Reducing the Carbon Footprint of Wearable Electronics: What We Shared at LOPEC

As wearable technologies continue to evolve, so does the need to make them more sustainable. At LOPEC last month, our team shared practical innovations that could significantly reduce the environmental impact of printed electronics.

Our colleague Markus Tuomikoski presented three key strategies for lowering the carbon footprint of wearable devices:

• Reducing silver content in printed circuit boards (PCBs)
• Introducing carbon-based materials for electrostatic discharge (ESD) shielding
• Developing a transfer foil method for copper patterning that works at room temperature — cutting down on energy use and process complexity

These technical advances were made possible through a strong collaboration between:

• POLAR – use case owner, bringing application-driven insights
• VTT – technology developer, responsible for material and process innovation
• ITENE – life cycle analysis expert, assessing the environmental impact of each solution

Together, these partners are showing how sustainability and performance can go hand in hand — not just in theory, but in actual device development.

Stay tuned as we move these solutions closer to real-world deployment and continue exploring how printed and flexible electronics can be part of a responsible technology future.