Why Elephantech
Working toward a decarbonized electronics industry
At Elephantech, we’re making it our mission to “make the world sustainable with new technologies” and are committed to bringing sustainable innovation to the electronics industry.
Our proprietary SustainaCircuits™ are printed circuit boards produced using environmentally friendly metal inkjet printing technology. Produced using our Pure Additive™ technology, these PCBs use significantly less copper, water, and chemicals than comparative products made using mainstream etching methods.
Printed circuit boards are an essential component in all electronic devices, and we believe our innovative manufacturing technology has the potential to fundamentally change the industry standard for their production.
The reality of the current printed circuit board market
A huge global market forecasted to only keep growing
Printed circuit board market size and trend forecast
Still dependent on wasteful and hazardous processing methods
Conventional manufacturing method (Subtractive method)
Problems with subtractive manufacturing
- Uses more than three times the amount of copper required for the circuit wiring
- The etching process produces large amounts of acid waste liquid
- Carries a large carbon footprint (PCBs are responsible for about 50% of the carbon footprint of smartphones)
Printed circuit boards are an essential component in every kind of electronic device—from smartphones to computers, vehicles, and industrial machinery. In 2022, the global printed circuit board market was worth more than 10 trillion Japanese Yen ($82 billion US dollars). The market is forecast to continue to grow alongside the increasing number of electronic devices used in our daily lives and world population growth.
Currently, the majority of mass-produced printed circuit boards are made using subtractive manufacturing. In subtractive manufacturing, copper foil is attached to the surface of the substrate and then etching is used to melt and remove what isn’t needed for the circuit. Although this method is effective in producing products to a high level of precision, it causes a significant amount of copper waste and demands all wastewater is thoroughly treated to prevent acid waste from polluting waterways. In addition to this significant resource waste, subtractive manufacturing emits large amounts of greenhouse gases. For example, about 50% of the greenhouse gas emissions associated with smartphone production can be attributed to the use of conventional printed circuit boards.
Our three areas of expertise
1 We use Pure Additive™ production to cut waste by print processing only the actual circuit
Pure Additive™ is our proprietary printed circuit board production method. This process involves nanoizing metal to an ink state and printing it on the substrate using inkjet printers. We then use electroless copper plating to form a circuit on this base layer. *1 Pure Additive™ production technology offers both a shorter production process and significantly lower environmental footprint than mainstream printed circuit board manufacturing methods.
- *1Patent JP6300213B1, owned by Elephantech, Inc.
Elephantech’s manufacturing method (Pure Additive™️method)
Reduces environmental footprint
By replacing conventional printed circuit boards with SustainaCircuits™, our innovative printed circuit boards made using Pure Additive™ production technology, electronics manufacturers can significantly reduce both metal and water consumption and greenhouse gas emissions associated with printed circuit board production.
Less production processes
Our SustainaCircuits™ use additive manufacturing, enabling a shorter and simpler production process than mainstream methods. As a result, we can mass produce SustainaCircuits™ on the same scale as conventional printed circuit boards but with smaller facilities and a significantly lower environmental footprint, meaning customers can expect savings on production costs in addition to environmental benefits.
Comparison of circuits formation processes in PCB manufacturing
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2 We can manufacture a wide variety of printed circuit boards
We’ve begun our Pure Additive™ printed circuit board production with single-layer flex circuits (single-sided flexible PCBs), but our innovations won’t stop here as our production technology can be used for a wide variety of substrate materials and wiring patterns. We plan to keep expanding our SustainaCircuits™ product lineup to make an even greater contribution to realizing a decarbonized electronics industry.
Development roadmap
3 We offer turnkey solutions for printed circuit board production
All the technologies for each step of the SustainaCircuits™ production process are developed in-house at Elephantech. In addition to continued mass production of own brand products, we plan to increase the availability of our technologies and our contribution to a decarbonized electronics industry by offering additional products such as production equipment and nano inks in the near future.
