Designing out Waste MUDP report October 2018 Publisher: The Danish Environmental Protection Agency Editors: Anja Marie Bundgaard & Arne Remmen Photos: Anja Marie Bundgaard Henrik Riisgaard ISBN: 978-87-93710-90-0 The Danish Environmental Protection Agency publishes reports and papers about research and development projects within the environmental sector, financed by the Agency. The contents of this publication do not necessarily represent the official views of the Danish Environmental Protection Agency. By publishing this report, the Danish Environmental Protection Agency expresses that the content represents an important contribution to the related discourse on Danish environmental policy. Sources must be acknowledged. 2 The Danish Environmental Protection Agency / Designing out Waste Contents 1. Foreword 5 2. Konklusion og sammenfatning 6 3. Conclusions and Summary 13 4. Introduction and objectives 20 4.1 Resource Efficiency and Strategies for Improvements 20 4.2 The Objectives of the Designing out Waste Projects 22 Part 1: Literature Review 24 5. Ecodesign 25 5.1 The Development of the Ecodesign Concept 25 5.2 Implementation of Ecodesign in Companies 25 5.3 Ecodesign Tools and Strategies 26 5.4 Sub-conclusion 28 6. Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment 29 6.1 The Material Composition of Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment 29 6.2 The Recycling Chains 30 6.3 Non-renewable Critical Raw Materials and Precious Metals in Electrical and Electronic Equipment 32 6.4 Recycling of Critical Raw Materials 35 6.5 Sub-conclusion 39 7. European Regulation: Supporting the Circular Economy for Electrical and Electronic Equipment 41 7.1 The Policy Instruments 41 7.2 Policy Instruments for Supporting Resource Efficiency 48 7.3 Sub-conclusion 51 8. Standards 52 8.1 Introduction to Standards 52 8.2 ISO 14006:2011 and ISO/TR 14062:2002 53 8.3 ECMA-341:2004 Standard - Environmental Design Considerations for ICT & CE Products 55 8.4 The work of the technical committee S-611: Environmental standardisation of electrical and electronic products 56 8.5 Sub-conclusion 57 9. Best practice abroad 59 9.1 Solving the E-waste Problem (StEP) Initiative 59 9.2 The Waste and Resources Action Programme (WRAP) 60 9.3 Sustainable electricals and electronics 60 9.4 Sub-conclusion 62 The Danish Environmental Protection Agency / Designing out Waste 3 Part 2: The Four Case Companies 63 Introduction to the four cases 64 10. Designing for Recyclability – a Case Study of Bang & Olufsen 65 10.1 Introduction to Bang & Olufsen 65 10.2 Mapping of Circular Activities in Bang and Olufsen 66 10.3 The Workshop 68 10.4 Disassembly of a Television 71 10.5 Remote Control 76 10.6 Loudspeaker 77 10.7 Sub-conclusion 79 11. Design for Refurbishment - a Case Study of Tier1Asset 82 11.1 Introduction to Tier1Asset 82 11.2 The Process at Tier1Asset 87 11.3 Aspects Influencing the Refurbishment Process: Design Challenges and Recommendations 88 11.4 Sub-Conclusion 92 12. An Environmental Strategy of Resource Efficiency for Lightyears 94 12.1 Introduction to Lightyears 94 12.2 The Workshop at Lightyears 98 12.3 Sub-Conclusion 105 13. Circularity and Rare Earth Elements in the Wind Industry 107 13.1 Introduction 107 13.2 Permanent magnets 108 13.3 NdFeB magnets and circular economy in the wind turbines 111 13.4 Sub-conclusion: Narrowing, Slowing, and Closing the Loops of Permanent Magnets from Wind Turbines 117 14. Discussion and Conclusion 119 14.1 Design for Recyclability: The Bang & Olufsen Case Study 119 14.2 Design for Refurbishment: The Case of Tier1Asset 121 14.3 Lightyears - Developing an Environmental Strategy for Resource Efficiency 123 14.4 Design for the Recovery of Rare Earth Elements in Magnets at Siemens Gamesa Renewable Energy 123 15. References 125 Appendix 1: Design Recommendations to Improve Resource Efficiency 133 Appendix 2: Individual Causal Maps from the Workshop of Lightyears 139 Appendix 3: Presentation Environmental Strategy at Lightyears 145 Appendix 4: Photo Documentatiuon of the Workshop at Lightyears 150 Appendix 5: The Merged Casual Maps from Lightyears 154 4 The Danish Environmental Protection Agency / Designing out Waste 1. Foreword Designing out Waste was a research and development project financed by MUDP program (Miljøteknologisk Udviklings- og DemonstrationsProgram). This is the final report of the project that ran from January 2013 till January 2015, while the dissemination activities have continued in 2015 until 2017. Part of the Designing out Waste project has also been the basis for the PhD thesis “Ecodesign for a Circular Economy. Regulating and Designing Electrical and Elec- tronic Equipment” by Anja Marie Bundgaard (Bundgaard, 2016). In the PhD thesis, further details on some of the case studies can be found. We would like to thank all the four companies that participated in the projects Bang & Olufsen, Tier1Asset, Lightyears and Siemens Gamesa Renewable Energy. Thanks for their participa- tion in interviews, workshops and feedback on the final reporting of the workshop. The report begins with an introduction to the theme and a description of the objectives of the project. Hereafter, the report is divided into two main parts. Part one is a literature review ex- amining: the ecodesign concept, the current treatment of waste electrical and electronic equipment, the current European regulation of electrical and electronic equipment and how it supports resource efficiency, the existing standards supporting ecodesign and finally best praxis examples from abroad. Part two is the description of the four case companies Bang & Olufsen, Tier1Asset, Lightyears and Siemens Gamesa Renewable Energy, and the main results of the different workshops conducted at the case companies. Søren Kerndrup and Henrik Riisgaard from Aalborg Univer- sity took active part in the workshop at Lightyears. The case description of Siemens Gamesa Renewable Energy is primarily made by Jonas Pagh Jensen, who also has been an industrial Ph.D. at the company. The Danish Environmental Protection Agency / Designing out Waste 5 2. Konklusion og sammenfatning Et mere ressourceeffektivt samfund eller en cirkulær økonomi kræver et gennemgribende skifte fra den nuværende vækstmodel, der er afhængig af let, billig og ubegrænset adgang til råmaterialer, og hvor det biologiske system fungerer som affaldsdepot. Dette er også gælden- de for elektrisk og elektronisk udstyr, som er præget af øget forbrug, relativt korte levetider på grund af både teknologisk og psykologisk forældelse samt utilstrækkelig affaldsbehandling. I denne rapport er ressourceeffektivitet mere præcist defineret som "at bruge jordens begræn- sede ressourcer på en bæredygtig måde, samtidig med at miljøpåvirkningerne minimeres. Det giver mulighed for at skabe mere med mindre og at levere større værdi med mindre input." (Commission, 2017). I denne rapport er der gennemgået fem overordnede strategier til at forbedre ressourceeffektiviteten: (1) reduktion og optimering af miljøperformance, (2) vedlige- holdelse og reparation, (3) genbrug, (4) istandsætte og genfremstillen og (5) genanvendelse. Elektronisk og elektrisk udstyr er typisk ikke designet til at være ressourceeffektivt eller til at kunne vedligeholdes, repareres, genbruges, istandsættes, genfremstilles eller genanvendes. Derfor har projektet undersøgt, hvordan ressourceeffektiviteten kan forbedres gennem eco- design af elektronisk og elektrisk udstyr. Formålet med projektet var at formidle allerede eksisterende viden om, hvordan produkter kan designes mere ressourceeffektivt gennem ecodesign samt gennem praksisbaseret forskning at videreudvikle og formidle forskellige metoder til at opnå et ressourceeffektivt design. Mere specifikt har projektet haft til formål at øge ressourceeffektiviteten og omdanne affald til en ressource ved at: 1. Teste forskellige metoder til ecodesign på forskellige og specifikke produktgrupper 2. Få praktisk erfaring med forbedring af ressourceeffektivitet samt lukning af materiale- strømme gennem samarbejde med virksomheder 3. Videreudvikle kommunikations- og samarbejdsformer mellem producenterne og affaldsbe- handlerne. Dette blev undersøgt gennem fire casestudier af henholdsvis Bang & Olufsen (B&O), Ti- er1Asset, Lightyears og Siemens Gamesa Renewable Energy. Nærmere detaljer om formålet med casestudierne og de berørte ressourceeffektivitetsstrategier, ecodesign metoder og pro- duktgruppen findes i Tabel 1 nedenfor. Desuden blev der gennemført et litteraturstudie af ecodesign, affaldsbehandling af elektrisk og elektronisk udstyr, europæisk regulering af elektrisk og elektronisk udstyr, eksisterende stan- darder der understøtter ecodesign samt internationale studier, som har behandlet lignende problemstillinger. Men allerførst trækkes hovedkonklusionerne op. De tre første konklusioner svarer direkte på ovenstående tre formål med projekter; men de tre efterfølgende tilstræber at pege fremad i relation til hvad der så kan gøres. 6 The Danish Environmental Protection Agency / Designing out Waste Hovedkonklusioner fra Designing-out-waste På baggrund af de gennemførte interviews og samarbejdet med virksomhederne, så kan føl- gende seks konklusioner fremhæves som de centrale. Konklusionerne er trukket lidt skarpt op som one-liners, og bliver så nuanceret og forklaret efterfølgende i teksten. 1) Ecodesign guidelines er stadig relevante og dækkende Nogle af ecodesign værktøjerne er udviklet for 20-25 år siden, men er stadig uhyre relevante i relation til levetidsforlængelse, istandsættelse og genanvendelse samt med fornyet aktualitet i