Eco Innovation

Approaches to address electronic waste, or e-waste, have been varied. Some of these approaches that have featured on Electronic Specifier have included recycling electronic components - so they’re not outright discarded into landfill - while others have investigated new materials that are more recyclable, and battery-free applications that remove one major part of e-waste altogether.

Imagine a battery that feeds on simple sugars instead of plugging into a wall – a sustainable alternative to conventional energy storage, powered by the metabolic processes of living organisms. Well, researchers at Empa have brought this very idea to life with a biodegradable battery powered by fungi.

The UK is falling far behind other European nations in recycling e-waste, despite the growing scarcity of vital components, high carbon footprint, and health impact caused by waste electronics.

Made Smarter Adoption North West, the trailblazing digital technology adoption programme, has secured an additional £230,000 to help more SME manufacturers access transformational technology.

As we wave goodbye to 2024 and welcome in 2025, it is amazing to see all the remarkable technological advancements that have emerged over the past year. Among these many advancements, some of the most fascinating ones were those inspired by the nature – particularly the animal world.

Globally, 62 million tonnes of electronic waste (e-waste) was generated in 2022, yet less than a quarter of that waste was properly recycled, according to the UN’s Global E-Waste Monitor.

Scientists at Nanyang Technological University, Singapore (NTU Singapore) have developed a 3D concrete printing method that captures carbon, demonstrating a new pathway to reduce the environmental impact of the construction industry. 

Analog Devices Inc. (ADI) and Vodafone use their magic to make communication sustainable. The collaboration between the two industry giants focuses on reducing power consumption in radio access networks (RAN) by using advanced techniques, such as symbol-based switching and micro-sleep discontinuous transmission.

Infineon Technologies has been included in the Dow Jones Sustainability World Index and in the Dow Jones Sustainability Europe Index, as announced by S&P Global.

Around two thirds of people want to see the UK become a clean energy superpower (64%), and for the UK to make enough clean energy to export it to other countries (65%).