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In supporting companies' efforts to reduce their carbon footprint, especially by reducing electricity consumption, there is a solution already tested in retail, office buildings, industry, warehouses, production units, or in the public domain, which is effective. Digitalization of lighting systems.
Through remotely controlled sensors, programmed to turn the lights on and off based on the presence of people in the office, for example, or the level of natural light entering the room, energy consumption can be reduced by up to 40%. And implicitly, costs as well.
Such systems have also been invented by Signify, a company spun off from Philips, dedicated especially to the B2B segment.
Digital Passport
It is one of the circular economy solutions proposed by the company, along with the service tag. A QR code applied to lighting fixtures, from which the person responsible for maintenance can find out everything they need when something breaks.
Dan Ionescu, lighting design project manager at Signify, explains how it works:
"We start the service tag app, scan the code, and information about the fixture's name, family, color temperature, and consumption appears. And very interesting for the servicing and extending the life of the device, what components we can change. And thus, where is the great help? After the warranty period, if we have a defect, there is no need to change the fixture. We can change the components that have failed. We extend the life of the fixture."
For extending the life of electronic devices primarily, but not only, the new European Eco Design regulation has also been developed. And one of the most important provisions refers to this "digital passport," which will eventually become mandatory for almost all products.
Luminița Roșca, general manager at the environmental consultancy company Stratos, says there was already a directive regarding eco design, but it focused more on the product's energy label. However, the regulation replacing this directive focuses on a series of measures to make products last longer.
"We are talking about components no longer being encapsulated. Batteries, to be replaceable. Their lifespan to be extended as much as possible. The warranty, for example, for the lifespan, because ultimately it is not natural for a refrigerator to have a two-year warranty, like a vacuum cleaner.
This regulation also refers to spare parts, to have spare parts, to be mandatory to have spare parts. And this sphere of mobility, product flexibility, so that parts can be easily replaced. Meaning not to have a product that cannot be repaired."
The Right to Repair
European consumers lose 12 billion euros a year 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 emerged, which is estimated to bring 4.8 billion euros in the EU, in the form of economic growth and investments.
An important aspect here is how easily the parts of a product can be disassembled, to replace only the broken ones, instead of replacing the entire unit.
"For example, we do not use glue in our fixtures, precisely to be easily disassembled and taken apart without damaging the fixture. There are electronic parts in the fixture that can be replaced without removing the fixture from where it is installed. You no longer send the entire fixture to the landfill, but recycle only 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 65%, which we are obliged to. Another solution to increase the recycling rate is the expansion of the "product as a service" business model.
You can learn more about all these circular economy models focused especially on the Electrical and Electronic Equipment sector in episode 6 of the campaign "A Second Life. Circular Economy Models," initiated by Asociația Soluții Sustenabile, with the support of Stratos and Eco Synergy, aiming to inspire the business environment to transition from a linear business model to a circular one, as quickly and easily as possible.
Here you can watch episode 1, about Waste: From Waste to Raw Material, through Innovation
Here you can see 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
