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

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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.