On Wednesday, March 22, 2023, World Water Day, the company ZEOS, d.o.o. organized a professional conference in Maribor on the premises of IZUM entitled E-devices - the transition from a linear to a circular economy. At the event, they connected various stakeholders of the circular economy, exchanged experiences and looked for solutions in the field of electronics. The conference took place as part of the Life project Turn to e-circular under the slogan I'm still useful, which is co-financed by the Ministry of the Environment, Climate and Energy and the European Commission.
Part 1 - Challenges in the transition from a linear to a circular economy
In the first part of the conference, the speakers presented important topics that served as a starting point for the round table discussion. The director of ZEOS d.o.o., Emil Šehić, pointed out: "The concept of circular economy covers more than just reuse. First of all, we have to ask ourselves about the meaning of our purchases and also decide on servicing and sharing. The key is also the proper construction of products so that they will be useful for as long as possible. In order to achieve the set goals of introducing the principles of the circular economy, the measures should be more targeted and binding."
Life Turn to e-circular and its activities were presented in more detail by Branka Biček Bizant from ZEOS, who said, among other things: "As part of the project, we have already set up 66 yellow corners for re-use in various locations around the country, which are intended for the delivery of still working appliances. You can find their locations at www.zeos.si."
The founder and director of Circular Change and co-chair of the European Circular Economy Stakeholder Platform, Ladeja Godina Košir, presented a slightly broader view of the circular economy and pointed out: "How long will we change our mobile phones on average every 18 months? The time is approaching when the calculation will not work out - neither for the manufacturer, nor for the user. By following the principles of the circular economy, we can design new business models - good for business and good for the planet (whose inhabitants we also want to remain)." and concluded "Many times it happens that we convince the convinced, which does not have any particular effect. The solution is to be an example to others and encourage each other. In the end, it comes down to the fact that we all want to live well. If we do this together, then we are moving in the right direction!"
Boštjan Okorn, head of testing at the Consumers' Association of Slovenia, presented how consumers are protected when buying used electrical and electronic equipment and the results of a survey in the field of servicing: "A high level of reliability is also important when buying a used device. And that at a significantly more favorable price and an official certificate of the condition of the device, which is rarely available today, a guarantee of the availability of spare parts, together with a sufficiently long warranty. Only in this way will we be able to properly establish an expanded market for used appliances. However, when the breakdown has already occurred, according to the results of the research, the consumer makes a decision about the repair more easily with concrete information about the cost, as long as the cost is not too high and the device is not too old."
ROUND TABLE - What are the challenges and how to face them?
At the round table "What are the challenges and how to face them?", the speakers discussed two important topics in the field of electronics. About reuse, where they looked for solutions to questions such as "How to change consumer habits when giving away or buying used appliances?", "How to encourage the production of appliances with a longer lifespan?" and "What legislative measures do we need for changes in this area?" And about servicing, where they answered the questions "How to reduce repair and spare parts costs?" "How to increase repairs outside the warranty period?" and "How to increase the number of qualified repairmen?".
The moderator of the round table, Antonija Božič Cerar from the Chamber of Commerce of Slovenia, director of the Environmental Protection Service, pointed out: "The technologies of the double green transition depend on the availability of critical and strategic raw materials, which Europe lacks. Although one source of such raw materials can be waste electrical equipment, we will also have to think about better use and utilization of already used raw materials and built-in components in appliances and equipment that are in use, by improving the conditions for their repairs, upgrading functions to extend their usefulness."
"The key challenges in the circular economy of e-waste, in my opinion, are the limited availability of resources, the complexity of their composition, the high costs of repair and upgrading, and the lack of awareness. In some cases, the cost of repairing products may exceed the cost of purchasing a new product. This can discourage consumers from reusing and encourage them to buy new products," said Marinka Vovk, director of the Center for Reuse, at the round table. And she added: "When we see the value of something and feel that we are rationalizing our spending, then we will have a better quality of life."
Aleš Mihelič, head of pre-development of washing and drying machines and project manager at Gorenje, d.o.o. said: "No manufacturer makes appliances with the intention of breaking down, because they realize that the real customer is the one who comes again to get the appliance from the same manufacturer (when the appliance breaks sooner or later)." and continued: " In terms of providing spare parts, there is a good business model where manufacturers for a specific market would order from the e-waste scheme a certain number of spare parts from used appliances that could go into reuse instead of recycling.” and added: "Today, more can be earned with service business models (e.g. washing machine rental) than with sales alone. When we made a comparison between the northern and southern countries of Europe, it turned out to our surprise that Slovenia is more in favor of these models and more eco-conscious, perhaps even more than Scandinavia, because here the extent to which people are ready to accept new technologies plays an important role."
Grega Vrhovnik, technical director at Avtera d.o.o. emphasized: "Servicing has changed drastically in the last 30 years. You used to open a mobile phone with a screwdriver, today you need special equipment for this." and continued: "The cost of one printer 30 years ago would have exceeded the average monthly income, today you can probably buy more. Servicing in some cases does not make economic sense. If a new product costs 50 euros, it is not worth repairing it, because the math is over when you load the product and take it to the service center, where the service technician charges 30 euros for diagnostics. Cheaper products cannot have a long life, and the key thing here is whether we will become so aware that we will start buying better quality products that are several times more expensive, or someone will have to force us to do so."
Borut Udovč, head of operations at Etis d.o.o., said: "A huge number of broken devices only have a small error. People don't repair it because they simply don't have the time or will, and it only represents a cost to them, and they see the solution in buying a new machine, which they can easily deliver and plug in." and concluded: "The youth (18-25 years old) have surprised me the most (in a good way), they have a lot of respect for reuse. They don't care if the washing machine washes at 900 or 1,600. Quality of life is important to them."
Jernej Križman, head of service at Etis d.o.o., expressed concern about service in the future: "There is a shortage of service technicians, on the other hand, appliances have changed a lot and I myself see a problem in how we will repair what is on the market today." and then continued: "The most we can do with our example is if we once taught our children something, now they can learn something else. So we know the process, all that is needed is action. Just like with servicing – you look and you do it.''
Part 2 - Trends and opportunities in Slovenia and the European Union
In the second part of the conference, some examples of good practices in the field of circular operation with electronics from Europe and Slovenia were presented.
From Austria, Katharina Lenz presented the company Demontage- und Recycling-Zentrum. The company is engaged in recycling, reuse and processing of used electronic devices. Katharina said: ''We all produce tons of waste electric and electronic appliances – actually 12 million tons only in Europe, in one year, and just 42% of this amount is recycled properly. In Vienna, Austria, the Dismantling and Recycling Center offers job opportunities for long-term unemployed people in re-use, manual dismantling and upcycling of e-waste.''
Elizabeth O'Reilly from Ireland introduced WEEE Ireland, Ireland's leading scheme and non-profit organization for the environmental management of waste electrical and electronic equipment and waste batteries. They undertook an interesting project in the field of training trainees for quality employment and a professional career in the maintenance, repair and reuse of white goods. »We need to collect more data outside of traditional waste operations to show the existing scale of repair and other circular activity being undertaken by industry and partners. In doing so we can help close the loop on WEEE reporting and deliver on the ewaste challenge as part of European resource efficiency and the New Green Deal. Listening and collaborating with Producers helped us understand the challenges they faced in recruiting repair engineers and the lack of training pathways in Ireland. We saw this 'bottleneck' as a barrier we could help overcome with the support of our circularity partnership and authorities. We hope to continue to build on the success of the CEI project and other repair programmes in our circular vision for a more sustainable EEEE/WEEE system in Ireland.« Elizabeth said.
TOURNEVIE, a Belgian tool library, was launched by its co-founder Olivier Beys, where for a small annual membership fee, users get unlimited access to a wide range of quality tools. In addition, all members have access to an actual workshop (room), training, local wood and other useful services within the library. »Tournevie is operating a tool library because it is by far the most resource efficient and affordable way for citizens to have access to quality machines. What's more, the concept is easy to copy and it brings people together from different walks of life, so it's great for social cohesion. We want to see this everywhere, and hope that local and EU administrations help in expanding the idea all over Europe.« Olivier summed up.
Jaka Kranjc, expert manager from Ecologists Without Borders, concluded the event with presentations of examples of good practices in Slovenia. He also pointed out digital pollution caused by, for example, unsolicited e-mail, which in turn affects energy consumption and emissions: "Our use of e-devices is often not very efficient. Digital basically does not exist without a physical component. There is no such thing as pure digital, and all the invisible influences associated with it. We are very inefficient in our use of technology, we send around 300 billion messages every day, half of which are spam. We use a huge amount of infrastructure for things that nobody wants." and added: "The key to greater circulation of e-devices is a good design of products and their software, as well as efficient use, which makes effective use of them and keeps them alive for a long time."
2. REUSE FESTIVAL
As part of the event, the 2nd reuse festival was also held outside on the platform, organized by the Society of Ecologists without Borders (as part of the Communities go circular project) and the company ZEOS, d.o.o., which put the zero waste way of life in the foreground.
FINAL THOUGHTS
This year's central theme of World Water Day was: "Accelerate change." Be the change you want to see in the world - for access to drinking water and sanitation for all. Do what you can." Conference coordinator Urša Dolinšek from ZEOS emphasized that it is good for everyone to do what they can, but that there are times when it is necessary to make major changes.
The director of ZEOS concluded the event with the thought that now is the right moment, that we can proactively cooperate with the legislators and that we know all our findings or transfer the projects into the correct diction of the legislation, which will then be easily able to be implemented. As was heard several times at the event, the way in which this content is presented to individuals is also very important, as it must be close to their thinkig and way of living.