Thursday 15 June, 2023
Mobile telecommunication operators are well-placed to know what the circular economy can bring to the ICT sector. Indeed, less than 40% of electronic waste is recycled in the EUEcodesign for Sustainable Products, while 53.6 million metric tons of electronic waste were generated worldwide in 20192.
Therefore, we welcomed the EU Circular Economy Action Plan, which introduced a sustainable product policy framework in Europe and rightly identified ‘electronics and ICT’ as a critical product value chain.
While various initiatives have been taken in this field, it is fair to say that at least one crucial issue is still not addressed and deserves more scrutiny: applying the circular economy principles to the ICT network equipment. With a better ecodesign and increased reuse of products across the value chain via efficient refurbishing and resale, we can extend the life cycle of network equipment. If correctly addressed, this issue could constitute a step change for the EU and create an attractive precedent for the rest of the world.
