Event Calendar

Tuesday, May 25, 2021

Tech Topic Series: Eco-Design for Circular Electronics Economy #1

Start Date: 5/25/2021 11:00 AM EDT
End Date: 5/25/2021 12:00 PM EDT

Location:
United States 

Organization Name: iNEMI

Contact:
Mark Schaffer
Email: marks@inemi.org
Phone: (984) 333-0820

Eco-design principles seek to minimize the environmental impact of products and services over their lifecycle. iNEMI’s Eco-Design for Circular Electronics Economy is a series of three interactive webinars featuring experts from leading organizations that are implementing innovative/beyond-compliance eco-design work. The series, created in conjunction with partners IPC and Fraunhofer IZM, will enable you to learn from eco-design leaders who will discuss their thought processes, strategies, successes, and failures. The goal of the series is to identify 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. All webinars will be recorded for broader distribution. 
https://community.inemi.org/content.asp?admin=Y&contentid=687
 
Session 1: Tuesday, May 25, 2021
Nokia and Samsung Electronics North America

11:00 a.m.– noon EDT (Americas)
5:00-6:00 p.m. CEST
Register for this webinar
 
Additional webinars in this series:


 
Nokia
Confirmed Speaker: Pia Tanskanen, Head of Environment


Abstract

Nokia is developing disruptive innovations for the next phase of human existence by looking five to ten years ahead and imagining what comes next. The company focuses on solving difficult problems and big challenges, and then connects the resulting innovations to the current portfolio of products and solutions. Nokia believes that digitalization can help businesses and individuals minimize their own environmental impact and, therefore, do their share in the fight against climate change. This enabling impact of our industry will only increase with new applications and use cases due to the implementation of 5G. Even though this positive handprint of our industry is remarkable, it is necessary to work hard to manage our industry’s own footprint. Nokia believes it has responsibility to ensure that the network infrastructure it designs and delivers to customers works both from the energy and material consumption perspectives, leaving the very minimum environmental footprint.

Nokia's design for environment (DfE) approach helps to ensure the company creates technologies that incorporate environmentally sustainable principles. Life cycle thinking is a key component of this approach. It helps us reduce products’ lifetime environmental impact by improving material and energy efficiency. Material efficiency includes designing products that use less material and energy while having increased throughput capacity and functionality. Nokia's products are comprised predominantly of metals which constitute more than 75 percent of the total weight in most products. Aluminum is the most significant metal, which is used in sheet metal for cabinets and chassis, and in castings for heat sinks.

Nokia has taken steps to improve the use of recycled material content in its products to improve circularity. Firstly, the company jas worked with suppliers of cast aluminum parts to fully understand raw material acquisition practices and the potential to increase the recycled content in the components used. A study has shown that 54 percent of the cast aluminum parts used in Nokia products in 2020 have recycled content in them. This material is from manufacturing waste, as there are still challenges related to material purity when adding post-consumer material into our components. The company is also looking to work with others to develop a tracking system for recycled content.

Nokia’s webinar for the iNEMI Eco-Design for a Circular Economy series will highlight the DfE program and show how its fundamentals are applied within Nokia products. 
 
Biography

Pia Tanskanen is Head of Environment at Nokia. She is responsible for environmental programs related to climate change, science-based targets and circular economy at Nokia. She is responsible for the environmental management system and environmental data activities across the company. She works directly with customers and partners on joint projects such as single use plastics and carbon programs. She has worked at Nokia for 20 years with different areas of sustainability and technology innovation. 
Pia graduated from University of Technology in Finland and has a postgraduate degree in the areas of technology management, innovation and environment. In her free time she enjoys equestrian sports and culture.
 

Samsung Electronics North America
Confirmed Speaker:  Mark Newton, Head of Corporate Sustainability


Abstract

This presentation will cover two of the programs focused on circularity for mobile products at Samsung Electronics North America — mobile eco-packaging and Galaxy Upcycling.  

Eco-Packaging. Since the release of the Galaxy S7 in 2016, Samsung has advanced eco-conscious packaging with each generation of the Galaxy S series. Throughout this journey, the company has worked diligently to remove elements that could stand in the way of customers easily recycling their product packaging after purchase. The packaging for the Galaxy S21 series introduced this year contains just 4 percent of the plastic used in the Galaxy S7 packaging, reducing waste generated per packaging unit by 49 percent. Similarly, the Galaxy S21 packaging contains only 58 percent of the paper used in that of the Galaxy S7. As a result of these continued sustainability efforts, Samsung has decreased the amount of carbon generated during the development of the Galaxy S21 series’ packaging by 50 percent compared to that of the Galaxy S7.

Galaxy Upcycling. As part of Samsung’s devotion to creating a circular economy, the company has expanded its EPA award-winning Galaxy Upcycling program, which lengthens product life cycles and reduces waste. In the past, Galaxy Upcycling has resulted in the conversion of smartphones into medical devices capable of screening for eye disease in Vietnam. Now, the Galaxy Upcycling at Home program can repurpose older Galaxy phones by turning them into a variety of convenient in-home IoT (internet of things) devices via a simple software update.
 
Biography

Mark Newton is Head of Corporate Sustainability for Samsung Electronics North America and, as such, plays a crucial role on matters of environmental, social and operational sustainability for one of the world’s largest manufacturers of electronics in one of its most important markets. Mark’s specialty is cross-functional stakeholder engagement and strategy development with a focus on risk management and product and business process innovation.
 
Throughout his professional career, Mark has held corporate responsibility and sustainability leadership roles at some of the world’s most respected corporations including Apple, Dell and Timberland, achieving top rankings for sustainability and environmental performance.
 
Mark holds a Doctorate and Master of Science in Chemistry from the University of Texas and a Bachelor of Science in Industrial Chemistry from Keene State College. Mark has served on the advisory boards of E-Stewards, the Electronics Recycling Representative Organization (ERRO), Clean Production Action and is a director of the Smallholder Farmers Alliance, an agroforestry social enterprise operating in Haiti.
 
Mark is an amateur brewer, enjoys ultralight backpacking with his family, and loves playing Ultimate Frisbee and disc golf. His Ultimate team, Sick Hammers, based in Austin, Texas, has qualified for the national competition seven times in the past ten years.