Author Archives: Team CIRECON

As a company you always want to be up to date. By doing so, there will be many devices which are counted to EOL. This is the short term for „end of life“ and tells a person, that the device has reached the end of it´s life-cicle and must be disposed. But the question is what really happens with the old devices? Do big companies use concepts for disposing the electronic waste in an ecological way? Are consumer wishes being taken into account? These and many more questions are answered in this article.

Company policies for taking care of EOL devices

When the official EOL-date has been reached the actual manufacturer of the device doesn´t offer help, services or spare parts anymore. Still – the life-cicle of many devices has been reached earlier or indipendent of the set date. Then it is important to dispose the waste in a professionally, legally compliant and if possible ecological way.

Many companies collect e-waste in a courner of their cellar and there are no concepts in which the waste is being brought back into a life-cicle. The biggest problem is the lack in simplicity, transparency and data-security. Also refurbishing devices is rather critical. On the one hand in terms of sustainability it is a huge possibility of saving ressources and extending the life of the devices. On the other hand looking at data-security though it is more than questionalbe. Devices are only being restored and set back on default settings rather than the data being destroyed. Restoring the „deleted“ data is not a big challenge for professionals, which can lead to being a big weak point in terms of data-security for companies.

Digitalization can help here. A simple process from giving in an order to the waste being picked up. Transparency and documentation with the help of digital tools – without burdening the day to day business.

But how is the disposal managed in private sectors?

In Germany the electronic law (ElektroG) is an attempt of the european WEEE-guideline for regulating the placement on the market, the taking back and the disposal of elektronic waste. The current innovations of the german ElektroG is active since the January 1st 2022.

But are consumer wishes being taken into account? We have done a case study in which we compare the consumer wishes with the current regulations. The study shows that there is a fear of non existant data-security, which is one of the main arguments of hoarding e-waste.

The new law does bring possibilities like disposing e-waste in the supermarket or other primary treatment facilities but the ElektroG still expects a lot of individual responsibility in terms of deleting data. This is why people don´t just need information about the importance of returning e-waste back into the cycle. Also there must be more possibilities of giving the devices back and information about data-security.

The idea of expanding collection concepts

An easy and inexpensive way would be a clear, transparent seperation of electronic devices with and without data. This is our oppinion at Cirecon. Consumers would have the security, that their devies are being treated up to their expectations. Let´s take a notebook as an example. If it has data on it, the disk would be distroyed by being shreddered or by a certified deletion of data.

A way of expanding the seperation of e-waste is a variety of safe collectionboxes. These can already be used in supermarkets. This way there is no more work generated for recyclers, the raw materials are reused more efficiently and the consumers have their data secure. Data-security is growing importance in many sectors. From our view there is still a lot to do in the sector of e-waste disposal.

Digitalization can also help with transparent realtime processes and certified deletion of data. This way data-security can be guaranteed at any time in the future. Having success with this, a tool is needed which accompanies the whole disposal process right from the start. CIRIS – our reporting- and informationsystem for e-waste – makes this possible. The powerful and cloudbased tool offers a fully integrated solution. CIRIS makes it all possible: exact documentation for fulfilling legal requirements, the avaliability of realtime data for all waste streams, an overview of time and costs thanks to an automatic and simplified process. Test CIRIS now 30 days for free or contact us for more information.

World Cleanup Day is coming up on September 17, 2022. With 14 million participants in around 191 countries (2021), World Cleanup Day is the largest bottom-up citizen movement in the world. Last year, nearly 53 million tons of trash were collected, but we’re sure: There’s more!

As part of World Cleanup Day, people can take part in various waste collection activities ranging from plastic waste to electronic waste and various other waste. The aim is to make the world clean together. The Ministry for Climate Protection, Environment, Energy and Mobility, for example, has launched the “Garbage not around” campaign, in Freiburg the “Trash Hero’s” are getting together and in Cologne actors have formed the K.R.A.K.E. (Kölner Rhein-Aufräum-Kommandoeinheit).

But what’s behind the project?

It is a project of the citizens’ movement “Let’s Do It World!”, which was founded in Estonia in 2008. In 2018, a non-profit supporting association was then registered in Germany called “Let’s Do It! Germany e.V.” was registered. This allows municipalities, schools, companies, associations, initiatives or even private individuals to register their cleanup campaigns and are provided with information on how to do it safely, etc.

Pollution in the world is increasing year by year. No matter what kind of waste, the mountains of garbage are growing and recycling rates are stagnating. Not properly disposed of electrical appliances or plastic waste not only has an impact on our environment, but also on the health of people and animals. The pollution of drinking water and air have consequences, the extent of which one would not like to imagine.

How can I be part of World Cleanup Day?

There are quite a few ways to participate:

• Simply participate in a Cleanup (More informations at www.worldcleanupday.de)
• Motivate friends, family, colleagues, etc.
• Support of the initiative in public relations
• Donations of money and goods
• Learn about environmental protection and recycling (e.g. https://cirecon.de/de/blog/)

Many people, one world, one day – let’s clean up together!

CIRECON for a clean world

At CIRECON, we work every day to make the world more sustainable. With our innovative solutions and our revolutionary software CIRIS, we aim to close the loop for e-waste.

In July, the EPR (Extended Producer Responsibility) will be tightened. From then on, a duty to register will be in place. That is why, as part of an online seminar, we want to help companies avoid potential
threats coming with a distribution ban and take the right measures to be a step ahead of the competition.

What is EPR?

All across Europe, the EPR is in place. It puts producers and distributors of products in the European area in charge of taking back, transport as well as disposal or recycling thereof.

The Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) is an eco-political instrument putting producers in charge of the management of the processing of a product. In accordance with the EPR regulations, those responsible are liable to curb the environmental impact of their products along the whole product life cycle.

It applies to producers of a variety of goods, including textiles, clothing/shoes, batteries along with electronical and electric equipment and also for producers and distributors of packaging.

With the help of the EPR, the EU places these companies under the obligation to professionally collect, sort and dispose of, or rather recycle their products and packaging.

Why is there an EPR, after all?

The primary goal is a well-working circular economy. Packaging and products is not to be turned into waste and disposed of, but at least rather be reused, repared, or recycled as best as possible.

This way, issues like the growing scarcity of ressources and the incorrect handling of waste should be tackled. In this process, the principle of the perpetrator applies, meaning that companies are in charge of associated raw materials and the recycling thereof. This goes for all those marketing products and packaging.

How to implement the EPR as an enterprise?

Can the tightening of the EPR result in a distribution ban for your company? Basically, yes. Currently, companies affected by the EPR implement it by paying a commission. What is more, products not meetinhg the requirements of the EPR may not be marketed.

And, what will change from July 2022?

In July 2022, there will be amendments to the packaging’s Act duty to register, the fulfillment and the marketplaces. It appears to be the last stage of amendments to the packaging act for the time being, but the same time likely the biggest one: Es  

• NEW: Producers of service and not system-relevant transport packaging, outer and sales packaging are liable too
• In the area of fulfillment responsibilities will be rearranged
• For marketplaces: Obligation to check the EPR figures will be tightened

You can learn more about the current, or rather new regulations as a result of the extension of the EPR in our online seminar. Therein, Bernd Kellerer gears your business up for the amendments coming up in July by providing tips and breaking down everything you need to know. Get the recording here for free and without registration.

The bottom line: The EPR can be an effective instrument for a well-working circular economy

To put companies more in charge of taking back and recycling, the EPR was passed in the EU. If geared up the amendments right, your company can benefit from the EPR, which presents an opportunity for a greener future.

With a partner like CIRECON by your side, you can help protect raw materials sustainably, act in compliance with law and save money. Read more on what we do here.

On 14.10.2021 was International E-Waste Day. Every year, we join the WEEE Forum’s event here and think of a special action in connection with e-waste. This year, we asked our employees to bring old, worn-out or defective electrical appliances from home. We had not yet revealed what we intend to do with them. Our goal: to build a statue out of all the collected electronic waste. By the way, we don’t want to withhold this from you and present it at our booth at the E-Waste Expo 2021.

Background to the collection campaign: 85 percent of respondents have old electrical appliances at home

Last month, the time had finally come: We were able to publish our study on the topic of “e-waste disposal in private households”. The study revealed some shocking figures. More than 85 percent of respondents have old electrical appliances at home that they no longer use for a variety of reasons. The reasons why the participants do not dispose of the old appliances are also very variable. All in all, we received more than 30 pages of unbelievable insights, facts and personal feelings of the consumers, which we of course want to share with you. You can read more about the study here.

During the preparation of the study, the desire arose in us to further sensitize our employees to the topic of electronic waste and its disposal. This is how we came up with the idea of building a statue together from the old electrical appliances that are lying around at home.

Well? What do we have here?

Little by little, more and more electronic waste was collected over the two weeks. From smartphones, tablets, notebooks, to electrical children’s toys, drones, flashlights, computer mice, coffee machines, power supplies and much more. In a way, we were all shocked at how much e-waste was coming together.

On International E-Waste Day, we sorted through the amount and made some exciting discoveries. Among the e-waste, there was a lot that does not count as e-waste. For example, the cover for an action camera, a selfie stick without electronic components and a light bulb. So we sorted these items away for the time being.

Now it got interesting: How many batteries are in the pile and therefore stored somewhere at home by our employees? Again, almost every second battery-operated device (such as remote controls or the children’s toys) still contained a rechargeable or a battery. Many of them had already burst/leaked. As a result, we also banished these hazards and collected and disposed of the batteries/rechargeable batteries properly. Why batteries or rechargeable batteries can be a great danger to people and the environment, you can read in this exciting news article.

Probably the most bizarre e-waste was an electric children’s toy from the 90s. Fun Fact: With fresh batteries it even still worked!

Then it was time to build the e-waste statue

Now we started with the most exciting part: the construction of our e-waste statue. With hot glue guns, cordless screwdrivers, adhesive tape and especially a lot of teamwork and creativity, we assembled the body parts of our robot piece by piece.

Legs were made from coffee machines, toes from computer mice, an upper body from a drone and many electronic scrap parts, arms from keyboards, and so on. In the end, the meter-high statue stood before us and we were speechless. Despite the amount of used equipment in the big statue, the rest was easily enough for another one.

What a cool team day and the result is something to be proud of, isn’t it? We would like to thank the WEEE Forum for always putting on International E-Waste Day. By the way, more information about what we do and why e-waste is our passion can be found at here.