Advanced Assembly’s home is in Colorado, and we love nature.  Every time we open a door, look out a window or walk outside, we are struck by the might and the beauty of the Rocky Mountains, the sounds of birds happily chirping away in the trees, or the quiet that blankets us after a dusting of snow.  These events are ever-present in our lives, and we wouldn’t have it any other way.  We hike, garden, climb, camp, fish, canoe, run, ski, raft, and bike every chance we get.

We are committed to preserving those aspects of nature that we enjoy so very much. And we are doing everything we can to ensure that our children inherit a world from us that is better than we found it.  That’s why we partnered with Digikey and Royal Circuit Solutions to create a program where we provide environmental non-profits boards, parts, and assemblies — all for free.

And we’re more than just grand gestures.  We walk the green path every day.  You can see that same commitment throughout our company.

• We’ve eliminated 90% of our paper waste by communicating digitally through Slack, Jira, and Trello. The unavoidable 10% of paper waste, including recycled packing material, recycled cardboard shipping boxes, and printing paper are captured by one of the 30+ recycling bins placed throughout the building.
• We reuse everything we can, from folders to shipping materials.
• Our unused PCBs are separated, sorted, and recycled by outside companies that reclaim precious metals and carefully dispose of potentially harmful lead.

• Unused components are sent to a wholesale redistributor that sorts and resells the parts to individuals and shops throughout Colorado.
• Wastewater generated during the wash process is captured and sent out for recycling.
• Solder Paste syringes and containers are recycled.
• Solder Dross is captured and recycled by a licensed recycling firm.

One unavoidable aspect of selective solder and wave solder is dross.  This oxidized material is sent for recycling and may show back up in our machines!

Here we see Sebastian Weber with a can of recyclable materials generated by the MyCronic paste printers. 

When you choose an assembly company we hope that they offer all of the services that we do to help protect the environment.  Find out if they are as dedicated as we are to environmental responsibility.  Do they give you a first-article service that lets you change aspects of your design before committing an entire production run to the landfill?  Will they recycle your unused boards and components for you?  Do they sponsor environmental non-profits by assembling their boards for them for free?  Advanced Assembly does all those things and more.

We are moving towards being a zero-carbon footprint facility. We make decisions based on best practices, not based on the bottom line.  That’s why we installed high-efficiency LED lights, and use cleaning supplies that are biodegradable and non-toxic.

We aren’t yet perfect, but we strive every day to improve on the gains we made the day before.  We know that our actions, combined with the environmental stewardship of others, will make a difference in the environment.  You can personally help by committing to only work with green companies, using RoHS-compliant parts and manufacturing methods wherever possible, by designing repairable parts, and by reducing order overages.  Together, we can make a difference.