CLEVER - Closed Loop Emotionally Valuable E-waste Recovery

CLEVER - 闭环具有情感价值的电子废物回收

• 批准号: EP/K026380/1
• 负责人: Janet Scott
• 金额: $ 161万
• 依托单位: University of Bath
• 依托单位国家: 英国
• 项目类别: Research Grant
• 财政年份: 2013
• 资助国家: 英国
• 起止时间: 2013 至 无数据
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://gtr.ukri.org/projects?ref=EP%2FK026380%2F1
• 关键词: CLEVER; Closed; Loop; Emotionally; Valuable

The rapid turnover in consumer electronics, fuelled by increased consumption, has resulted in negative global environmental and social consequences. These appliances are typically disposed of into UK landfills or to developing countries, incinerated, or otherwise 'lost' - very few are recycled. As a result, the metals they contain are not effectively recovered and new materials must be extracted to produce more goods. Reportedly more than half of all UK households are dissatisfied with how long small household appliances last and think they should last longer, yet, while several strategies to extend product lifespans have been developed, they are under-utilized within the consumer electronics market. Materials scarcity, particularly of non-renewable, finite resources, is a global concern and one that UK consumers and manufacturers cannot ignore. To use these resources more efficiently and reduce mounting electronic waste (e-waste), consumers must be encouraged to retain their devices for longer and return them at the end of their life (or before). To assist in a transition from the current 'throw-away' society towards a new model we will develop a function-oriented business model, called a Product Service System, which shifts the focus from designing (and selling) physical products only, to designing (and selling) a system of products and services incorporating both service and ownership, which are jointly capable of fulfilling consumer needs. In this system component parts with 'low-emotional value', but requiring regular technical upgrade (such as the printed circuit board or flexible circuits) will be owned by manufacturers and leased to customers, and potentially "high-emotional value" components (such as the outer casing) are owned and valued by the customer, so that they become products that are kept for long periods of time. In this project these parts are termed the 'skin' - the outer casing, or the part that the user interacts with directly; the 'skeleton' - the critical support components inside the device; and the 'organs' - the high-tech electronics that deliver the function and which need to be the most up-to-date parts of the device. To encourage greater emotional attachment to products, new materials which 'age gracefully' will be developed and consumer responses to these materials explored. To recover component parts quickly and efficiently for recycling and metals recovery, new skeleton materials based on biopolymers will be designed and produced. The most important characteristic of these materials is that they will be stable and robust while in use, but can be triggered to decompose when the device is to be taken apart for recycling. Such triggered disassembly of the innards of the device will facilitate the recovery of the valuable metal containing electronic 'organs' so that these can be efficiently recycled and retained in the closed loop of electronics manufacture. The project will also address the efficient recovery and recycling of some of the most valuable metals contained in electronic devices.At each stage of development, a social and environmental analysis of the proposed PSS and materials will be undertaken to identify any negative impacts. Together these materials and the new product-service system will enable greater resource efficiency and contribute to reducing greenhouse gas emissions (which contribute to climate change) and reducing annual environmental costs of waste being sent to landfill (estimated at £211m), while enabling efficient recovery of metals, thus maximizing use of resources, reducing costs, and improving UK resilience by reducing reliance on imports.Keeping electronic devices in a closed loop also means they are less likely to become part of the e-waste exported (sometimes illegally) to developing countries, where people may risk their lives to recover the valuable metals by burning, or smelting, processes that may release dioxins, or use mercury.

在消费增加的推动下，消费电子产品的快速周转导致了负面的全球环境和社会后果。这些家用电器通常被丢弃到英国垃圾填埋场或发展中国家，被焚烧，或以其他方式“丢失”--很少被回收。因此，它们所含的金属得不到有效的回收，必须提取新材料来生产更多的商品。据报道，超过一半的英国家庭对小家电的使用寿命感到不满，认为它们应该使用更长时间，然而，尽管已经制定了几种延长产品寿命的策略，但它们在消费电子市场中没有得到充分利用。材料短缺，尤其是不可再生的有限资源，是全球关注的问题，也是英国消费者和制造商不能忽视的问题。为了更有效地利用这些资源，减少越来越多的电子垃圾(电子垃圾)，必须鼓励消费者将其设备保留更长时间，并在其寿命结束时(或之前)退还它们。为了协助从目前的“废弃”社会向新模式过渡，我们将开发一种面向功能的商业模式，称为产品服务系统，它将重点从只设计(和销售)实体产品转移到设计(和销售)包括服务和所有权的产品和服务系统，这两个系统共同能够满足消费者的需求。在这个系统中，需要定期技术升级的低情感价值的部件(如印刷电路板或柔性电路)将由制造商拥有并租赁给客户，而潜在的“高情感价值”的部件(如外壳)将由客户拥有和估价，因此它们将成为长期保留的产品。在这个项目中，这些部件被称为“皮肤”--外壳，或用户直接与之交互的部件；“骨架”--设备内部的关键支持部件；以及“器官”--提供功能的高科技电子产品，需要成为设备的最新部件。为了鼓励人们对产品有更多的情感依恋，将开发出“优雅地老化”的新材料，并探索消费者对这些材料的反应。为了快速、高效地回收零部件以供回收和金属回收，将设计和生产基于生物聚合物的新型骨架材料。这些材料最重要的特点是，它们在使用中将是稳定和坚固的，但当设备被拆卸回收时，它们可能会被触发分解。这种触发的设备内部拆卸将有助于回收含有电子器官的有价值的金属，以便这些器官可以有效地回收并保留在电子制造的闭合循环中。该项目还将解决电子设备中一些最有价值的金属的有效回收和循环利用问题。在开发的每个阶段，将对拟议的PSS和材料进行社会和环境分析，以确定任何负面影响。这些材料和新的产品服务系统结合在一起，将实现更高的资源效率，有助于减少温室气体排放(导致气候变化)，并降低送往垃圾填埋场的年度环境成本(估计为2.11亿GB)，同时实现金属的高效回收，从而最大限度地利用资源，降低成本，并通过减少对进口的依赖来提高英国的复原力。将电子设备保持在封闭循环中也意味着它们不太可能成为出口到发展中国家(有时是非法的)电子垃圾的一部分，在发展中国家，人们可能会冒着生命危险通过燃烧或冶炼可能释放二恶英或使用汞的过程来回收有价值的金属。

项目成果

Ageing gracefully to increase product longevity

优雅老化以延长产品寿命

• 发表时间: 2015
• 作者: Bridgens B.

Closing the loop or squaring the circle? Locating generative spaces for the circular economy

• DOI: 10.1177/0309132514566342
• 发表时间: 2016-02
• 期刊: Progress in Human Geography
• 影响因子: 7.1
• 作者: K. Hobson

Systems of practice and the Circular Economy: transforming mobile phone product service systems

• DOI: 10.1016/j.eist.2017.04.002
• 发表时间: 2017-05
• 期刊: Environmental innovation and societal transitions
• 影响因子: 7.2
• 作者: K. Hobson;Nicholas Lynch;D. Lilley;Grace Smalley

Preparation of Printable and Biodegradable Cellulose-Laponite Composite for Electronic Device Application

• DOI: 10.1007/s10924-020-01854-0
• 发表时间: 2020-08-09
• 期刊: JOURNAL OF POLYMERS AND THE ENVIRONMENT
• 影响因子: 5.3
• 作者: Chandrasekaran, Saravanan;Sotenko, Maria;Scott, Janet L.
• 通讯作者: Scott, Janet L.

Facile preparation of flame-retardant cellulose composite with biodegradable and water resistant properties for electronic device applications.

• DOI: 10.1038/s41598-023-30078-0
• 发表时间: 2023-02-23
• 期刊: SCIENTIFIC REPORTS
• 影响因子: 4.6
• 作者: Chandrasekaran, Saravanan;Cruz-Izquierdo, Alvaro;Castaing, Remi;Kandola, Baljinder;Scott, Janet L.
• 通讯作者: Scott, Janet L.