University student's paper electronics invention, PAPE, named national winner of 2024 James Dyson Awards; invention hinges on crafting dissolvable, recyclable PCB board out of compressed paper pulp to avoid e-waste from items like routers, smoke detectors

What it does

PAPE is a product family primarily made from densely pressed paper fibers with a dissolvable and recyclable PCB board inside. This design transforms the smoke detector and WiFi router into a closed material cycle, making them both affordable and user-friendly.

Your inspiration

In 2020, 4.9 million tonnes of electrical and electronic equipment were generated in Europe. This amount is less than half of the e-waste that was correctly collected and recycled. The rest ended up in household trash, landfills or incineration, leading to the loss of precious and rare materials. Small electronic devices are especially prone to ending up in household waste due to unclear disposal systems and their small size, so there is significant potential to develop a more user-friendly end-of-life system. With this in mind, I aimed to move beyond a simple recycling solution to a circular one, ensuring long-term sustainability.

How it works

With significant advancements in sustainable PCB-board development by various institutes and startups, many incorporate a dissolution step in their recycling strategies. PAPE is innovating further by extending this dissolution process to the entire product, eliminating the need for mechanical deconstruction to recover the PCB-board. By implementing a user-friendly return option, manufacturers can efficiently dissolve all returned items, potentially reusing electronic components. In the customer's experience, they receive an open product with both housing parts facing up, connected by a hinge element, and the option to store packaging inside the device. This design encourages exploration of internal components, fostering an understanding of material conservation. The product can be assembled and, after use, disassembled similarly to its arrival. Instead of discarding it in a garbage bin, customers can conveniently return it by placing it in a postbox.

Design process

To enable the concept of a dissolvable electronic device, extensive material research into the structural housing components marked the initial phase of the design process. After careful consideration, I chose Paper as the foundational material for the entire project, taking into account its compatibility with e-commerce packaging used for shipments. Paper also made it possible to do firsthand testing in prototypes and looking into density, mechanical resilience, and surface finish quality of the paper pulp parts. Simultaneously, I disassembled comparable Wi-Fi routers and smoke detectors to get insights from existing approaches. I then began developing diverse design concepts combined with a rapid prototyping phase to get a feeling of actual size and to test the assembly. Once the general housing shape was set, I created ABS molding casts and started paper pulping while continuing to enhance detailed 3D models. Through iterative refinement of the prototypes, I gained valuable insights into material properties, discovering that achieving density and smoothness requires precise application of pressure, heat, and continual removal of water vapor. Concluding the prototyping phase, I documented each processing step and simulated PAPE's lifecycle in a video presentation.

How it is different

Using an unconventional material in electronic devices, PAPE represents a new and innovative approach to introducing sustainability into this market. Rapidly advancing technology, which forms the core of many devices, becomes obsolete much faster than the structural elements, which are often made from plastics that can last thousands of years. Does anyone want to use a thousand-year-old computer? Of course not. That’s why PAPE employs planned obsolescence for its core material, coupled with a designed end-of-life system. This ensures a sustainable and reliable system without hindering technological advancement.

Future plans

To develop PAPE further, the goal is to team up with a partner to develop and manufacture the inner PCBs, creating a functional product that showcases its full potential. Meanwhile, PAPE aims to open a conversation about material sustainability in electronic devices. I hope to inspire others to address the needs of a cradle-to-cradle system in all areas of daily life and to spark conversations about the current state of disposal management. My aim is to develop a functional model of PAPE to share with potential investors and to raise awareness through design awards, such as the James Dyson Award!

Awards