Unlocking collective action for a circular electronics industry
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Rapid innovation and cost reductions have made digital technology and electronic products more accessible than ever. But behind this convenience lies a pressing issue: an alarming surge in electronic waste production.
While many businesses and organizations are dedicated to addressing this challenge, the risk of overlap and misalignment looms large when individual projects operate in isolation.
Fragmentation hampers progress toward the collective goal of transforming the electronics industry into a circular economy. And the window of opportunity is closing fast, leaving little margin for inefficiencies.The solution is clear. We need coordination between initiatives to ensure everyone can contribute real value toward the industry transition. That’s where the Circular Electronics Partnership (CEP) comes in.
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CEP is a coordination partnership led by six of the most influential global organizations dedicated to driving business solutions for a more sustainable world. We unite leading companies focused on building a circular electronics industry.
Through a holistic approach, we connect the dots between existing initiatives, ensuring alignment and coherence across the industry.
We provide a platform where partners and private sector members can collaborate effectively to address collective challenges across the full value chain. Together, we plan, execute and scale projects that contribute to the larger goal of industry transformation.We are open to collaborate with all organizations actively engaged in the circular transformation of the electronics industry.
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CEP brings cohesion to its partners' initiatives for circular electronics through two strategic frameworks: The Circular Electronics System Map and the Circular Electronics Roadmap. These frameworks outline our vision for a circular electronics industry and the actionable steps needed to get there.
The Circular Electronics Roadmap identifies 40 actions along the product lifecycle. Through pre-competitive collaboration projects, we address these actions, removing obstacles and unlocking crucial enablers for industry-wide transformation.
Join us in collectively addressing the barriers to a circular economy for electronics by 2030. Together, we are shaping the future of the industry, raising the ambition for leadership in circularity. Explore more about CEP’s initiatives and join the circular transition.
How we got here
January 2019
In January 2019, the UN E-Waste Coalition (including ITU), with support from the World Economic Forum (WEF), Platform for Accelerating the Circular Economy (PACE) and the World Business Council for Sustainable Development (WBCSD), published "A New Circular Vision for Electronics: Time for a Global Reboot" Working together, these organizations soon discovered a multitude of existing initiatives for circular electronics involving NGOs and companies. This revealed a significant risk of overlapping or misaligned objectives and outcomes. Recognizing this fragmentation and the potential inefficiencies, the partners realized that collaboration was key to driving meaningful change. Therefore, ITU, WEF and WBCSD joined forces with the Responsible Business Alliance (RBA), Global Enabling Sustainability Initiative (GeSI) and the Global Electronics Council (GEC) to establish a credible coordination platform with complementary organizational expertise, laying the foundation for CEP.2020
At the beginning of 2020, the founding partners convened more than 80 individuals from over thirty of their respective member companies to align on a vision for a circular electronics industry by 2030 and co-develop a roadmap for how to achieve it. The outcome of this collaboration was the Circular Electronics Roadmap.March 2021
In March 2021, CEP was formally launched and started operating as an independent initiative, hosted by WBCSD.September 2022
In September 2022, CEP unveiled the Circular Electronics System Map, offering a unified framework for understanding 'circular electronics’.2024
The partnership released an updated version of the Circular Electronics Roadmap in 2024. This revision reflected the evolving landscape, reaffirming the Roadmap's clarity, accuracy and relevance in guiding the industry toward realizing the circular electronics vision.2030
Looking ahead to 2030, CEP aims to overcome the 40 industry-wide barriers identified in its Roadmap, facilitating the entire electronics value chain’s transition toward circularity.Our community
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Get involved
Join a global community of company front runners that are shaping the future of the circular electronics industry. Discuss challenges and solutions with peers and value chain partners in a pre-competitive space. Take an active role in influencing and implementing the strategic priorities for the industry on its path to a circular economy and drive progress on the Circular Electronics Roadmap.