Circular Engineering: Designing Out Waste and Creating With Waste (Electronics)

Everything becomes waste. This is a myth that we have grown accustomed to, when waste is actually a design flaw. If designers create a product in tandem with a plan that designates what to do when you are done with that product after its intended life, then we can eliminate the concept of waste. Imagine every product you buy having a clear and accessible plan of how to recycle, reuse, or repair. This guide outlines a project for students to critically think about how the devices we use everyday were designed to become waste. Students are tasked to select an electronic device of their choice and critique its design, use, and disposal in order to learn about circular design. Tracing the use and disposal of the selected electronics allows the students to see where proper design can divert waste through integration of sustainable practices. By incorporating parts that are easy to repair, replace, and safely dispose of, engineers can create sustainable products. 

Following an initial focus on how to design-out waste, students will learn how to design with waste. The issue of waste generation is two-sided, where if a manufacturer does not consider the disposal of a product in its design, it is up to a creative mind on the other end of the use lifecycle. After the students identify and correct waste-generating qualities of their selected device, they will look at what electronic components are available through disassembly of their electronic waste (e-waste).The disassembly is a class favorite every year as it feels taboo to tear apart an electronic and demystify the black box devices users take for granted. Compared to arduino centered circuit design, the tear-down process allows students to see consumer application electronics. The disassembly process provides insight into how product design can make the disassembly, repair, and salvaging of a device into an accessible option or an absolute nightmare. 

Once the students have an idea of what components and materials are inside their selected electronic waste we go over how to use each component straight from the salvaging process. The use-case of each piece is centered around a design idea each student brainstorms. The goal of the salvage assembly is to create a product that generates value from the “waste” collected. The brainstorming process is carried out through the project with workshops included on how the creativity process can be learned. 

The end product of this project is a guide beginning with an overview on the lifecycle of use for the selected device followed by the weaknesses of circular design that cause the product to become waste. After outlining the weaknesses, the students set up weak points to correct with their pitches for re-design that would improve the circularity of the device. The conclusion of designing out waste allows for a switch to designing with waste as the students present on their experience in disassembly of their device with a teardown analysis (difficulty, tools needed, time, etc.). The disassembly highlights the components, use of each component, and their proposed assembly using salvaged materials. The project can be taken further with students creating a prototype of their salvage assembly. In this scope students were only tasked with creating an assembly proposal. The design was then accompanied with the value generation of the process in order to demonstrate the “why” for their work.The project slides should then be presented by each student to share their findings with the class.

This project can be adapted to any waste stream with slight modifications. The below lessons begin with foundation courses on waste, waste design, circular design, and recycling state of electronics. Then the workshop section with activities on creativity, 3D design, electronic disassembly, graphic design, and 3D printing. Please reach out if you have any questions. 

1 kilogram of electronic waste contains more gold than a kilogram of gold ore. There is value in waste so don’t waste it!

Class Tips:

I began each class with an attendance form that asked a fun question to lighten things up at the beginning of class. The results from the previous week are shown at the start of each class. This develops a routine with the students that increases participation.

After attendance I present a sustainability spotlight talking about an example of sustainable design in any capacity. This helps show the application of sustainability, or lack of, in various industries.

I then end each class with a quote and recommendation for media that I think pairs well with the day's course material.

This course was taught by Zack Landsman at the University of Virginia in Fall 2022 and Fall 2023. Please reach out if you have any questions or comments. Zack is open to teaching the course at other universities, virtually, and privately.

Supplies

Materials

1. Discarded electronics to take apart
2. Disassembly tools:
3. Safety glasses
4. Non-latex gloves
5. Screwdriver for electronics (need specific drill bits)
6. Flat head screwdrivers
7. Pliers
8. Bags for parts 
9. Trays/Magnets to collect screws
10. Masks
11. Hammer
12. Accompanying Course Materials
13. Overview Presentation
14. Lessons Slides (1-14)
15. https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1vh9Ss_VjtNKwQCUCQdA5E3C7rqzrs_jX?usp=sharing
16. PDFs are included but some animations are lost in this conversion
17. Project outline
18. Example presentations
19. 3D Printing Workshop Files and Drawings
20. 3D Design Tutorial
21. Miro (free online collaborative whiteboard)
22. Canva (free design site)

Step 1: Foundation Courses

Initially students will be introduced to how waste is designed and not innate. The fundamentals of sustainable design will be discussed as well as the fundamentals of wasteful design, in hardware, software, and systematic elements. Transitioning from designing out waste to designing with waste, students learn about what happens to electronic waste when it is recycled, donated, and discarded.

Step 2: Workshop Activities

After developing an understanding and toolkit for sustainable design, students will work with electronic waste of their selection to understand the workings of our devices as well as the appearance of waste in physical design. In order to fix these issues, students will engage in workshops to learn creativity as a process (not an innate skill), basics of 3D modeling, electronic disassembly, part identification, and graphic design for effective presentation support.

Ending the semester, students can present their final project to the class.

Please let me know how this goes if you try it!