As geopolitical tensions, climate change, and AI-driven demand place unprecedented pressure on electronics supply chains, manufacturers are increasingly balancing efficiency with resilience and sustainability. This article explores some of the technologies, materials, and strategies shaping the future of semiconductor and electronics manufacturing.
Of increasing strategic importance to the electronics and semiconductor industry is both onshoring and supply chain resilience. Semiconductor and electronics manufacturing remain heavily concentrated with the majority in Asia. Taiwan produces the highest proportion of the world's most advanced chips and ASML in the Netherlands the sole supplier of the extreme ultraviolet (EUV) lithography systems needed to make them. This concentration, combined with rising geopolitical tension, is pushing governments and manufacturers to pursue strategies such as onshoring and diversification where possible. These come with significant challenges such as cost and skilled labor shortages.
The electronics and semiconductor manufacturing market is huge, with integrated circuits (ICs) currently the 3rd most traded products globally. There are significant opportunities for sustainable innovation and supply chain resilience. The IDTechEx report "Sustainable Electronics and Semiconductor Manufacturing 2027-2037: Markets, Technologies, Forecasts" examines sustainable electronics innovations throughout printed circuit board (PCB) and semiconductor manufacturing.
Scope 1 and scope 2 emissions from semiconductor manufacturing are expected to increase up to a peak around 2030 due to increased manufacturing of advanced technology nodes. Emissions are then expected to begin to decline as efficiency gains and renewable energy adoption continue to see progress. Energy and water consumption in the semiconductor industry are set to continue to grow at a CAGR of 6% and 4%, respectively, with efficient management strategies for both resources critical.
Climate change and geopolitics are increasingly compounding supply chain risks. Extreme weather events are already disrupting critical mineral supply. For example, in July 2026, a storm interrupted copper mining operations in Chile, underscoring the vulnerability of concentrated mineral supply chains to climate-driven shocks. Prices for key metals used across electronics manufacturing, including copper, silver and gold, have increased significantly. With current market uncertainty, silver and gold are viewed as safer assets, which contributes to an increase in price, with silver roughly 3 times higher in 2026 than in 2025. Separately, surging AI and data center buildout is driving up demand for electronic components, with memory components in particular seeing sharp price increases as supply struggles to keep up with demand.
Energy and water consumption of semiconductor manufacturing continues to grow but emissions are projected to reach a peak and begin to fall.
Conventional electronics manufacturing is extremely wasteful, with many materials, chemicals and manufacturing processes harmful to the environment. There are several methods and opportunities to mitigate the environmental impact of manufacturing PCBs and ICs. These include low-temperature processing, optimization or elimination of superfluous wasteful steps, and recycling and re-using materials where possible. It also includes the adoption of novel manufacturing approaches, such as dry phase patterning, which have the potential to replace conventional manufacturing steps. New PCB substrates, such as biodegradable and recyclable materials, could provide long-term sustainable alternatives to the currently dominant FR4 in some applications. These include substrates and technologies such as polylactic acid, Pure Additive™, Soluboard®, Recyclad1G and ReUSE®.
Many well-known semiconductor manufacturers are taking action to improve the sustainability and efficiency of the manufacturing of their products. These include Samsung, TSMC, GlobalFoundries and Intel, among many others. This includes water management strategies for semiconductor manufacturing, with over 850 billion liters of water consumed annually by the semiconductor industry in 2025.
There are several barriers to both sustainable and resilient electronics. Capital costs and integration of new methods into existing manufacturing lines and supply chains is challenging. Barriers to resilience strategies such as onshoring, regionalization and multi-sourcing are not always possible. Often there can be resilience and efficiency trade-offs, with infrastructure and skilled labor limitations.
A key driver for green electronics will be legislation. This includes the Ecodesign for Sustainable Products Regulation (ESPR) and digital product passports (DPP) legislation coming into effect in Europe and expected to be implemented for electronics from 2028. Whilst roughly 90% of PCBs are manufactured and exported from the APAC region, the electronics supply chain flows globally, resulting in localized legislation having a global impact. For more sustainable electronics production to be achieved, further regulatory incentives such as subsidies will likely be needed.
Sustainable electronics is currently of critical importance. As demand for electronics continues to grow, and as supply chains face mounting pressure from climate change, geopolitics and surging AI-driven demand, sustainability is vital for the reduction of environmental impact, economic security and compliance with anticipated stricter legislation. In many cases sustainable improvements and operational cost reductions can arrive hand in hand via energy and material efficiency improvements, making implementation desirable on two fronts. "Sustainable Electronics and Semiconductor Manufacturing 2027-2037: Markets, Technologies, Forecasts" provides a wide-ranging, in-depth picture of the present and future of sustainable electronics, including the emerging challenge of building resilient, low-emission supply chains.
For more information on this report, including downloadable sample pages, please visit www.IDTechEx.com/SustainableElectronics, or for the full portfolio of related research available from IDTechEx, see www.IDTechEx.com.
