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To support companies' efforts to reduce their carbon footprint, especially by reducing electricity consumption, a solution already tested in retail, office buildings, industry, warehouses, production units, or the public sector is proving effective: the digitalization of lighting systems.
Through remote-controlled sensors, programmed to turn lights on and off based on, for example, people's presence in the office or the level of natural light entering the room, energy consumption can be reduced by up to 40%. And, implicitly, costs too.
Such systems have been developed by Signify, a company spun off from Philips, dedicated primarily to the B2B segment.
Digital Passport
This is one of the circular economy solutions proposed by the company, along with the service tag. It's a QR code applied to luminaires, which allows the maintenance person to find all necessary information when something breaks.
Dan Ionescu, lighting design manager at Signify, explains how it works:
"We launch the service tag application, scan the code, and information about the luminaire's name, family, color temperature, and consumption appears. And, very interestingly for servicing and extending the device's life, which components we can change. So, where is the big help? After the warranty period, if we have a defect, there's no need to change the entire luminaire. We can change the defective components. We extend the life of the luminaire."
To extend the life of electronic devices first and foremost, but not exclusively, the new European Eco Design regulation was also developed. And one of its most important provisions refers to this "digital passport", which will eventually become mandatory for almost all products.
Luminița Roșca, general manager of the environmental consulting company Stratos, says that there was a directive on eco-design before, but it focused more on the energy label of the product. However, the regulation replacing this directive concentrates on a series of measures to make products last longer.
"We're talking about components no longer being encapsulated. Batteries, for example, should be changeable. Their lifespan should be extended as much as possible. The warranty, for example, for their lifespan, because ultimately it's not normal for a refrigerator to have a two-year warranty, like a vacuum cleaner.
This regulation also refers to spare parts, mandating their existence. And this sphere of mobility, product flexibility, so that parts are easily replaced. Meaning you no longer have a product that cannot be repaired."
Right to Repair
European consumers lose 12 billion euros annually because they replace broken products with new ones instead of repairing them. That's why, in addition to the Eco Design Regulation, a directive guaranteeing the "right to repair" has also been introduced. This is estimated to bring 4.8 billion euros to the EU in the form of economic growth and investments.
An important aspect here is how easily a product's parts can be disassembled so that only the broken ones can be replaced, instead of replacing the entire unit.
"For example, we don't use glue in our luminaires, precisely so they can be easily dismantled and disassembled without damaging the unit. There are electronic parts of the unit that can be replaced without removing the luminaire from where it's installed. You no longer send the entire unit to the landfill; you only recycle that electronic system," says Angelica Stan, Marketing and Communication Manager, Signify SEE (South East Europe).
Only 27% of electrical appliances are recycled in Romania, compared to the mandated 65%. Another solution for increasing the recycling rate is to expand the "product as a service" business model.
You can learn more about all these circular economy models, especially those focused on the Electrical and Electronic Equipment sector, in Episode 6 of the campaign "A Second Life. Circular Economy Models," initiated by the Sustainable Solutions Association, with the support of Stratos and Eco Synergy, aiming to inspire the business environment to transition from a linear to a circular business model as quickly and easily as possible.
Here you can watch Episode 1, about Waste: From Waste to Raw Material, Through Innovation
Here you can watch Episode 2, dedicated to Construction: Profit from Rubble
Here, Episode 3, dedicated to Packaging: Goodbye Single-Use Packaging
Here, Episode 4, dedicated to the Textile Industry: Better Designed Clothes, Less Discarded
And here, Episode 5, about Sustainable Agriculture: Hemp, a Strategic Crop
