“Slowing” and “Narrowing” the Flow of Metals for Consumer Goods: Evaluating Opportunities and Barriers

Abstract

Metal resources are essential materials for many consumer products, including vehicles and a wide array of electrical and electronic goods. These metal resources often cause adverse social and environmental impacts from their extraction, supply and disposal, and it is therefore important to increase the sustainability of their production and use. A broad range of strategies and actions to improve the sustainability of resources are increasingly being discussed within the evolving concept of the circular economy. This paper uses this lens to evaluate the opportunities and barriers to improve the sustainability of metals in consumer products in Australia, with a focus on strategies that "slow" and "narrow" material flow loops. We have drawn on Allwood's characterisation of material efficiency strategies, as they have the potential to reduce the total demand for metals. These strategies target the distribution, sale, and use of products, which have received less research attention compared to the sustainability of mining, production, and recycling, yet it is vitally important for changing patterns of consumption in a circular economy. Specifically, we have considered the strategies of product longevity (life extension, intensity of use, repair, and resale), remanufacturing, component reuse, and using less material for the same product or service (digitisation, servicisation, and light-weighting). Within the Australian context, this paper identifies the strategies that have the greatest opportunity to increase material efficiency for metal-containing products (such as mobility, household appliances, and personal electronics), by evaluating current implementation of these strategies and identifying the material, economic, and social barriers to and opportunities for expanding these strategies. We find that many of these strategies have been successfully implemented for mobility, while applying these strategies to personal electronics remains the biggest challenge. Product longevity emerged as the strategy with the most significant opportunity for further implementation in Australia, as it is the most broadly applicable across product types and has significant potential for material efficiency benefits. The barriers to material efficiency strategies highlight the need for policies that broaden the focus beyond closing the loop to "slowing" and "narrowing" material loops.

Learning from Failure and Success: The Challenges for Circular Economy Implementation in SMEs in an Emerging Economy

“…Although previous researchers have identified CE enablers and barriers that firms face during implementation (e.g., [13,14]), most empirical research has focused on large firms and developed economies rather than small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) and emerging economies (e.g., [15]). In this respect, several authors [12,16] have recognized that both large and SMEs face barriers to different extents.…”

Influence of design properties of printed electronics on their environmental profile

“…Particularly the short operating life of devices needs to be seen as a crucial issue from an eco-design perspective [2]. And printing with metal nano-particles strongly contradicts current considerations, e.g., by Dominish et al, on how to achieve increasing material efficiency in electronic consumer goods [49]. And although biodegradability and biocompatibility have already been declared requirements to achieve sustainable electronics in the future [21], this paradigm is diametrically opposed to the widespread use of metal nano-particles in single-use devices practised today.…”

“…While some substrates can be recycled, and in the case of paper even composted [16], metals such as silver, copper, or others form a significant challenge. Generally, for all electronic devices and components, these resources play a paramount role in achieving the desired functionality [49]. Even though their material content per device is relatively small (e.g., 25 mg Ag per RFID antenna [17]), a mass application in an "internet of things" can lead to serious effects on raw material demand and in consequence threatening supply security [50,51].…”

A literature review on circular economy adoption in the manufacturing sector

“…Industrial symbiosis and Eco-industrial parks (Ali et al, 2019); (Barreira et al, 2019); (Nuss et al, 2019); (Domenech et al, 2019); (Migliore et al, 2018); (Minunno et al, 2018); (Editors et al, 2018); (Prosman et al, 2017); (Halstenberg et al, 2017); (Husgafvel et al, 2016); (Karayannis, 2016); (Mirabella et al, 2014) (Cooper, 2019); (Jakhar et al, 2019); (Medeiros et al, 2019); (Dominish et al, 2018); (Braun et al, 2018b); (Neligan, 2018); (Walker et al, 2018); (Wang et al, 2018b); (Wang and Zhang, 2018); (Wang et al, 2018a); (Zairul et al, 2018); (Smieja and Babcock, 2017); (Ingarao, 2017); (Di Maio et al, 2017); (Câmpean et al, 2017); (Shahbazi et al, 2016); (Pagotto and Halog, 2016); (Li et al, 2019); (Graedel et al, 2019); (Wiedenhofer et al, 2019); (Yu et al, 2018); (Garmulewicz et al, 2018) Among all, cleaner production strategy is considered a precursor of CE since it enables systems to reduce at minimum toxic substances used in the production process and to limit and reduce resources consumption. It is based on principles such as product optimization, input substitution, sharing of renewable and recyclable resources (Sousa-Zomer et al, 2018a).…”