Do not miss the opportunity to present your progress on circular economy, the development of resource-efficient electr(on)ic products and services as well as innovative projects and initiatives, organise a workshop or similar event.

Going Green – CARE INNOVATION 2023 will be organised in a hybrid mode. Therefore we accept abstracts for on-site or online presentations (15-20 minutes). Please find potential discussion topics below.

Please submit your abstract in time using the Abstract Registration form or send it as PDF (indicating if you want to present on-site or online) per email to bernd.kopacek@care-electronics.net.

February 28, 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)