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

消费电子产品提供了改善生活质量和扩大教育和信息获取的潜力。不幸的是，消费电子产品需求的快速增长导致了不可持续的废弃电气和电子设备（WEBs）数量。2016年，全球WEBs为44.7兆吨，加拿大贡献了724千吨WEBs。WEEE含有构成健康和环境问题的危险物质。另一方面，废物流中存在的有价值的金属为回收工业带来了经济机会。一吨移动的手机中的黄金含量是一吨金矿石的100倍。仅物质价值就价值625亿美元。 为了促进电子行业的可持续发展，其经济实践需要从线性到循环的范式转变。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;提高对全球（跨界）WESTERN问题的认识。为了实现这样的转变，CREATE SEED学员将致力于雄心勃勃的研究目标。他们将通过优化回收和再循环现有垃圾中的成分来解决紧迫的垃圾问题。学员将重新设想电子设计，将传统无机电子和新兴有机技术的最佳结合起来，并开发最大限度地减少环境足迹的制造工艺。CREATESEED将促进转型专家与适用于电子和新兴技术的根深蒂固的可持续性原则的整合/过渡，以适应加拿大的劳动力。

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.