SaP Concept
Printed electronics (PE) is one of the fastest-growing waste streams in the European Union (EU), and it is estimated that less than 40% of electronic waste is recycled within the EU. They are made of fossil-based materials and precious metals, and their end-of-life (EoL) is either in landfills or incineration, which in both cases, destroys precious materials forcing the use of mined raw materials. Thus, there is a need to explore new options for PE that are designed for reuse, repair, and high-quality recycling. In this sense, the main goal of Sustain-a-Print (SaP) is to open new life-cycle routes and design and implement sustainability into each life-cycle step. This includes the choice of materials (biobased, recycled, biodegradable), usage, origin, processing, assembly, and EoL.