260,000 tonnes of new electrical and electronic products are sold annually in Sweden. This consumption has large social and environmental consequences linked to the production of the products, how they are used, and what happens to them at the end of their product life cycle.
The KEEP project (Keep Electrical and Electronic Products in the circular system) is currently developing a traceability system to contribute to a better production and to prolong the life cycle of electrical and electronic products.
KEEP is a collaboration between Chalmers Industriteknik, BOID, Clas Ohlson, Dustin, El-Kretsen, Godsinlösen, GS1, Lenovo, the Swedish Society for Nature Conservation, Recipo, Scandigruppen, Sims Recycling Solutions, Stena, TCO Development and Techbuddy.
“These fourteen companies and organisations represent all of the various stages in the lifecycle of an electrical product. This is a unique opportunity to develop a traceability system, contributing to a circular economy from the birth of the product until the end of its life,” says Kristina Liljestrand, project manager.
The underlying idea is that every product will be marked and contain information about its origins, contents and how it has been produced. This information will, for example, help producers adjust their new production to more sustainable methods. Easily accessible information also helps buyers and consumers to choose products that are produced in a more sustainable way. At the same time, the market for used products can grow and a larger quantity of materials can be recycled with better quality. This is due to more efficient processes based on relevant information, the whole way from the production stage to recycling.
The solution is based on a cloud-based information sharing platform. The platform gathers information about the product from its various life cycle stages. It enables flexible and future-safe access to information for all parties and allows for future data analysis, for example with AI. The information will be visualised in a clever and accessible way in an app.
”A focus area for Clas Ohlson’s sustainability efforts is to develop the sustainability aspect in our product offer. Therefore, we are proud to be part of KEEP, and thus contribute to a more sustainable consumption of electrical products, both for the products that we sell and for the market in general,” says Ellinor Wickström, product compliance manager at Clas Ohlson.
The project will run until March 2021, and is financed by Vinnova as part of the 'Challenge-driven innovation’ programme.
For more information on KEEP, please contact:
Kristina Liljestrand, Chalmers Industriteknik
+46 709 524231, kristina.liljestrand@chalmersindustriteknik.se
For more information on Clas Ohlson, please contact:
Niklas Carlsson, Group Head of Communications
+46 247 44429, niklas.carlsson@clasohlson.se