Driving circularity - An approach to identify potentials for circular design of automotive electronics

The amount of electronic waste worldwide is increasing every year and the often incorrect handling of it has a major impact on the ecosystem. As electronics are also gaining more share in the automotive sector, the industry has to find a suitable way of dealing with them at the vehicle's end-of-life stage. For this reason, this work introduces an approach consisting of the Physical Component Mapping (PCM) for the interface representation of automotive electronics, alongside the Eco-Sensitivity Framework (ESF) as guidance for circular automotive electronics design. A case study shows how the approach accompanies the product development process and supports identifying suitable strategies that are potentially possible or can be made available through design changes. This helps car makers and suppliers of vehicle electronics to accelerate their transition to a circular economy.