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Scientists Develop Biodegradable E-Textiles

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09 Jan, 2025

This post was originally published on Eco Watch

In a new study, scientists from University of Southampton, University of the West of England Bristol, University of Exeter, University of Cambridge, University of Leeds and University of Bath have developed a way to make smart, electronic textiles that are also sustainable and biodegradable. 

The researchers have created ‘Smart, Wearable, and Eco-friendly Electronic Textiles’ (SWEET), technological fabrics with features like sensors or lights that are designed to biodegrade after they reach the end of their lifespan.

“Integrating electrical components into conventional textiles complicates the recycling of the material because it often contains metals, such as silver, that don’t easily biodegrade,” explained Nazmul Karim, lead author of the study and a professor at the Winchester School of Art at University of Southampton. “Our potential ecofriendly approach for selecting sustainable materials and manufacturing overcomes this, enabling the fabric to decompose when it is disposed of.”

To make a biodegradable e-textile, the researchers created a three-layer fabric with a Tencel-fabric base, an interface layer, and the sensor layer. The Tencel is a wood pulp-based fabric, and the team used graphene and a type of conductive polymer known as PEDOT:PSS for the electronic elements. 

From there, they were able to use inkjet printing to adhere these materials to the fabric, as this process used less water and energy and produced no material waste, according to the researchers.

The researchers tested the fabric by attaching it to gloves, which five humans wore in the study. The fabric was able to effectively measure the humans’ electrocardiogram (ECG) signals and skin temperature, just like many smart wearables on the market today.

Gloves with swatches of e-textile attached inside and wired for sensing testing. Marzia Dulal

“Achieving reliable, industry-standard monitoring with eco-friendly materials is a significant milestone. It demonstrates that sustainability doesn’t have to come at the cost of functionality, especially in critical applications like healthcare,” Shaila Afroj, a co-author of the study and associate professor of sustainable materials at the University of Exeter, said in a statement.

After testing how the fabric performed in tracking human physiology metrics, the team put SWEET to its bigger test — whether it was biodegradable. The fabric was buried in soil with a 6.5 to 6.8 pH in an incubator with a temperature of around 29 degrees Celsius (84 degrees Fahrenheit) and a relative humidity of around 90%.

After a four-month period, the fabric had a 48% decrease in weight and 98% decrease in strength. The graphene elements also revealed a 40 times smaller impact upon decomposition compared to standard electrodes in wearables. The researchers published their findings in the journal Energy and Environmental Materials.

According to Statista, smart wearable shipments were expected to reach 543 million units worldwide in 2024, and this number is only expected to grow, reaching an estimated 612.5 million units by 2028.

Further, a report by ResearchAndMarkets.com has estimated that the global smart textiles market will increase from $4.85 billion as of 2024 to $29.1 billion by 2033.

With this increasing demand comes the risk of increasing e-waste, or electronic waste. As Earth.org reported, humans currently generate about 50 million to 60 million tons of e-waste per year, and much of this waste does not break down into the soil. Instead, the materials can corrode or react to UV rays and leach harmful substances into the environment. According to the United Nations Institute for Training and Research, e-waste is slated to increase 32% by 2030. 

With the growing demand for smart, wearable technology, advancements such as biodegradable electronic textiles will be necessary to meet demand without contributing to more e-waste. The researchers noted that their study can help further additional research into more sustainable, and ultimately fully biodegradable or recyclable, e-textiles and other materials.

“Amid rising pollution from landfill sites, our study helps to address a lack of research in the area of biodegradation of e-textiles,” Karim said. “These materials will become increasingly more important in our lives, particularly in the area of healthcare, so it’s really important we consider how to make them more eco-friendly, both in their manufacturing and disposal.”

The post Scientists Develop Biodegradable E-Textiles appeared first on EcoWatch.

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Taking the electronic pulse of the circular economy

Taking the electronic pulse of the circular economy

In June, I had the privilege of attending the 2025 E-Waste World, Battery Recycling, Metal Recycling, and ITAD & Circular Electronics Conference & Expo events in Frankfurt, Germany.

Speaking in the ITAD & Circular Electronics track on a panel with global Circular Economy leaders from Foxway Group, ERI and HP, we explored the evolving role of IT asset disposition (ITAD) and opportunities in the circular electronics economy.

The event’s focus on advancing circular economy goals and reducing environmental impact delivered a series of insights and learnings. From this assembly of international expertise across 75+ countries, here are some points from the presentations that stood out for me:

1. Environmental impact of the digital economy

Digitalisation has a heavy material footprint in the production phase, and lifecycle thinking needs to guide every product decision. Consider that 81% of the energy a laptop uses in its lifetime is consumed during manufacture (1 tonne in manufacture is equal to 10,000 tonnes of CO2) and laptops are typically refreshed or replaced by companies every 3–4 years.

From 2018 to 2023, the average number of devices and connections per capita in the world increased by 50% (2.4 to 3.6). In North America (8.2 to 13.4) and Western Europe (5.6 to 9.4), this almost doubled. In 1960, only 10 periodic table elements were used to make phones. In 1990, 27 elements were used and now over 60 elements are used to build the smartphones that we have become so reliant on.

A key challenge is that low-carbon and digital technologies largely compete for the same minerals. Material resource extraction could increase 60% between 2020 and 2060, while demand for lithium, cobalt and graphite is expected to rise by 500% until 2050.

High growth in ICT demand and Internet requires more attention to the environmental footprint of the digital economy. Energy consumption of data centres is expected to more than double by 2026. The electronics industry accounts for over 4% of global GHG — and digitalisation-related waste is growing, with skewed impacts on developing countries.

E-waste is rising five times faster than recycling — 1 tonne of e-waste has a carbon footprint of 2 tonnes. Today’s solution? ‘Bury it or burn it.’ In terms of spent emissions, waste and the costs associated with end-of-life liabilities, PCBAs (printed circuit board assembly) cost us enormously — they generally achieve 3–5% recyclability (75% of CO2 in PCBAs is from components).

2. Regulating circularity in electronics

There is good momentum across jurisdictions in right-to-repair, design and labelling regulations; recycling targets; and voluntary frameworks on circularity and eco-design.

The EU is at the forefront. EU legislation is lifting the ICT aftermarket, providing new opportunities for IT asset disposition (ITAD) businesses. To get a sense, the global market for electronics recycling is estimated to grow from $37 billion to $108 billion (2022–2030). The value of refurbished electronics is estimated to increase from $85.9 billion to $262.2 billion (2022–2032). Strikingly, 40% of companies do not have a formal ITAD strategy in place.

Significantly, the EU is rethinking its Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment (WEEE) management targets, aligned with upcoming circularity and WEEE legislation, as part of efforts to foster the circular economy. A more robust and realistic circularity-driven approach to setting collection targets would better reflect various factors including long lifespans of electronic products and market fluctuations.

Australia and New Zealand lag the EU’s comprehensive e-waste mandated frameworks. The lack of a systematic approach results in environmental degradation and missed positioning opportunities for businesses in the circular economy. While Australia’s Senate inquiry into waste reduction and recycling recommended legislating a full circular economy framework — including for imported and local product design, financial incentives and regulatory enforcement, New Zealand remains the only OECD country without a national scheme to manage e-waste.

3. Extending product lifecycles

Along with data security and digital tools, reuse was a key theme in the ITAD & Circular Electronics track of the conference. The sustainable tech company that I lead, Greenbox, recognises that reuse is the simplest circular strategy. Devices that are still functional undergo refurbishment and are reintroduced into the market, reducing new production need and conserving valuable resources.

Conference presenters highlighted how repair over replacement is being legislated as a right in jurisdictions around the world. Resources are saved, costs are lowered, product life is extended, and people and organisations are empowered to support a greener future. It was pointed out that just 43% of countries have recycling policies, 17% of global waste is formally recycled, and less than 1% of global e-waste is formally repaired and reused.

Right to repair is a rising wave in the circular economy, and legislation is one way that civil society is pushing back on programmed obsolescence. Its global momentum continues at different speeds for different product categories — from the recent EU mandates to multiple US state bills (and some laws) through to repair and reuse steps in India, Canada, Australia and New Zealand.

The European Commission’s Joint Research Commission has done a scoping study to identify product groups under the Ecodesign framework that would be most relevant for implementing an EU-wide product reparability scoring system.

Attending this event with the entire electronic waste recycling supply chain — from peers and partners to suppliers and customers — underscored the importance of sharing best practices to address the environmental challenges that increased hardware proliferation and complex related issues are having on the world.

Ross Thompson is Group CEO of sustainability, data management and technology asset lifecycle management market leader Greenbox. With facilities in Brisbane, Sydney, Melbourne, Canberra, Auckland, Wellington and Christchurch, Greenbox Group provides customers all over the world a carbon-neutral supply chain for IT equipment to reduce their carbon footprint by actively managing their environmental, social and governance obligations.

Image credit: iStock.com/Mustafa Ovec

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