted with, together with other factors. Outsourc- ing the component salvaging process allows you to hire professionals who can effectively address these critical factors and leverage high-perfor- mance tools and processes to successfully locate, remove, and procure valuable components from discarded electronic products. When selecting an outsource partner, several factors should be evaluated to ensure the integrity and quality of the component reclamation process. It is recommended to audit the outsourcing partner to verify that they have effective MSD processes aligned with J-STD-033 guidelines. It is also recom-mended that the outsource partner have numer-ous years of experience with BGA salvaging and K N O C K I N G D OW N T H E B O N E P I L E Figure 1: Example of discarded electronic waste and high-value quad flat pack device. Additionally, most companies and consumers do not reuse these devices or their components at the end of their lifespans. This is mainly due to the difficulties of repairing these products, replac-ing obsolete components, or upgrading the soft-ware without overtaxing the hardware. While the business of recovering precious metals and other valuable materials from electronic waste is increas- ing, there are limits to recycling. In most cases, the printed circuit board and other devalued compo- nents are dumped into landfills or incinerated. Extracting and recapturing valuable metals from recycled electronic components requires ad- vanced recycling practices, such as bioleaching with microorganisms, hydrometallurgy (chemical leaching), or pyrometallurgy (smelting) at elevated temperatures. Sustainability and Circularity Electronic waste often contains hazardous materi- als that pose risks to human health and the overall environment. These toxins include mercury, lead, and brominated flame retardants (BFRs). A circular supply chain is a strategy for keeping these materials from being dumped into landfills together with electronic waste. A circular economy closes resource loops and maximizes the lifetime value of materials. To achieve this, electronics manufacturers follow a take, make, use, repair, repurpose, redistribute, and then recycle circular model, whereas a linear economy follows a take, make, and dispose meth- odology. Recycling is part of circularity; however, the goal is to ensure that devices can be utilized by another manufacturer, preventing this need for 60 SMT007 MAGAZINE I JUNE 2026