Rethinking circular economy for electronics, energy storage, and solar photovoltaics with long product life cycles

Abstract

AbstractDevelopments in recycling technology have largely focused on short-life-cycle products, such as plastic waste from packaging, consumer electronics, and construction debris, while complex, resource-rich, long-life-cycle electronic products, energy-storage, and photovoltaic components have been somewhat overlooked due to their intrinsic property of containing multimaterial in a complex manner. High-value products contain valuable elements, which are intricately incorporated and often lost at end of life. This article explores the need for a paradigm shift to a “product-centric” approach, which emphasizes the circularity of the whole product, with an emphasis on more focused ways of combining design and recovery methods. Opportunities for improved circularity include design for disassembly through modular approaches, development of materials for substitution, fabrication efficiency through novel selective synthesis of metals, high-throughput manufacturing of precision devices, and manufacturing processes that enable use of recycled materials for product. Design efforts should focus on current perceived limits in the degree of modularity, where parts can be made accessible for replacement and consumer uptake of recycled product. Graphical abstract