đ±Â What examples of circular design in electronics are there?
Fairphone is a well-known example of a company that has tried to create electronics with smaller adverse environmental and social impacts. There are also a number of startups and scaleups that focus on repairing or ârefurbishingâ old or broken electronics and selling or leasing these to new users. The Paris-based Back Market, Circular Technologies in the Italian Ligurian Region, the Berlin-based Grover, the London-based Reboxed, the Singapore-based myhalo and Reebelo, the Vienna-based Refurbed, the Finnish Swappie, and the Dutch Valyuu are all examples of this.[i]
đ±Â What new business models are there?
New business models and digital solutions are also being developed to provide consumers with better access to circular outcomes. In the textile and fashion fields, repair and rental platforms and services have created new business opportunities. Examples of this include the UK-based Sojo, Rotation bags, and Responsible.[ii] Similarly, in the electronics sector, the London-based Oodles and the Polish Plenti allow companies and consumers to lease rather than buy technology products.[iii]
đ±Â What new collaborations are there?
There are several interesting collaborations happening on the market that advance the shift over to a circular economy. One example of a circular incentive is the secondhand clothing platform Emmyâs attempt to motivate consumers purchasing, for example, eyewear or electronics to sell their used and unneeded clothing by slightly increasing the value of their sold clothes if they opt for a gift card with their partner organizations.[iv]
This post has been adapted from a newsletter written by Saskia TykkylĂ€inen and Christine Nikander for a collaboration between Palsa & Pulk and The E-Waste Column. The newsletter titled âHow can we design a circular economy?â was originally published in both âThe Just Transition Newsletterâ and âThe E-Waste Newsletterâ.
[i]Â https://www.theewastecolumn.com/database/business-solutions/startups-and-scaleups-in-refurbished-tech
[ii]Â https://www.eu-startups.com/2022/06/10-europeans-startups-fueling-the-transition-to-a-circular-economy/; https://www.eu-startups.com/2022/04/promoting-circularity-in-the-fashion-industry-london-based-sojo-stitches-up-e2-2-million-for-its-alterations-and-repairs-app/; https://home.sojo.uk/; https://www.eu-startups.com/2022/04/uk-based-social-fashion-rental-platform-by-rotation-bags-e2-7-million-to-scale-rapid-growth/; https://www.eu-startups.com/2022/01/belfast-based-responsible-raises-e5-8-million-to-power-a-circular-future-for-the-fashion-industry/
[iii]Â https://www.eu-startups.com/2023/11/london-based-ooodles-raises-e11-million-to-turn-it-tech-buying-on-its-head-with-its-rental-platform-for-smes/; https://www.eu-startups.com/2023/02/polish-startup-plenti-picks-up-e5-million-to-build-rental-and-subscription-marketplace-for-electronic-devices/; https://www.eu-startups.com/directory/plenti/