Smartphones and the circular economy

With new smartphone releases becoming even more regular, consumers are feeling pressured to upgrade to the latest device. It’s not just that.

Smartphone manufacturers, including Samsung and Apple, have been fined for planned obsolescence, offering software updates that damage the performances of their devices to encourage customers to buy new phones.

The side effect of these factors is the approximately 40 million unused gadgets lying in the cupboard and drawers of British people’s homes. As well as smartphones, a quarter of respondents to the RSC survey had kept an unused laptop. In many cases they were kept as spares, some were waiting to be sold and some people just didn’t know how to recycle their e-waste.

One of the major problems with people hoarding their electronics is the depletion of precious metals like tantalum, indium and yttrium. Recycling these elements would lead to less depletion of natural resources and would also mean that the device did not go to landfill.

Components and the circular economy

Just like the smartphone market, technological innovation in manufacturing has sped up and has shortened product life cycles so that industrial professionals feel pressured to buy more technology for the factory floor.

When a component breaks down, you can tap into either the linear economy of take, make, use and dispose, or the circular economy. Imagine your motor stops working, because an electric surge damages the components. The linear approach to this scenario is to throw away your old model and buy a shiny new replacement. The circular approach would be to send your broken equipment to a recycler, who can disassemble it and recycle the parts. If your motor is not too damaged, you could send it for refurbishment or remanufacture, so that it can go to a new and happy home.

You’ll also need to think about purchasing a replacement component. While it might seem more difficult to order a replacement, especially if your motor is obsolete, EU Automation can help. A reliable supplier of automation equipment can provide you with a remanufactured motor, thoroughly restored to its original specifications.

Alternatively, you could purchase a reconditioned engine, which is a slightly less intensive process. Either way, it will have been through a quality assurance process to ensure it is genuine and in good condition. For example, scanning technology can identify any differences between the remanufactured or reconditioned part and a gold-standard original, devising a way to correct any differences.

Because this approach is becoming more common, automation equipment - and to some extent smartphones - are being designed with the circular economy in mind. This means they are becoming easier and quicker to disassemble and rebuild.

Now you’ve heard the RSC’s scary smartphone statistic, you may be more likely to consider recycling your old devices. As well as your smartphones, consider a circular approach to your automation parts. You won’t regret it.