Big Green Week: Designing Electronics for a Greener Future

Thinking differently: from use-and-discard to reuse-by-design

Traditionally, electronics have been designed to deliver high performance at low cost. Sustainability has often been considered only at the end of a product’s life.

But that is changing.

Today, engineers are beginning to design electronics with their entire lifecycle in mind – not just how they are used, but how they can be repaired, reused, and eventually recovered.

This shift is part of a broader move towards a circular economy, where materials and products are kept in use for as long as possible, rather than being thrown away.

Designing in the digital world first

One of the key enablers of this change is digital modelling.

Instead of building multiple physical prototypes, engineers can now create detailed virtual versions of electronic systems. These digital models allow them to test how products perform, how heat flows, how components degrade, and even how easily systems can be dismantled at the end of life.

In programmes such as REACT, led by the University of Glasgow with partners including Compound Semiconductor Applications (CSA) Catapult, these tools are helping to design electronics that are more sustainable from the outset.

By reducing the need for repeated physical builds, digital modelling helps save time, reduce material waste, and improve decision-making early in the design process.

Building electronics that can be repaired and reused

Alongside digital design, researchers are rethinking the way electronics are physically built.

Take power electronics, for example. These systems are essential for electric vehicles, renewable energy, and modern infrastructure, but when they fail, they are often discarded entirely.

New approaches are exploring how to change this.

In collaboration with the University of Cambridge, researchers are developing new ways to design these systems so they can be more easily repaired and dismantled. One innovation involves using liquid metals inside devices, which can reduce stress and make components easier to separate at the end of their life.

There is also growing interest in modular designs, where systems are built in smaller sections so that individual parts can be replaced without discarding the whole product.

Together, these ideas help create electronics that are not only high-performing but also designed to last longer and be used again.

Why this matters

The impact of these changes goes far beyond engineering.

Electronic waste is one of the fastest growing waste streams globally, and many of the materials used in electronics, such as rare metals, are limited and difficult to source.

By designing products differently, we can:

• Reduce waste and environmental impact
• Recover valuable materials
• Extend the life of products
• Build more resilient and sustainable supply chains

This is essential if we are serious about achieving net zero and protecting our planet.

A greener future for electronics

The way we design technology is changing.

What was once a focus on performance alone is evolving into something more balanced, where performance, sustainability and responsibility go hand in hand.

The goal is simple:

To create electronics that are not just used once and discarded, but designed to last, to be repaired, and to come back into use again.

This Big Green Week, it’s worth remembering that sustainability is not just about what we recycle, but what we design in the first place.

Because the future of electronics will not only be defined by how powerful they are, but by how responsibly they are created.