Challenge
More than 60 million tonnes of electronic waste are generated worldwide each year. The high complexity of components and materials significantly complicates recycling processes. Repair and component replacement are currently only economically viable for specialized electronics. In particular, there is a lack of automated processes and digital information enabling manufacturer-independent disassembly and recovery of individual assemblies. For sustainable utilization, it is therefore essential to improve repairability, accurately capture material composition, and systematically optimize reuse.
Objectives
The objective of the CEleRA project is to establish a digital technology that supports the entire lifecycle of electronic assemblies—from manufacturing to end-of-life recovery. By integrating repairability and recyclability considerations already in the design and production phases, and by providing machine-readable data, repair processes will be significantly simplified while enabling data-driven, automated recycling.
Realisation
To realize this approach, a novel design process will be developed that integrates manufacturing data, component information, and material composition into a hardware-based Digital Product Passport (DPP). The DPP will be embedded directly into the electronics and provide machine-readable information relevant for repair and recycling. Automated repair processes will leverage this data to identify and replace defective components with high precision and efficiency. The concept will be demonstrated through two specific use cases.
