E6 PROJECT
A circular innovation project
The amount of waste from electrical and electronic equipment (EEE) continues to grow rapidly in Northwest Europe (NWE), especially as life cycles become shorter. A system change is needed.
The new EU regulations around this are a first step in the right direction, urging society to think differently, but the biggest challenge remains implementation: reuse, repair and refurbishment (HRR) must be put first for and by citizens. Regions and cities are close to citizens and their EEA and can play a strong role in promoting circular experiments in line with the new EU standards.
In this project we work out circular ecosystems in 6 NWE regions (Leuven, Aachen, Galway, Nièvre, Den Haag and Appeldoorn). This with the aim to increase the capacities of these regions for HRR of end-of-life EEE. E6 focuses on the infrastructure (physical and digital) to provide accessible HRR support to citizens. The project develops a joint strategy and action plan for creating multi-functional service and repair hubs with 6 types of tools (awareness, decision support, flow management, business models, data management, integration). Pilot projects will be set up in the 6 regions which, if successful, will be scaled up in NWE through knowledge exchange and policy actions.
The project will implement a joint training and knowledge exchange program between ecosystems and tools.
All partners within the project are: Saxion University of Applied Sciences (coordinator, Netherlands), ViTeS, Municipality of Appeldoorn (Netherlands), Maakbaar Leuven, Syndicat Mixte Ouvert Nièvre numérique (France), European Regions Network for the Application of Communications Technology (Ireland), Institut für Betriebsführung im deutschen Handwerksinstitut e.V. (Germany), Municipality of The Hague (Netherlands), Nevers Agglomération (France), Volkswirtschaftliches Institut für Mittelstand und Handwerk Universität Göttingen eV (Germany), The Gaeltacht Authority (Ireland), Circulus (Netherlands), Thomas More Mechelen - Antwerpen Vzw, Stadt Aachen (Germany), Phoenix Kringloop en Reïntegratie (Netherlands), Repair&Share vzw, Vlaams instituut voor technologisch onderzoek (VITO), Comhairle Ceantar na nOileán CTR (Ireland) and Aachener Stadtbetrieb (Germany).
What are ViTeS's ambitions within this project? Currently, we only repair and sell electronic devices that customers, companies or organizations donate to us. However, within this project we now also want to develop the activity “repair as a service” (in order to achieve even more reuse). For a fee, people/organizations can ask ViTeS to repair their broken electronic devices (while retaining ownership of the device). To make this service possible we will:
1. Start collecting parts even more conservatively.
2. Further develop knowledge and tools for repairing electronic devices. For example, developing repair manuals and collecting and using data to arrive at more knowledge about appliances and their possibilities for repair.
3. Participate in the development of digital tools for recovery of electronic devices. For example, internal tracking systems for devices and online support for potential customers.
4. Provide even more and more structured training to our employees. This concerns both our repair staff and employees in our reception points/shops (so that they can immediately make the correct diagnosis and appliances do not needlessly go back and forth between our stores and our repair workshop in Boortmerbeek).
Working with Makeable Leuven to develop a network of regional recovery and triage points. For this we will take on a large part of the logistics.
This project has been made possible with the support of Interreg and Flanders Circular.
