In your opinion, are cars that include electronic components, You heard about it I think, are easier or harder to adapt to circular economy principles than regular cars.
I don’t think they need I don’t think it needs to be harder. I think that if businesses want to make an impact globally and move towards having a truly circular economy, then they just need to commit towards it. Yes, there is an increased capital cost up front, but longer term there is greater societal benefits and sustainable profitability than continuing to push towards a highly carbon intensive style of manufacturing that won’t last long term or that will have significant environmental consequences long term. Yeah.
What can the automotive industry do to promote circular economy, in your opinion?
Good question. I don’t have an immediate answer to that.
Do you believe that?
I think it’s I think it starts with the supply chain. I think consumers there’s a consumer education piece, but for the highest impact, it needs to start within the automotive manufacturing supply chain. Yeah.
Do you have concerns about the privacy and personal data stored in electronics in general?
Um, yes. I’m aware of my personal data and where it would be used. Um, and I think that needs to be a very secure and very strict legislative framework that protects people’s privacy. Yeah. And it needs to be, sorry, and it needs to be easier for consumers to opt in, opt out, delete their information. Many businesses use that data as a commercial asset, which it is. But equally, the consumer needs to be given clarity that their data is protected or they have the option because it’s still their personal information to to delete that information.
does recycling and reusing mean different things to you.
Yes, they do. So recycling is ensuring that. Different byproducts that you use, treated and disposed of in an environmentally considered way, or they’re taken away for then reuse and then re-adapted into new products. So they’re different concepts.
On a scale of 1 to 5, one means not at all concerned and five means extremely concerned. How concerned are you about issues of environmental waste and pollution?
Yeah, 4 to 5. (Why?) I mean, we live in a very materialistic, consumer driven world. It comes it’s come with significant advances in human development. And we live in the West and particularly in Europe, in a very comfortable society. I think we’re a little bit most people are a little bit more environmentally aware in Europe, but I think we are still having a massive impact on this planet and we are not taking action fast enough to drive change in this planet. Yeah.
What, if any, actions do you take in your life to promote sustainability?
So I cycle a bicycle. I don’t have a car. That’s the biggest impact that I have. I ensure, where possible to buy food products that are organic or I know the source of the product. I recycle and reuse things. During the pandemic, I set up a food recycling food redistribution service, so there was a lot of additional food waste during the pandemic from people that were overpurchasing. And I set up basically a donation system where people would donate any extra food and it would get re delivered or redistributed to people who were of need. Yeah. So I try and take steps. I’m not perfect. I do make mistakes, I admit that. But I think I’m I’m making an effort to help the planet and I think that needs to I need to go further and a lot of other people need to go further. Yeah.
One of last questions. How much responsibility does each individual have to make lifestyle and consumer choices that help protect their environment? What do you think?
I think people need to be very environmentally conscious no matter what they do. I don’t think any one decision can be. It’s hard to say whether any one decision can be more or less environmentally impactful. But I think if people spend more time in the outdoors going hiking, spending time at their local lake or their local nature reserve, you begin to appreciate the natural world that exists around us. And it begins to change your mindset in terms of, Oh, maybe I should have recycled that bottle, maybe I shouldn’t have thrown that plastic on the ground or whatever it may be, and helping to to protect the the environment for future generations. Yeah.
Do you see the circular economy as a local or national or international issue?
It’s an international issue, but it starts at a local level and builds up. It’s almost like a funnel. Yeah.
How could the circular economy work with regard to car production in general and electronic components in a car in particular? What do you think?
Much more consideration to re-use of materials, reusing byproduct or end of life product and finding ways to reincorporate those back into new designs and reuse technology? Yeah.