Spanish plastics technology centre Aimplas (Valencia; www.aimplas.net) said the C-Servees project ended its four years of work by implementing new circular business models in the electrical and electronic sector to promote a sustainable lifespan of products.

The models were tested in the marketing of washing machines, televisions, printers, and telecommunication equipment made by Arcelik (Istanbul, Turkey; www.arcelikas.com), Lexmark (Lexinton, Kentucky, USA; www.lexmark.com), and Adva (Munich, Germany; www.adva.com).

Research was carried out on how to improve recycling and disassembly of all target products, which resulted in new disassembly protocols and possible new business lines for the recovery of spare parts and components. The results obtained are the first step to pave the way for a circular economy business models in a sector where waste generation is growing 3-5% annually.

The project was financed by the EU Horizon 2020 programme and involved 10 countries. Apart from the previously mentioned manufacturing companies, some of the collaborators included the Gaiker Technology Centre (Zamudio, Spain; www.gaiker.es), Loughborough University (Longborough, UK; www.lboro.ac.uk), Rina Consulting (Genoa, Italy; www.rina.org), and Circularise (The Hague, Netherlands; www.circularise.com). 65% of the consortium members were represented by SMEs and large companies.