Hostname: page-component-8448b6f56d-tj2md Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-04-24T12:00:17.693Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

The use of decision support tools to accelerate the development of circular economic business models for hard disk drives and rare-earth magnets

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  12 August 2020

Kali Frost Open the ORCID record for Kali Frost [Opens in a new window] ,
Hongyue Jin ,
William Olson ,
Mark Schaffer ,
Gary Spencer  and
Carol Handwerker
Kali Frost
Affiliation:
Environmental and Ecological Engineering, Purdue University, 500 Central Drive, West Lafayette, IN47907, USA
Hongyue Jin
Affiliation:
Department of Systems & Industrial Engineering, University of Arizona, 1127 East James E. Rogers Way, Tucson, AZ85721, USA
William Olson
Affiliation:
ASM International, 3440 E University Drive, Phoenix, AZ85034, USA
Mark Schaffer
Affiliation:
International Electronics Manufacturing Initiative (iNEMI), 3000 RDU Center Drive, Suite 220, Morrisville, NC27560, USA
Gary Spencer
Affiliation:
Geodis Reverse Logistics, 1701 North St, Endicott, NY13760, USA
Carol Handwerker*
Affiliation:
Environmental and Ecological Engineering, Purdue University, 500 Central Drive, West Lafayette, IN47907, USA School of Materials Engineering, Purdue University, 701 West Stadium Avenue, West Lafayette, IN47907, USA
*
Address all correspondence to Carol Handwerker at carolh@purdue.edu
Get access

Abstract

A case study of hard disk drives (HDDs) and rare-earth magnets is presented to show the use of decision support tools to identify and assess the barriers and opportunities for circular business models. Pilot demonstration projects, which showcased HDD circular recovery strategies, were useful as a low-risk opportunity for business model experimentation and to build trust among key supply chain actors.

A case study of hard disk drives and rare-earth magnets is presented to show the use of decision support tools (DSTs) to assess the complex interaction of variables that must be considered when demonstrating the viability of circular business models (CBMs). A mix of quantitative and qualitative DSTs such as life cycle assessment, techno-economic assessment, Ostrom's Framework for social-ecological systems, decision trees, and others were implemented by the iNEMI Value Recovery Project team to overcome many of the identified barriers to circular economy. The DSTs were used to guide stakeholder coordination, create and share environmental, logistical and financial data, and generate decision-making flowcharts which promote circular economic strategies. Demonstration projects were used as a low-risk opportunity for business model experimentation and to build trust among key supply chain actors. The tools highlighted by this case study could be useful for establishing or expanding CBMs for other electronic products or components, especially components containing critical materials.

Keywords

circular economycritical materialsrare-earthsrecoveryreuserecyclingsustainabilitysupply chainlife cycle assessment
Type
Perspective
Information
MRS Energy & Sustainability , Volume 7 , 2020 , E22
Check for updates
Copyright
Copyright © Materials Research Society 2020

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

PwC: Make it your business: Engaging with the Sustainable Development Goals, 2015. Available at: https://www.pwc.com/gx/en/sustainability/SDG/SDG%20Research_FINAL.pdf.Google Scholar
Material Economics: The Circular Economy: A Powerful Force for Climate Mitigation (Stockholm, Sweden, 2018). Available at: https://media.sitra.fi/2018/06/12132041/the-circular-economy-a-powerful-force-for-climate-mitigation.pdf.Google Scholar
Ellen MacArthur Foundation: Towards the Circular Economy: Economic and Business Rationale for an Accelerated Transition, Vol. 1 (2013). Available at: https://www.ellenmacarthurfoundation.org/assets/downloads/publications/Ellen-MacArthur-Foundation-Towards-the-Circular-Economy-vol.1.pdf.Google Scholar
Ludeke-Freund, F., Gold, S., and Bocken, N.M.P.: A review and typology of circular economic business model patterns. J. Ind. Ecol. 23, 36–61 (2018). doi:10.1111/jiec.12763.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
International Electronics Manufacturing Initiative: Value recovery from used electronics, Phase 2. Available at: https://community.inemi.org/value_recovery_2 (accessed January 5, 2020).Google Scholar
Handwerker, C.A., Olson, W., and Rifer, W.: Value Recovery from Used Electronics. iNEMI Final Project Report – Phase 1, February 2017. Available at: https://community.inemi.org/value_recovery.Google Scholar
Guldmann, E., Bocken, N.M., and Brezet, H.: A design thinking framework for circular business model innovation. J. Bus. Models 7, 39–70 (2019). doi:10.5278/ojs.jbm.v7i1.2122,Google Scholar
Handwerker, C.A. and Olson, W.: Value Recovery from Used Electronics Project. iNEMI Final Project Report Phase 2, August 2019. Available at: https://www.inemi.org/value-recovery-2-final-reportGoogle Scholar
University of Cambridge Institute for Manufacturing: Decision support tools: Overview. Available at: https://www.ifm.eng.cam.ac.uk/research/dstools/ (accessed October 20, 2019).Google Scholar
Huysegoms, L. and Cappuyns, V.: Critical review of decision support tools for sustainability assessment of site remediation options. J. Environ. Manage. 196, 278–296 (2017). doi:10.1016/j.jenvman.2017.03.002.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Bocken, N., Strupeit, L., Whalen, K., and Nußholz, J.: A review and evaluation of circular business model innovation tools. Sustainability 11, 2210 (2019). doi:10.3390/su11082210.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Bocken, N.M., Miller, K., Weissbrod, I.K., Holgado, M., and Evans, S.: Business model experimentation for circularity: Driving sustainability in a large international clothing retailer. Econ. Policy Energy Environ. (EPEE). Special Issue on Circular Economy (2017). doi:10.3280/EFE2017-001006.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Ritzén, S. and Sandström, G.Ö.: Barriers to the circular economy–integration of perspectives and domains. Procedia CIRP 64, 7–12 (2017).CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Kirchherr, J.W., Hekkert, M.P., Bour, R., Huijbrechtse-Truijens, A., Kostense-Smit, E., and Muller, J.: Breaking the barriers to the circular economy (2017). Available at: https://www.uu.nl/en/files/breaking-the-barriers-to-the-circular-economy-white-paperwebpdf.Google Scholar
Rizos, V., Behrens, A., Kafyeke, T., Hirschnitz-Garbers, M., and Ioannou, A.: The circular economy: Barriers and opportunities for SMEs. CEPS Working Documents, September 2015. Available at: https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=2664489.Google Scholar
Galvão, G.D.A., de Nadae, J., Clemente, D.H., Chinen, G., and de Carvalho, M.M.: Circular economy: Overview of barriers. Procedia CIRP 73, 79–85 (2018). doi:10.1016/j.procir.2018.04.011.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Tura, N., Hanski, J., Ahola, T., Ståhle, M., Piiparinen, S., and Valkokari, P.: Unlocking circular business: A framework of barriers and drivers. J. Clean. Prod. 212, 90–98 (2019).CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Shehabi, A., Smith, S., Sartor, D., Brown, R., Herrlin, M., Koomey, J., Masanet, E., Horner, N., Azevedo, I., and Lintner, W.: United states data center energy usage report, June 1, 2016. Lawrence Berkeley National Lab (LBNL), Berkeley, CA, USA. Available at: https://www.osti.gov/servlets/purl/1372902.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Nguyen, R.T., Diaz, L.A., Imholte, D.D., and Lister, T.E.: Economic assessment for recycling critical metals from hard disk drives using a comprehensive recovery process. JOM (2017). doi:10.1007/s11837-017-2399-2.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Reinsel, D., Gantz, J., and Rydning, J.: Data Age 2025: The Digitization of the World From Edge to Core. IDC White Paper, November 2018. Available at: https://www.seagate.com/files/www-content/our-story/trends/files/idc-seagate-dataage-whitepaper.pdf.Google Scholar
Bauer, R.: HDD vs SSD: What Does the Future for Storage Hold? — Part 2. Backblaze, March 13, 2018. Available at: https://www.backblaze.com/blog/hdd-vs-ssd-in-data-centers/.Google Scholar
Binnemans, K., Jones, P.T., Blanpain, B., Van Gerven, T., Yang, Y., Walton, A., and Buchert, M.: Recycling of rare earths: A critical review. J. Clean. Prod. 51, 1–22 (2013). doi:10.1016/j.jclepro.2012.12.037CrossRefGoogle Scholar
US Geological Survey: Mineral Commodity Summaries: Rare Earths, February 2019. Available at: https://prd-wret.s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/assets/palladium/production/atoms/files/mcs-2019-raree.pdf.Google Scholar
Sabbaghi, M., Cade, W., Olson, W., and Behdad, S.: The global flow of hard disk drives: Quantifying the concept of value leakage in e-waste recovery systems. J. Ind. Ecol. 23, 560–573 (2018). doi:10.1111/jiec.12765.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Ellen MacArthur Foundation: Circular Economy System Diagram. Available at: https://www.ellenmacarthurfoundation.org/circular-economy/concept/infographic (accessed October 22, 2018).Google Scholar
Zakotnik, M., Afiuny, P., Dunn, S., and Tudor, C.O.: U.S. Patent No. 9,067,284. Washington, DC: U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (2015).Google Scholar
Zakotnik, M. and Tudor, C.O.: Commercial-scale recycling of NdFeB-type magnets with grain boundary modification yields products with “designer properties” that exceed those of starting materials. Waste Manage. 44, 48–54 (2015). doi:10.1016/j.wasman.2015.07.041.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Prodius, D., Gandha, K., Mudring, A.V., and Nlebedim, I.C.: Sustainable urban mining of critical elements from magnet and electronic wastes. ACS Sustain. Chem. Eng. 8, 1455–1463 (2020). doi:10.1021/acssuschemeng.9b05741.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Handwerker, C. and Olson, W.: Creating a Circular Economy for Hard Disk Drives – A Shared Vision (October 31, 2018). End-of-Project Webinar. Available at: https://community.inemi.org/value_recovery_2.Google Scholar
Ostrom, E.: A general framework for analyzing sustainability of social-ecological systems. Science 325, 419 (2009).CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
McGinnis, M.D. and Ostrom, E.: Social-ecological system framework: Initial changes and continuing challenges. Ecol. Soc. 19, 30 (2014). doi:10.5751/ES-06387-190230.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Ostrom, E.: Background on the institutional analysis and development framework. Policy Stud. J. 39, 7–24 (2011). Available at: https://pdfs.semanticscholar.org/cbcf/cf29ff30d31bc477bbf3f219a6c2037f7eb8.pdf.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Handwerker, C., Olson, W., Spencer, G., Schaffer, M., and Frost, K.: Application of the Ostrom framework to support a circular economy for used electronics. In Proceedings of CARE Innovation, Vienna, Austria, 2018.Google Scholar
Asif, F.M., Rashid, A., Bianchi, C., and Nicolescu, C.M.: System dynamics models for decision making in product multiple lifecycles. Resour. Conserv. Recycl. 101, 20–33 (2015).CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Asif, F.M., Lieder, M., and Rashid, A.: Multi-method simulation based tool to evaluate economic and environmental performance of circular product systems. J. Clean. Prod. 139, 1261–1281 (2016).CrossRefGoogle Scholar
ISO 14040: Environmental Management—Life Cycle Assessment—Principles and Framework (Geneva, Switzerland, 2006).Google Scholar
Jin, H., Frost, K., Sousa, I., Ghaderi, H., Bevan, A., Zakotnik, M., and Handwerker, C.: Life cycle assessment of emerging technologies on value recovery from hard disk drives. Resour. Conserv. Recycl. 157, 104781 (2020). doi:10.1016/j.resconrec.2020.104781.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Rigamonti, L., Falbo, A., Zampori, L., and Sala, S.: Supporting a transition towards sustainable circular economy: Sensitivity analysis for the interpretation of LCA for the recovery of electric and electronic waste. Int. J. Life Cycle Assess. 22, 1278–1287 (2017). doi:10.1007/s11367-016-1231-5.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Angouria-Tsorochidou, E., Cimpan, C., and Parajuly, K.: Optimized collection of EoL electronic products for circular economy: A techno-economic assessment. Procedia CIRP 69, 986–991 (2018).CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Diaz, L.A. and Lister, T.: Economic evaluation of an electrochemical process for the recovery of metals from electronic waste. Waste Manage. 74 (2017). doi:10.1016/j.wasman.2017.11.050.Google ScholarPubMed
Lacovidou, E., Busch, J., Hahladakis, J., Baxter, H., Ng, K., and Herbert, B.: A parameter selection framework for sustainability assessment. Sustainability 9, 1497 (2017).CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Ziout, A., Azab, A., and Atwan, M.: A holistic approach for decision on selection of end-of-life products recovery options. J. Clean. Prod. 65, 497–516 (2014). doi:10.1016/j.jclepro.2013.10.001.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
NSF International: NSF/ANSI 426-2019 Environmental Leadership and Corporate Social Responsibility Assessment of Servers. NSF International, December 2019. Available at: https://greenelectronicscouncil.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/01/NSF-426-2019.pdf.Google Scholar
International Electronics Manufacturing Initiative: Non-physical data destruction for enterprise storage. Available at: https://community.inemi.org/non_physical_data_destruct (accessed May 1, 2020).Google Scholar
Toyota: Toyota develops new magnet for electric motors aiming to reduce use of critical rare-earth element by up to 50%, February 20, 2018. Available at: https://global.toyota/en/newsroom/corporate/21139684.html (accessed May 6, 2020).Google Scholar
Department of Energy.: Electric Motors Research and Development DOE alternatives. Available at: https://www.energy.gov/eere/vehicles/electric-motors-research-and-development (accessed May 5, 2020).Google Scholar
Yano, J., Muroi, T., and Sakai, S.I.: Rare earth element recovery potentials from end-of-life hybrid electric vehicle components in 2010–2030. J. Mater. Cycles Waste Manage. 18, 655–664 (2016).CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Ballinger, B., Schmeda-Lopez, D., Kefford, B., Parkinson, B., Stringer, M., Greig, C., and Smart, S.: The vulnerability of electric-vehicle and wind-turbine supply chains to the supply of rare-earth elements in a 2-degree scenario. Sustain. Prod. Consump. 22, 68–76 (2020).CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Pavel, C.C., Thiel, C., Degreif, S., Blagoeva, D., Buchert, M., Schüler, D., and E., Tzimas: Role of substitution in mitigating the supply pressure of rare earths in electric road transport applications. Sustain. Mater. Technol. 12, 62–72 (2017). doi:10.1016/j.susmat.2017.01.003.Google Scholar
Ellen MacArthur Foundation and Ansys/Granta: Material Circulatory Indicators: An Approach to Measuring Circularity, 2019. Available at: https://www.ellenmacarthurfoundation.org/assets/downloads/Circularity-Indicators-Methodology.pdf (accessed December 1, 2019).Google Scholar