Please submit your abstract in time using the Abstract Registration form.

October 31, 2022              Abstract Deadline

December 15, 2022          Confirmation of accepted abstracts

January 15, 2023              Deadline for submission of full paper (for conditionally accepted papers only)

January 31, 2023              Deadline for submission of full paper

February 20, 2023             Preliminary Program on the web

March 5, 2023                   Deadline for Pre-Registration discounts

May 9, 2023                      Official opening

Market-driven developments: Economic forces driving industry towards sustainability!

• Circular economy (metrics, case studies, business models)
• Sustainable consumption
• Consumer needs in sustainability, how to engage consumers?
• Green ICT
• Use of technology to dematerialize and decarbonize the ICT supply chain
• How are sustainability indexes and large funds influencing the corporate attitude towards sustainability?
• What is the role of the individual ‘green’ customers, consumer organizations and retail?
• The role and value of Internet of Things for environmental communication
•  Impact of ecological procurement strategies by governments, retailers and business partners
• Role and expectations of eco-taxes, eco-legislation and voluntary, ecological programs influencing our industry
• Market demand for product miniaturization versus life time extension through reparability and refurbishment
• Eco-labels and eco-standards for product declaration
• Global Eco-label standard
• Eco-lifestyle & eco-marketing & greenwashing
• Ecodesign as a business element for ensuring future competitiveness and changing business models
• Influencing individual behaviours, attitudes and habits to promote sustainability
• Product Service Systems and alternative ownership models (leasing, pay-per-use, sharing)
• Dematerialisation (purchasing the service, not the product)
• Critical materials – will there be more or less critical materials in the future?
• Acceptance of closing the loop technologies, products and services
• Supplying future needs: mobility, health and global communication
• Education as a key enabler of circular economy
• Energy-saving products, fuel cells, solar cells, human powered systems
• Products/concepts with reduced energy consumption in use phase 
• Energy-efficient products 
• Energy-efficiency and savings 
• Services for energy end-use efficiency
• Energy-efficient procurement and purchasing 
• Balancing supply (wind, solar, bio) and demand – the role of smart products
• Resource efficiency, material footprint, material circulation indicators 

Technology-driven developments: New high-tech products need to be ecologically conscious!

• Design for sustainability 
• Eco-design, eco-innovation, integrated product policy
• Eco-efficient life cycles of products (durability), product value extension, long life product
• Resource efficient, commercially viable and sustainable production processes
• Production 4.0 and its effects on the environment
• Eco-conscious developments in sub-assembly/parts manufacturing influencing the environmental footprint of final products
• Greenhouse gas emissions: Reduction in production vs. avoidance through more climate-friendly products
• Energy harvesting and storage systems
• Modular configuration and customized products
• Additive manufacturing
• Interdependencies between software and hardware development
• Increasing the sustainability of raw materials used in electronics
• Limitation and global distribution of nano- and micro-metals – an underestimated problem
• Green nanotechnology
• Decreasing material intensity, toxicity and criticality 
• Rare earth and critical materials - how can they be substituted or at least its use reduced?
• How can all the banned RoHS materials (lead, cadmium, chrome VI, mercury, brominated flame retardants) be substituted?
• Microplastic: current trends, environmental impact, potential solutions in different areas
• Smart materials
• Biomaterials and bioinspired materials
• HFR/ BFR/CFR/PVC-free materials and technologies
• Digitalization & dematerialization – technologies that substitute/eliminate the need for an eco-intensive product
• Data collection & communication – technologies improving data collection, analysis, interpretation and communication
• Battery driven products: LCA, impact on environment, best practices, implication of global trend towards growing use of battery driven products
• Connectivity and blockchain technology as enabler of environmentally sound solutions
• Digital platform for product lifecycle and material circulation management
• 3D printing and repair, remanufacturing, recycling 

Circular Economy: Technologies, Business Cases and Regulations

• Solutions to implement Individual Producer Responsibility (IPR)
• Incentivized schemes increasing collection, design for recycling, recycling – solutions, concepts, experiences
• Increasing the sustainability of raw materials used in electronics
• Identification, separation and recycling of plastics from waste (WEEE, ELV and others)
• Impacts of lowering POP BFR limits in recycled plastics
• New markets for recycled plastics within a circular economy – problems and solutions 
• Product reliability issues connected to the use of higher content of recycled content – changed material characteristics, chemical issues, re-recycling challenges
• Examples of successful use of post consumer recycled materials in electronics manufacturing
• Co-production/co-mining as a strategy for value recovery 
• Recycling of precious metals in End-of-Life-products
• Recycling and re-use of PV modules
• Recycling and re-use of Li-Ion and other batteries from electronic products, PV-installations and electro-mobility
• Risks of high energy Li-ion batteries in the recycling chain.
• Recycling of rare earth and other critical metals
• Digital Product Passport (DPP) - advantages and challenges throughout the value chain
• Digitalization in take-back, EPR management, recycling, re-use, refurbishment and remanufacturing
• Sustainability of raw materials sourced through circular economy programs
• Incentive schemes for take-back that drives optimal recovery of critical metals
• Are the current recycling and recovery rates too low/high? Will re-use quota be feasible?
• Design for disassembly and recycling 
• Eco-efficient take-back schemes and logistics for collection of used appliances
• Right to Repair - metrics, regulations, impact on 3rd party and OEM business models. 
• Value Retention Processes – integration and management
• The positive effects of remanufacture, reconditioning and remarketing
• Tamper proof (blockchain enabled) systems to track the lifecycle of a product from production to End-of-Life
• Maintenance, repair, remanufacturing 
• Automation of disassembly, repair, remanufacturing, recycling processes
• Re-using and recycling products in emerging economies – will this be the ultimate solution?
• International shipments of e-waste – problems with the quantification and qualification of a growing problem
• Lacking global standardisation of WEEE material recycling
• Calculation principles for claiming recycled content in materials/products
• Metrics for circular economy - system boundaries and calculation methods
• Collection and recycling in developing countries (legal developments, EPR, informal sector, …) – how can we improve it?
• Information sharing among OEMs, recyclers and stakeholders
• Financials for going circular
• Capacity building for re-use, refurbishment and recycling in emerging economies
• Rise of social repair and reuse activities that cover EEE e.g. repair cafes, etc 
• Inventories on best-practices in redesign, re-use and recycling
• Reverse logistics
• Software as a driver for product obsolescence
• Biotechnologies, hydro-metallurgy, … in waste treatment

Legislation driven developments: Impacts of WEEE, RoHS, ErP, REACH, ...

• What policies at the national level have the most significant potential to drive adoption of sustainable behaviours, attitudes, and habits? Which are most likely to create local jobs?
• What is the status of implementation of the WEEE and RoHS directives around the world?
• Quality assurance in the implementation of the WEEE directive – what are governments, branch organizations, collective systems, individual producers, … doing?
• The importance of mandatory Green Public Procurement (GPP) at EU, national and regional level? 
• Conflict Minerals: Response to the Dodd-Frank Act and long-term solutions for conflict regions
• RoHS and WEEE going international – a success story or concerns?
• Harmonization of chemical legislations (RoHS, REACH and others) requirements globally and global development/reporting challenges for global manufacturers
• From multinational environmental regulations to local country tax legislation – how the Swedish Chemical Tax and similar initiatives may change the landscape of environmental driven regulations?
• Harmonization of WEEE producer register and reporting in Europe and abroad
• Transboundary movement of waste from developed to less developed countries
• Case studies of successful enforcement campaigns, initiatives geared towards co-ordinated prosecution at EU level, smart inspections, campaigns aimed at countering illegal trade/operations.
• Social and political/legal barriers for re-use/refurbishment
• The impact of WEEE and RoHS on small and medium suppliers around the world – an underestimated problem
• Towards a best-policy – comparative assessment of present legislation and policies  
• New EU framework for setting ecodesign requirements for sustainable products and repealing ErP directive
• Upcoming new EPR requirements globally 
• EPR fee-modulation initiatives and approaches 
• Integration of materials efficiency aspects into the Ecodesign Directive
• Implication of the new CEN circular design standard for the EEE sector
• New EU battery directive/regulation
• REACH and automotive/electronic industry – registration, notification
• Processes to get required REACH/ RoHS information from the global supply chain – best practice 
• Compliance management
• Evaluation of environmentally conscious products & services (e.g. Life Cycle Assessment, LCA automation, fast track LCA, Life Cycle Impact Assessment, Life Cycle Management, Techno-Economic Analysis, …)
• Net Carbon Zero strategies for the electronics sector - how to effectively reduce scope 3 emissions?
• Innovations in building and managing sustainable systems for electronics (organizational structures, relationship building, eco-system development, information sharing, decision making processes, investments)