Libby PeakeSenior policy adviser020 7630 4529lpeake@green-alliance.org.uk
The report describes six business models that companies can use to design more circular electronics. Doing so would meet consumer preferences for lower cost, longer-lasting electronics, and help bring the benefits of internet connected devices to new consumers in the developing world.
Our 2016 analysis, The end of the upgrade? looks specifically at O2's experience in adapting to a circular economy. It provides new evidence that SIM only customers are using their phones for longer, nearly six months more than four years ago, which is helping to cut annual carbon emissions significantly.
We recommend a number of innovative schemes that companies can implement in order to create more circular business models. There are also steps that governments can take to encourage companies to implement these models, the most immediate opportunity being for the EU to extend the Ecodesign Directive.
Our 2016 study, Better products by design: ensuring high standards for UK consumers, provides further analysis of the durability and repairability of smartphones.
With the support of the EPSRC, Innovate UK and the High Value Manufacturing Catapult, Green Alliance convened discussions between researchers and businesses whose decisions will shape how and where these new materials and technologies are used.
Our 2017 report, Getting it right from the start: developing a circular economy for novel materials, shows that with the right strategy and incentives, the ability for novel materials to be reused, recovered and recycled can be designed in at the outset.
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