Digitalization as an enabler of the Circular Economy of electronics

Talens Peiró, Laura; Baiguera, Francesco; Maci, Andrea; Olivieri, Marco; Villa, Paola; Colledani, Marcello; Gabarrell, Xavier

OPEN ACCESS at Procedia Manufacturing (2021), Volume 54, Pages 58-63

To facilitate the transition from a linear to a circular economy there is a need to develop digital tools that can provide comprehensive and useful data to enhance repair, remanufacturing, reuse, and recycling. This paper explains the typology of information key for such end, it discusses the current limitations and difficulties to implement methods in a digital platform, and a description of already existing digital solutions that will be further improved in the context of the DigiPrime project. A preliminary analysis of the availability and accessibility of information about electronics is required before the definition of a digital tool to support circular economy. First, the paper discusses the need of ‘digitalized’ end ‘standardized’ information of electronics to promote circular strategies. Then, diverse digitalization approaches by several teams of the Digiprime project are detailed. The paper concludes with a description of the next steps needed to align the diverse digitalization approaches and its potential contribution to improve the electronics sector.