Page 34 from: January / February 2014
34 January/February 2014
‘We can no longer afford to discard waste materials that represent valu-
able resources,’ according to José Ospina, a
freelance development consultant and project
manager at MicroPro Computers – an SME
based in the Irish capital Dublin. ‘As demand
for key resources such as metals and minerals
increases, competition for resources is growing.’
MicroPro is one of the project partners in
ZeroWIN (Towards Zero Waste in Industrial
Networks). The company is involved in one of
the nine industrial case studies that form the
core of the project; this so-called ‘practical
demonstrator’ targets sustainability problems
facing the electronics industry. ‘From con-
sumption of critical materials to large quanti-
ties of energy consumption in manufacture
through to low collection and recycling rates,
it is one of the most problematic industry
groups,’ Ospina explained at the recent Green
Electronics Event in Budapest, Hungary.
D4R product design
The objective of this demonstrator is for laptop
manufacturer MicroPro to form an industrial
network with end-of-life information technol-
ogy (IT) asset management firms, IT refurbish-
ers, component manufacturers and local indus-
tries to create a new design that can have the effect
of developing a new use for their waste and thus
turning wastes into resources. ‘This has been
made possible through a D4R product design,’
Ospina told the audience (D4R stands for design
for recycling, repair, refurbishment and reuse).
The prototype laptop created by MicroPro
makes extensive use of by-products from other
companies along the supply chain, including
reused components from existing computers
recovered by social economy enterprises. In
addition, the D4R laptop uses retooled plywood
from the automotive industry and recycled
industrial aluminium for the housing. It also
facilitates the use of reused parts and compo-
nents, including the LED screen, the hard drive,
the memory and the power supply.
‘To permit the incorporation of a variety of
reused components, MicroPro has developed
a unique “universal motherboard” that can fit
a wide range of recovered parts and compo-
nents,’ noted Ospina. ’The D4R laptop is
designed for reuse rather than disposal and
purchase of a new model.’
PV system concept
Reuse, recovery and recycling are also key to the
‘D4R Photovoltaic System’ practical demon-
strator, the driving force behind which is the
rapid growth of Europe’s photovoltaic (PV)
industry. ‘That means an important increase in
the associated impacts,’ stressed Pol Arranz
from Trama TecnoAmbiental (TTA).
Based in Barcelona, Spain, TTA is an interna-
tional consulting and engineering company that
specialises in distributed generation through
renewable energy sources, energy management
and efficiency. To design waste out of the PV
production process and optimise environmen-
tal, social and economic benefits, the firm devel-
oped a ‘complete PV system concept which
includes D4R criteria’, explained Arranz.
The two pilot installations boast multi-stake-
holder involvement: manufacturers of electrical
and electronic equipment, battery manufactur-
ers, PV manufacturers, designers, PV integra-
tors, recyclers and energy distributors. ‘One of
the ZeroWIN measures we have taken was a
selection of components with less environmen-
tal impact – for example, the use of off-spec PV
modules and of recycling materials,’ Arranz
elaborated. Recycled materials were therefore
used for part of the casing in some components.
Arranz stressed: ‘Of utmost importance to the
I N N O V A T I O N By Mareike Kuhn
Given the staggering volume of waste the EU-27
is generating every year, ‘zero waste’ would
appear to be a somewhat Utopian ideal. Yet
that is exactly the objective of a project
called ZeroWIN which seeks to prove
that today’s waste can become tomor-
row’s raw material through a number of
‘practical demonstrator’ case studies.
A second industrial revolution
MicroPro’s new laptop uses retooled plywood from the automotive
sector.
Cost-competitiveness is a big driver behind D4R cars.
RI-1-2014-Zero Win Project.indd 34 29-01-14 15:04
