Schischke, Karsten / Proske, Marina / Ballester, Miquel / Reinhold, Julia / Lang, Klaus-Dieter / Regenfelder, Max: Strategies for more Circularity in the Life Cycle of Mobile Information Technology
A defining feature of smart electronic devices is short innovation cycles – smart phones in 2030 will look very different than those of today. Technology innovations in the microelectronics domain and in related fields along the product life cycle, such as recycling and refurbishment technologies, will have a dramatic impact on product design and the product life cycle. In parallel, emerging circular economy concepts, business models and policies will influence how technologies develop. The interaction between technology innovation and circularity drivers is discussed below using data from life cycle assessments of smartphone products as example. A key focus is the latest research results of the EUfunded Horizon2020 project “sustainablySMART”, which investigates the product life cycle of smart mobile devices and new product design concepts, in particular, modularity of the device as such and
on printed circuit board level, as well as robotics-assisted disassembly technologies, rework of semiconductor components and repurposing of electronics in other devices.
The publication was published in 2018 because of the Going Green – CARE INNOVATION in Wien.