Since the 1980s, the global electronics industry has developed more quickly than almost any other sector. Silicon wafer manufacturing has become a key economic sector in some nations and a significant contributor to global industrial output in many others. Consumer electronics alone is a trillion-dollar business that is growing every year, and the IoT's massive increase in connection will broaden the reach of electronics much further.
With over 50 million tons of e-waste produced yearly, this is one of the garbage streams with the greatest growth. According to the United Nations University, only 20% of today's e-waste is recycled, while 80% is dumped, sold illegally, or repurposed in unregulated environments. Fortunately, new methods and ideas promise to assist in addressing this unsustainability.
The circular economy takes into account the five "Rs" of reduce, reuse, repair, recycle, and restore and has the potential to support several Sustainable Development Goals established by the United Nations (SDGs).
The circular economy as it relates to connected technology and the IoT, or "Smart Circularity," can help the world move away from linear consumption and toward an economy where resources are fed back into a closed loop of recycling, reusing, and sharing, according to The Connected Consumer Report 2030, produced by business think tank The Future Laboratory for Vodafone Smart Tech.
According to the Ellen MacArthur Foundation, increased resource productivity could result in yearly net material cost savings of $600 billion in Europe alone by 2025 while reducing greenhouse gas emissions by 39%. But chip and silicon makers and electrical device manufacturers must play a crucial role in achieving these lofty goals.
Customers should anticipate that new technology will be backward compatible with numerous earlier generations. E-waste and excessive consumption are reduced because of this forward-backward integration. Meanwhile, readily available firmware updates will lengthen product lifespan and prevent end customers from purchasing new hardware to get the most recent product features.
Reusability should be emphasized in tech goods, and designers must take recycling and many uses into account from the outset. Planned obsolescence in all forms, including artificial durability and repair prevention, software lockouts, and non-replaceable batteries, is a thing of the past.
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At Wafer World, we can provide you with the best materials for your electronics business. Contact our team today to learn more about the products we offer!
