This chapter discusses leading problems linked to energy that the world is now confronting and to propose some ideas concerning possible solutions. Oil deserves special attention among all energy sources. Since the beginning of 1981, it has merely been continuing and enhancing the downward movement in consumption and prices caused by excessive rises, especially for light crudes such as those from Africa, and the slowing down of worldwide economic growth. Densely-populated oil-producing countries need to produce to live, to pay for their food and their equipment. If the economic growth of the industrialized countries were to be 4%, even if investment in the rational use of energy were pushed to the limit and the development of nonpetroleum energy sources were also pursued actively, it would be extremely difficult to prevent a sharp rise in prices. It is evident that it is absolutely necessary to pursue actively the development of coal, natural gas, and nuclear power if a physical shortage of energy is not to block economic growth.

World energy outlook

Testing the environmental Kuznets Curve hypothesis for E-waste in the EU28+2 countries

A global review of consumer behavior towards e-waste and implications for the circular economy

Waste recycling patents and environmental innovations: An economic analysis of policy instruments in the USA, Japan and Europe.

An assessment of e-waste generation and environmental management of selected countries in Africa, Europe and North America: A systematic review

https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-02902930/document

Influence of scope definition in recycling rate calculation for European e-waste extended producer responsibility.

In the context of a circular economy, one can observe that (i) recycling chains are not adapted enough to the end-of-life products they have to process and that (ii) products are not sufficiently well designed either to integrate at best their target recycling chain. Therefore, a synergy between product designers and recycling-chains stakeholders is lacking, mainly due to their weak communication and the time-lag between the product design phase and its end-of-life treatment. Many Design for Recycling approaches coexist in the literature. However, to fully develop a circular economy, Design from Recycling also has to be taken into account. Thus Re-Cycling, a complete circular design approach, is proposed. First, a design for recycling methodology linking recyclability assessment to product design guidelines is proposed. Then, a design from recycling methodology is developed to assess the convenience of using secondary raw materials in the design phase. The recyclability of a smartphone and the convenience of using recycled materials in a new cycle are both analyzed to demonstrate our proposal. The Fairphone 2® and its treatment by the WEEE French takeback scheme are used as a case study.

/pdf/design-for-and-from-recycling-a-circular-ecodesign-approach-49w6kaf881.pdf

Design for and from Recycling: A Circular Ecodesign Approach to Improve the Circular Economy

In the context of a circular economy, recycling presents as an interesting solution to reduce the impact of raw materials extraction and to reduce the quantity of waste that is incinerated or landfilled. However nowadays, there is no global and complete definition (which could be used as a common reference) of recycling chains.
Listing the parameters to be taken into account, such a definition would allow manufacturers and researchers to better assess the efficiency and the stability of supply chains (not only at the beginning of the product lifecycle, but also towards the next one), and to accurately compare them.
Therefore, we need a better definition of recycling chains, describing the system in its whole dimension (i.e. all internal and external factors) so as to improve (i) our understanding of the system and (ii) its inherent problems.
Firstly, the recycling chain will be defined and described as exhaustively as possible. Then, the second part will focus on the best way to integrate this information when analyzing and optimizing recycling chains. Lastly, perspectives of this preliminary work will be detailed.

https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-01500922/document

Recycling chains : a proposal for an exhaustive definition

Efficiency indicators have been frequently used to assess end-of-life chain performance. While legislations give a standard definition, sometimes stakeholders redefine them to fit their own scopes and objectives. It is therefore necessary to fully understand the indicators calculation scope in order to accurately interpret the results during a decision-making process. This work discusses the influence of scope definition when establishing performance rates using the French e-waste chain and recycling rate as an example. Complementary recycling rates to the one established by WEEE Directive are proposed.

https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-01695567/document

Scope Definition on End-of-Life Chain Performance Assessment: Recycling Rate and French E-Waste Chain Case Study

Nowadays, the world is shifting towards a more sustainable way of life, and product designers have an important part in this change. They have to eco(re)design their products to make them environmentally conscious throughout their lifecycle, and especially at their end-of-life (EoL). However, one can observe that synergy between product designers and recycling-chains stakeholders is lacking, mainly due to their weak communication. While many design-for-EoL approaches coexist in the literature, design from EoL must also be taken into account to fully develop a circular economy.
 RE-CYCLING is an innovative design approach that supports both design for and from EoL. This paper focuses on the recycling EoL-option and the validation of the associated indicators. To validate the design-for-recycling indicators, the recyclability of three smartphones is assessed. It is expected that indicators provide a similar score as none of them was designed to be recycled; results comply with expectations. In parallel, the convenience of using recycled materials in smartphones is analysed to validate our design-from-recycling indicators. It is found that the proposed indicators can indeed support designers integrating recycled materials in products.

/pdf/application-of-the-re-cycling-method-to-support-design-for-2lxk5hmejh.pdf

Jorge Martinez Leal

Papers

Influence of scope definition in recycling rate calculation for European e-waste extended producer responsibility.

Design for and from Recycling: A Circular Ecodesign Approach to Improve the Circular Economy

Recycling chains : a proposal for an exhaustive definition

Scope Definition on End-of-Life Chain Performance Assessment: Recycling Rate and French E-Waste Chain Case Study

Application of the re-cycling method to support design for and from end-of-life.