Collaborative Research and Training Experience in Sustainable Electronics and Eco-Design (CREATE SEED)

消费电子产品提供了提高生活质量、扩大教育和信息获取渠道的潜力。不幸的是，消费电子产品快速增长的需求导致了不可持续的废弃电子电气设备（WEEE）的数量。2016年，全球报废电子电气设备为4470万吨，加拿大贡献了72.4万吨的报废电子电气设备。报废电子电气设备含有危害健康和环境的有害物质。另一方面，报废电子电气设备流中存在的贵重金属构成了回收工业的经济机会。一吨手机中的黄金含量是一吨金矿的100倍，仅物质价值就高达625亿美元。为了促进电子行业的可持续性，需要在其经济实践中发生范式转变，从线性到循环。CREATE SEED确定了具体的培训目标：通过循证方法和批判性思维将范式从线性设计思维转变为循环设计思维；打破信息孤岛，消除生态毒理学等盲点；促进对报废电子电气设备问题全球（跨界）层面的认识。为了实现这种转变，CREATE SEED受训者将致力于雄心勃勃的研究目标。他们将通过优化现有报废电子电气设备组件的回收和再循环来解决紧急的报废电子电气设备问题。学员将通过将传统无机电子和新兴有机技术的最佳结合，以及开发最大限度地减少环境足迹的制造工艺，重新设想电子设计。CREATE SEED将促进变革专家的整合/过渡，这些专家具有适用于电子和新兴技术的根深蒂固的可持续性原则，总的来说，适用于加拿大的劳动力。

Consumer electronics offer the potential to improve quality of life and broaden education and information access. Unfortunately, the rapidly growing demand of consumer electronics has led to unsustainable amounts of waste electrical & electronic equipment (WEEE). In 2016, global WEEE was 44.7 megatons with Canada contribution being 724 kilotons of WEEE. WEEE contains hazardous substances that pose health and environmental concerns. On the other hand, the presence of valuable metals in the WEEE stream constitutes economic opportunities for the recycling industry. There is 100 times more gold in a ton of mobile phones than in a ton of gold ore. The material value alone is worth $62.5 billion. To promote sustainability in the electronics industry, a paradigm shift needs to occur in its economic practices from linear to circular. CREATE SEED identified the specific training objectives: Shifting Paradigms from linear to circular design thinking with evidence-based approaches and critical thinking; Breaking information silos and eliminating blind spots such as ecotoxicology; promoting Awareness about the global (transboundary) dimension of the WEEE issue. To implement such a shift, CREATE SEED trainees will work on ambitious research objectives. They will tackle the urgent WEEE issues through the optimization of Recovery and Recycling of components from existing WEEE. Trainees will re-envision Electronics Design by bringing together the best of Conventional Inorganic Electronics and Emerging Organic Technologies and developing manufacturing processes that minimize the Environmental Footprint. CREATE SEED will facilitate the integration / transition of transformative experts with engrained sustainability principles applicable to electronics and emerging technologies, at large, to the Canadian workforce.