I am tripled in the last decade, also due to accelerated obsolescence, i electrical and electronic waste: televisions, video games, mobile phones, radios and computers. A veritable mountain of new waste to be disposed of, to be recycled. But above all still interesting and economically useful, in addition to the environmental aspect, especially for components of noble raw materials which if recovered can be reused and allow savings.
But how to recover these noble raw materials from this equipment?
An answer to this question will come from one European network of laboratorieswhich unites six European countries, which aims to develop the recovery of electrical and electronic materials and which sees Emilia-Romagna as the protagonist together with research network, universities and technopoles. The project, which will have a duration of 36 months, involves 12 partners and 6 associated partners, coming from six Central European countries.
The Regionin the last session of the junta, endorsed the project Circotronic, Transnational network of circular labs for EEEunder the European programme Interreg central Europe. The project sees the Chamber of Commerce and Industry of Slovenia lead partner and the Emilia-Romagna Region as project partner. Viale Aldo Moro also approved the draft contract of partnership agreement and costs, incoming and outgoing, on the 2023-2025 budget.
Reprogram the supply chain
“The Region will coordinate the actions necessary to create European action plans for a new industrial renaissance – highlights the regional councilor for economic development and green economy, Vincenzo Colla– with a view to circularity, therefore reuse and optimization of resources, dialoguing with the other political leaders of the Regions involved in the partnership. The goal is to reprogramming the supply chain of the electrical and electronic equipment market to avoid environmental impact when it becomes waste, creating models of behavior during the construction phase, from planning to design to construction”.
According to the regional councilor, digitization and the significant increase in electronic devices and the consequent increase in waste require rapid intervention to encourage the design and production of products that have long duration, are repairable and recyclable to significantly reduce the environmental impact. The project aims to encourage the creation of laboratories for the circular economy, creating a transnational network capable of rethinking the entire production chain of electrical and electronic equipment, according to the perspective of circularity. “How to recycle and recover materials that are still useful – concludes Colla – also depends on how they are built”.