Circular Economy

The vision of the circular economy speaks of closed cycles of resources and materials, of products that are maintained, repaired, reused, and recycled to stay in use for longer, and of getting the optimum out of the resources invested into a product over the longest period possible. This not only lessens the negative impact on our environment; it also opens up promising new business models. The essence of the circular economy lies in the smart combination of novel business models with mindful product design: products are designed to be reliable, durable, and repairable and distributed via “sharing” or “pay-per-service” models. Microelectronics can play a major role in improving the environmental performance of processes (e.g. state monitoring or tracking the flow of valuable resources).

The “Environmental and Reliability Engineering” department at Fraunhofer IZM hosts the “Eco-Design Learning Factory” a novel two-day training format that uses interactive and interdisciplinary activities to allow the participants to experience the evolution of a circular system and business model for a given product. The researchers of the Institute also offer research and advice on eco-designed products, lifecycle analyses, product reliability, and recent trends in legislation.

A question of design: How form and functions support moderate and sustainable smartphone use

RealIZM-Blog-Series “Integrative Circular Economy” – Part 3 Smartphones are both a curse and a blessing. A blessing because they offer us security and enable us to contact our loved ones anytime and anywhere, quickly retrieve information and news, reach any…

How Design Superpowers Will Save Our Planet

“Recycle and reuse” has become an increasingly common way of life for private consumers, but also for industrial enterprises. Still, many manufacturers continue to adhere to a creed of cost-effective – read: commercially rewarding – production. But what can companies…

The Way to Reduce Your Environmental Risks

RealIZM recently interviewed Dr. Max Marwede, a researcher at Fraunhofer IZM and active proponent of the circular economy. He told us about ways to change the traditional linear economy by committing to the principles of the circular economy that can…