Regional dialogue on ‘Circular electronics’

The future of electronics will be circular, as electronics contain valuable resources for the future of industry. This thesis requires new answers to complex questions.

How should electronic equipment be designed to make repair, dismantling and recycling easier? Could ‘product as a service’ be a solution for using fewer resources? What will the business models of the future look like that keep resources in circulation? How should the life cycle be designed so that resources can be reused in new products?

In the dialogue ‘Circular Electronics,’ Prof. Dr. Martin Faulstich, INZIN e.V.; Prof. Dr. Eva Schwenzfeier-Hellkamp, Bielefeld University of Applied Sciences; Lutz Freiberg, Minden-Lübbecke District; Astrid Burschel, WAGO GmbH & Co. KG; Ulrike Künnemann, InnoZent OWL e.V.; Cornelius Laaser, MUNV NRW, and Almut Rademacher, owl maschinenbau e. V., discussed the opportunities and challenges of the transformation to a circular economy in the East Westphalia-Lippe region. The regional dialogue took place on 20 April 2023 at the Hannover Messe trade fair at the OWL Maschinenbau e.V. stand.

The event was organised against the backdrop of the ‘Circular B2B Electronics Exchange Platform’. This initiative is supported by InnoZent OWL e.V., in cooperation with the Mittelstand-Digital Zentrum Ruhr-OWL, Bielefeld University of Applied Sciences / CirQuality OWL and the Ministries for the Environment, Nature Conservation and Transport as well as for Economic Affairs, Industry, Climate Protection and Energy of the State of North Rhine-Westphalia within the framework of the Circular Value Creation NRW Round Table.