Building a circular future for electronics: why responsibility matters as much as technology
- The React Team
- 5 days ago
- 2 min read
Written by Dr Carlos Carbajal Pina
Electronics sit at the heart of our digital and green transition, powering everything from renewable energy systems and communication networks to electric vehicles and healthcare technologies. Yet, as the new REACT white paper highlights, the same industry driving global progress also faces an escalating sustainability paradox.
In 2022, the world generated over 62 million tonnes of electronic waste, while demand for critical materials such as lithium and cobalt is expected to quadruple by 2040. The way we design, produce, and recover electronics will determine whether this sector accelerates or undermines the journey to net zero.
Circularity is not enough
The white paper draws on findings from expert panels, company interviews, and roundtable discussions with industry, academia, and policymakers. It shows that while circular economy strategies such as recycling, repair, and reuse are essential, they are not sufficient on their own.
Circularity often introduces new tensions. Making products easier to repair can conflict with intellectual property protection. Designing for modularity can reduce product durability. Automation can increase efficiency, but also risk jobs in repair and recycling.
These innovation dilemmas reveal that sustainability in electronics is not only a technical challenge but also a question of governance and responsibility.
Responsible innovation as the missing lens
To navigate these tensions, the paper introduces the Adam Smith Responsible Innovation Framework (AS-RIF), developed at the University of Glasgow. It outlines six practical principles: anticipation, inclusivity, reflexivity, responsiveness, transparency, and equity. Together, they help decision makers foresee long-term impacts, engage diverse stakeholders, and balance economic, environmental, and social outcomes.
Applied to the electronics industry, this means designing policies that align commercial incentives with sustainability, developing business models that reward repair, reuse, and recovery, building trust and transparency through tools such as digital product passports, and ensuring that automation includes social safeguards and reskilling opportunities.
What readers and the industry will learn
The REACT white paper offers both reflection and direction. Readers will learn about the scale and urgency of the sustainability challenge facing electronics, and how responsible innovation reframes the circular economy from a set of technical fixes to a systemic governance approach.
The paper includes practical examples of circular innovation in action, such as Apple’s robotic disassembly lines, the Royal Mint’s chemical recovery of gold from printed circuit boards, and WEEE Scotland’s refurbishment model, which saves £5.1 million annually for Costa Coffee.
It concludes with five clear pathways for change: advancing circular design, investing in sustainable materials, building skills, enabling responsible markets, and fostering collaboration.
For the industry, the message is clear. Responsible and circular design is not a cost burden; it is a source of long-term competitiveness, resilience, and trust.
A call to collaborate
The transition to responsible and circular electronics cannot be driven by technology or market forces alone. It requires new forms of collaboration and governance, bringing together policymakers, researchers, industry leaders, and citizens.
As the white paper concludes:
Building a circular future for electronics requires new forms of responsibility, collaboration, and governance.
Building a circular future for electronics through responsible innovation By Prof Nuran Acur, Dr Carlos Carbajal, Dr Qijun Zhou, and Prof Bing Xu
