‘Green’ Solution, Red Tape and Yellow Light

You would think that a simple, cheap and ingeniously “green” solution to an environmentally hostile manufacturing problem would be an instant winner in today’s cost-conscious marketplace.

Absolutely not. Even low-risk, high-benefit green innovations take longer than expected to move into the market when they’re faced with red tape and industrial inertia. Just ask Ray Turner.

“Naturally, I’d like things to be moving as quickly as Grant took Richmond,” says Turner, a high school dropout who’s been with Hughes Aircraft Co. for 23 years, “but it’s been a slow process. . . . The bureaucracy indicates we need to get contract approval from the government; and some companies are cautious and skeptical. This takes them out of the comfort zone that they’ve been used to.”

Turner, a production engineer in Fullerton, is the inventor of HF-1189 (for Hughes Formula, discovered November, 1989). Originally called “Turner’s Crazy Flux,” HF-1189 is a simple but effective concoction that allows for the removal of CFCs--the chlorofluorocarbons that are blamed for gobbling up the ozone layer--as a solvent in the manufacturing process.

CFCs have long been essential to producing the printed electronic circuit boards in computers, automobiles and other electronics-intensive devices. To ready these boards for soldering, chemicals called “fluxes” are used to clean off the film that covers the metal. It takes CFCs to remove the fluxes. Electronics companies around the world use millions of gallons of CFCs as solvents each year.

Unfortunately, CFCs are extremely hostile to the environment. So hostile, in fact, that there is now a global agreement to phase out their use. The problem is particularly acute in Southern California, which has a high density of military electronics manufacturers.

Essentially, Turner figured out a way to make CFCs irrelevant by using a mixture of--believe it or not--lemon juice and water. Not only was this citric acid concoction environmentally friendly, it boosted productivity and was less expensive too.

“We had a small division (of Hughes) using it,” says Turner. “In one year, we saved $250,000 (in flux expenses).” What’s more, using the formula required no special retooling of equipment or changes in training. For all intents and purposes, it’s a direct substitute.

With great fanfare, Hughes announced Turner’s breakthrough in January. The Environmental Protection Agency declared the formula “environmentally superior.” Hughes said its new Environmental Systems Division--formed in 1989 to help the company explore non-defense commercial markets--would license the industrial fruit juice cocktail for manufacture.

Just how quickly--or slowly--manufacturers accept green breakthroughs like HF-1189 will be a most revealing indicator of whether the marketplace--or government mandate--will determine the rate of environmental innovation.

Turner’s flux will offer a case study in technology transfer for “eco-preneurs.” Pragmatism seems to be winning over optimism. “There has been a significant interest in the product,” says Robert W. Beach, the HF-1189 business manager, but he acknowledges that market demand for a “green flux” hasn’t exploded.

For one, it’s taken longer to negotiate a production agreement than expected. However, says Beach, a traditional CFC flux producer should be producing HF-1189 in quantity by the end of the year.

For another, even though it is demonstrably safer and environmentally sounder than CFCs, the Pentagon has yet to approve HF-1189’s use in defense electronics. The formula is being reviewed by the defense industry advisory board that helps establish military specifications for production.

HF-1189 was submitted for approval more than eight months ago, says Turner, “but it’s a slow process--and there are other flux manufacturers on the committee.” For now, companies have to request special waivers from the Pentagon if they want to use the green flux instead of CFCs.

“You have to remember,” says Hughes’ Beach, “that in (Defense Department) circles, these fluxes have been around for years and have been ingrained in the soldering process for years.”

Ironically, the military electronics market represents barely 10% of the total potential global market. But Beach notes that commercial electronics companies don’t have the same demanding requirements of military electronics contractors--although the push for quality and environmental soundness should boost their interest as well. Medical electronics device companies are also a target.

But the point is that these are industries where process innovations are viewed--for better or worse--with wariness and skepticism. Technology transfer reflects the culture of these companies at least as much as the cost-effectiveness and ecological benefits of the product.