Plastic and low temperature soldering technology that uses 95% recycled materials.Lenovo aims to reduce environmental impact through joint research

Lenovo Japan GK held a briefing session on sustainability initiatives in product development on the 3rd. [See another image about this article] The company is working on ESG that combines the environment, social, and governance, but this time the explanation focuses on the environment. It was done. ■ Reducing the burden on the environment throughout the life cycle First, Mr. Yasumichi Tsukamoto, Executive Officer of Lenovo Japan GK Daiwa Research Institute, explained the company's efforts and carbon dioxide offset service. The company's goals for 2025 are to procure 90% of electricity from renewable energy, reduce greenhouse gas emissions in the supply chain by 1 million tons, and 90% of recycled materials in PC plastic packages. The above three things are listed. To this end, we have set "Think Green" throughout the product life cycle, from design to manufacturing, user use, maintenance and collection. This includes the efforts introduced this time. The carbon dioxide offset service is an optional service provided when purchasing a product. Lenovo will take the place of a reduction project equivalent to the carbon dioxide emissions generated when using the product, thereby offsetting the carbon dioxide emissions of the user. A digital certificate is also issued to the purchased device. It is said that it will contribute not only to Lenovo itself but also to the achievement of users' environmental goals. ■ SORPLAS that realizes a robust ThinkPad even with a recycled material usage rate of over 95% Next, Mr. Tadashi Kosuga, Distinguished Engineer & Executive Director, Lenovo Japan GK Daiwa Laboratory Commercial Solution Product Development Commercial Subsystem Development, Sony Mr. Toshiyuki Nakamura, General Manager, IoT Solutions Division, Semiconductor Solutions Corporation, explained about the recycled plastic "SORPLAS" used in ThinkPad. SORPLAS is a flame-retardant recycled plastic developed by Sony Semiconductor Solutions. The unique flame-retardant additive "PSS-K" makes the recovered polycarbonate flame-retardant. A major feature is that it can be made flame-retardant by adding a small amount of less than 1%, and achieves a high recycled material usage rate of up to 99% while maintaining the original physical characteristics of the material. In addition, since the amount of additives is small and the physical properties can be maintained even after repeated melting and kneading, it is possible to produce the next raw material from the recovered SORPLAS. Lenovo and Sony Semiconductor Solutions started collaborating in 2017. First, we proceeded with the application from the housing of the 45W / 65W AC adapter. After solving various problems such as mixing of raw materials and additives, tuning of molds and improvement of injection molding, we have developed a product that can meet the ThinkPad evaluation criteria. Mass production was successful from the end of 2020 to the beginning of 2021. While ensuring high durability, it has achieved a recycled material usage rate of 95% or more. After that, the range of application was expanded to speakers, antenna holders, cable holders, and battery packs. The keyboard cover and housing are also currently being evaluated and verified. The usage rate of recycled materials of 95% or more is extremely high compared to competitors, and Lenovo has an advantage of 3 years or more. ■ Low temperature solder mounting technology that reduces not only energy but also the burden on parts Mr. Kosuga and Mr. Masato Shimamura, General Manager of Research and Development Department, Senju Metal Industry Co., Ltd. explained about low temperature solder mounting (LTS, Low Temperature Solder). It was done. The two companies started joint research on LTS in 2013. In 2017, after clearing all the same evaluation items as high temperature solder (SAC Solder), it realized low temperature and announced it as a technology. Although the technology related to LTS has been patented, as a contribution to environmental protection, no patent fee is charged and it is widely disclosed to the industry. The ThinkPad LTS alone is said to have contributed to reducing carbon dioxide emissions by a cumulative total of approximately 9,000 tons. ThinkPad applies LTS not only to the motherboard but also to the memory and fingerprint authentication module. As of the end of 2021, about 47 million ThinkPad units have been shipped by LTS. We are currently evaluating wireless LAN, WWAN module, click pad / force pad, etc., and it is expected that they will be applied in the future. According to Mr. Shimamura, since the RoHS regulation in 2007, lead-free solder made of tin (Sn), silver (Ag), and copper (Cu) has been mainly used in the manufacture of electronic devices. However, while leaded solder has a melting point of 183 ° C, this unleaded solder has a high melting point of 220 ° C. On the other hand, LTS, which was jointly developed by Lenovo and Senju Metal, is composed of Sn and Bi (bismuth), and is characterized by its melting point of 140 ° C, which is lower than that of leaded solder. Compared to SnAgCu solder, SnBi solder has not been adopted until now because it is hard and vulnerable to impact, but LTS has solved this problem by optimizing the manufacturing process and housing rigidity. Since it can be mounted at a low temperature, the load on parts due to heat can be suppressed, parts that are sensitive to heat can be used, and the burden on equipment can be reduced. In addition to the energy required for mounting, the energy required for material mining and refining can be kept lower than that of conventional solder. ■ Designing the PC to use power more wisely Finally, Mr. Tsukamoto explained about the power saving technology of the ThinkPad. Among the PC components, the display and CPU consume a large amount of power. For the former, we are promoting variable refresh rates, support for panel self-refresh, and the adoption of low-temperature polysilicon (LTPS) liquid crystals. In addition, we plan to implement brightness control technology using AI technology. An independent dedicated chip analyzes whether the user is looking at the screen and controls the brightness while not looking to reduce power consumption. For the CPU, we have prepared an Intelligent Thermal Solution that adjusts the settings according to the user's usage. Detects web conferencing and frequent applications, and controls to optimize power and performance.

PC Watch, Mitsuru Utsunomiya