Uh, in your opinion, are cars that include electronic components easier or harder to adapt to circular economy principles than regular cars?
Well, that’s I think that’s a double edged question. Um, there are probably harder in the sense that they might contain components which, if used or sourced irresponsibly or not recycled or not kept in one way or another in, in a, in a, in kind of a close circle of, of, of of flow of resources then can be damaging as any electrical or plastic waste. But at the same time I see for example on my car which is a Tesla, um, how intelligent it is that the car is heavily based on relying on electronics and onboard electronics. It can be updated because of that through online updates. And thanks to that, the car has a much longer lifetime. Life cycle can be adapted. Much faster and does not need replacement. It has much better a much longer cycle of obsolescence than a car that wouldn’t have that. And therefore, in that sense, I think, yes, the electronics can really help in the future to to to to keep the vehicles further in the life cycle and to avoid them exiting the the circular economy. Yes.
What can the automotive industry do to promote circular economy?
Uh huh. Forget about profits first. Yeah. No, but really, they really realize that this is necessary. You know, it’s there are some companies in the past in the automotive that started doing that and they offered to other companies to join them. And they not many were interested, you know, and I think today that is changing. So so yeah, I think they need to they need to to avoid wishful thinking and realize that this is the way to go and that they are already late now to dedicate resources to that. So it’s not that it’s time to start thinking about it. It’s like even if you start thinking really fast now, you are already too late. So yeah, prioritize it. Yeah.
Um, do you have concerns about privacy and personal data stored in car electronics like GPS?
I would say it’s it’s necessary to regulate that as it is necessary to regulate anything that is dangerous or proprietary or confidential. Um, but, but I don’t think if it is not if it is regulated correctly and it and it is and it should be. And as I drive a Tesla, I know, for example, this brand has been several times, you know, solicited on this subject. Um, you know, if this is correctly regulated, I don’t think that it is more dangerous than anything else than having an email account, than having your phone on the table, than having anything else. So I think it’s once again, it’s a it’s a question of intelligent management and regulation. And then it should be it should be fine.
does recycling and reusing mean different things to you.
Yes, absolutely. Absolutely. Because recycling or upcycling or cycling or whatever, recycling would mean that, you know, the, the, the product or service or resource has finished one life cycle that it had. It gets probably broken down into smaller parts or something different and then maybe gets used in a different fashion or doesn’t get used at all but just gets melted down. Whatever we’re talking about when reusing is a whole other problem, because there what comes to my mind is obsolescence, planned obsolescence and us throwing out loads of things rather than repairing and reusing them. And I think probably reusing would be if I was a decision maker on that my personal priority. Because if we were reusing enough, we would probably not have to recycle anything, you know. So this is, I think really both are really important.
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?
Well, reasonably concerned. So I would imagine that would be a number four. I wouldn’t say extremely as in anxiously and panicked Lee and and only thinking about that concerned, but reasonably concerned both in a private and in a professional sense. (Why?) Because I think there’s probably nothing more important. Nothing bigger. No. In our existence than than than the planet that we are on and and the legacy that we leave to to to further generations. So I’m not I’m not saying I’ll jump into any, you know, fear mongering or panic generation about that now the planet is going to die immediately. I think the planet will do very well. Probably humans could do a little less well over time. But but yes, you know, it’s it’s probably the the most important thing there is. So it seems natural to me.
Um, what, if any, actions do you take in your life to promote the sustainability?
Well, once again, some are professional, some are personal. Um, I would say the same as, as we, as we just mentioned before, you know, all the actions that are available to a busy working person on an everyday basis who does want to act on that, but who also has to act on 56 million other things. So, you know, whether that be a waste management, controlling, purchasing, controlling the the use of the products, the obsolescence of the products that that we buy, checking out what kind of sources we obtain products or services from, whether that be food, whether that be products, electronics, vehicles. But yes there are. More that I could do.
How much responsibility does each individual, each person have to make lifestyle and consumer choices that help protect the environment?
I’m not going to be your best your best student here. I’m sorry, but I think we all have our individual responsibilities. Yeah, but then again, I see people having a clinical anxiety because they open the tap when they brush their teeth. And at the same time, there are industries like big food, like other industries where let’s not name name them specifically, but if you look at the top consumers of water, for example, on the planet by industry, then you will see that if you keep not brushing your teeth for 10 billion years, you will still not have changed a dent in the one day consumption or in whatever water is needed to make an avocado in Ecuador and then eat it in in Germany. So therefore, I think in the long term, without the the serious intervention of governments, however much responsibility the individuals can can force themselves into, it isn’t possible to to make actual progress.
Last question. Do you see the circular economy as a local or national or international issue?
All all. All three? Yeah. Local. Local. Yes. And definitely a matter of international law.
explain why.
Because the resources we are talking about and the consequences we’re talking about do not stop at national borders, I think. But then again, if we want to take action, you need to take a top down approach and probably, you know, break it down to the smallest local levels and what actors can do on that level. So I think we’re yeah, we’re all concerned.
Thank you very much. Thank you.
coded-