Issue link: https://iconnect007.uberflip.com/i/1500520
22 SMT007 MAGAZINE I JUNE 2023 There are striking differences in recovery rates based on economics. How the iNEMI Tool Differs from Other Tools Other recycling metrics have fallen short by failing to include the critical economic realities of recycling. A product or material's potential to be recycled or repaired does not mean it is actually recycled or repaired. ere are strik- ing differences in recovery rates based on eco- nomics. is is driven primarily by: • Value of the recovered material: Can the material be recovered or sold? • Cost of liberation/separation: Can the materials be separated into clean streams? What does it take to liberate the materials (hazardous materials included)? Any metric that does not consider these economic realities cannot suppor t informed choices and enable improvement. e iNEMI tool is con- figured with a simplified spreadsheet-based interface and includes a product crite- ria summary in the overview worksheet (Figure 1). Each of the three main R&RM categories (material choice, ease of liberation, and available recovery tech- nology) has a separate input page. Results are summarized in the product criteria worksheet along with sparklines and percent-of-range scores for the three categories. e current tool is built using Microso Excel. It provides data connectivity and inter- facing throughout the workbook and allows for logical operations to check and provide feedback to the user depending on the ques- tion and other input within the worksheets. Additional updates are planned to focus on improvements to the regional recovery fac- tors with more relevant and timely economic data. e project's final report can be down- loaded 3 . product designers, recyclers, and refurbishers understand how their choices in design and materials affect the end-of-life performance of their products and identify ways to improve the final outcome. Aer evaluating existing recyclability and reusability tools, the R&RM team concluded that the industry had limited means of prac- tically assessing the circular economic value (recyclability, reusability, reparability and refurbish-ability) of ICT products. e team developed the iNEMI R&RM tool as an aid to both product designers and end-of-life pro- viders to provide visibility prior to a product being manufactured as to the impacts of mate- rial choices, product design choices, and the region(s) where a product would be recovered at end of life. Scoring Factors e R&RM tool incor- porates score factors that assign reasonable impact value to product design fea- tures along with the abil- it y to recover and return value back to the market. It includes: • A scoring system (qualitative/semi-quanti- tative) that assesses the economic feasibil- ity and physical practicality of separating and liberating materials from ICT prod- ucts (product-category specific) • A weighting factor that quantifies the qual- ity of the reused and recycled materials (exergy, cumulated energy demand, price, environmental impact) • A product end-of-life value score, pro- viding a three-tiered system that con- siders material choice, product design, and regional recovery factors (i.e., the net value of the design/material and the demand for the material in the regions where it will be recovered)