End-of-Project Webinar

(January 2019)

This end-of-project webinar reviewed the predictive metric developed by the project team. This metric is intended to help product designers, recyclers and refurbishers understand how their choices in design and materials affect the end-of-life performance of their products, and to help them identify ways to improve the final outcome. The metric does this by focusing on three key factors: material choice, ease of liberation and available recovery technology. Click on the links below to download materials from this webinar.

• Presentation
• Paper: A Practical Means for Assessing Circular Economic Value of an ICT Product
• FAQ
   

Project Statement and Statement of Work

• Project Statement (Version 1.0; March 17, 2016)
• Statement of Work (Version 1.1; March 17, 2016)

About the Project 

The metric developed by this project team can be used to assess the end-of-life impacts at the design and material choice stage in product development such that manufacturers can make more informed decisions before a product is ever actually manufactured. The metric tool examines not only the impact of design choice and the material selection but also the economic value of what can be recovered (from reuse or recycling). The recovery readiness in the regions of the world where products are being sold is also part of the metric — you can have an excellent product design but if the region where the product is sold has no way of recovering the product, the manufacturer should be aware of that

Background

• A mass based reusability and recyclability rate:
  • Depends on data which is not readily available (BoM, RRR rates)
  • Does not specify the costs/revenues of reuse and recycling
  • Does not specify the ability to practically separate and liberate the components and materials

Project Objectives

• Identify design measure to improve material choice, material and component liberation (materials + liberation + circular economy impacts)
• Identify product-related cost factors influencing economic feasibility of reuse and recycling
• Identify weighing factors
• Get ahead of regulation
• Develop a metric system that can be applied to different electronic products

Project Focus

• To develop a scoring system (qualitative/semi-quantitative) which assesses the ability – economic feasibility and physical practicality – to separate and liberate the materials from ICT products (product category specific).
• To develop a weighing factor which quantifies the quality of the reused and recycled materials (exergy, cumulated energy demand, price, environmental impact).
• To develop a product end of life value score (includes reuse and recycling) – 3 tier scope of material choice, product design and regional recovery factors (what is the net value of the design/material and need choices).
• Investigate and engage with key standards or similar organizations to promote the use of our findings.

Presentations & Publications

• A Practical Means for Assessing Circular Economic Value of an ICT Product, presented by Mark Schaffer (iNEMI), 2019 MRS Spring Meeting (April 24; Phoenix, Arizona).  
• A Practical Means for Assessing Circular Economic Value of an ICT Product, presented by Lisa Dender (IBM), Going Green - CARE Innovation 2018; November 26-29, 2019 (Vienna, Austria).
• Reuse and Recycling Metric Project Summary — Phase 2, presented by Lisa Dender (IBM), Electronics Reuse Conference (ERC), October 29, 2018 (Nashville, Tennessee U.S.A.).
• Article: “Value Assessment,” Wayne Rifer, E-Scrap News, Fall 2018, pp. 58-62.
• Mid-project presentation (December 5, 2017) 
• Call-for-Participation Webinar Presentation ( (April 28, 2016)

For Additional Information