Video Series Shares Innovative Eco-Design Practices for a Circular Electronics Economy

• By: iNEMI
• On: 02/13/2022 22:07:14
• In: iNEMI Blog

The iNEMI/IPC/Fraunhofer IZM Eco-Design for Circular Electronics Economy series comprised several interactive webinars featuring industry leaders sharing their experiences in implementing innovative/beyond-regulatory-compliance eco-design work. The goal of this educational series was to capture the best and most innovative practices being used today and to highlight the processes these leaders follow to determine where to focus their eco-design efforts. 

In reviewing the presentations from the webinars, the Eco-Design team identified several common approaches, or themes, regarding how the different organizations drive circular economy in their business models and products. As a final report, the team produced four videos that summarize these successful approaches. One video provides an introduction and overview to the series and three summarize the approaches identified as common themes in the presentations: 
 

• Take Action Now — All of the organizations featured in the series utilize life cycle assessments to drive decision-making at the product design stage to minimize environmental impact. Taking action now to collect data and perform life cycle assessments was a theme that stood out in all of the presentations.  This video provides examples of how life cycle assessments are used to drive design for circularity.
    
• Collaboration — Collaborative, cross-disciplinary discussion is key to achieving eco-design for a circular electronics economy. From working with suppliers and ensuring all teams across an organization are communicating for a common goal, to working with industry partners and customers to extend the life of products — these are all examples highlighted in the “Collaboration” summary video. 
   
• Innovation — Innovation can be implemented in product design, in programs to repurpose and extend a product's life cycle, in business models, and through product repairability/upgradeability to close the circular loop. In this video, presenters show how their organizations are innovating at the business model level, the product level and through services.  

Upcoming Webinar
A webinar is scheduled March 17 to share lessons learned from this series and to talk about next steps. Watch the iNEMI calendar for details.