In your opinion, are cars that that include electronic components easier or harder to adapt to circular economy ideas than a regular older car?
If you think about the real electrical cars, for example, that have I mean a completely different concept like the batteries and the engine or the electrical engine. I think the batteries at the end of the day, there will be ways how to recycle them. The big batteries we will see in the next, let’s say, 5 to 10 years when they’re really on the market at the moment, it’s more difficult to recycle an electrical car than a Yeah. Ic or internal combustion engine car. That’s harder because you need to dismantle everything manually. I think in future there will be robots and then nobody knows how to recover the valuable materials at this very moment. But there are so many R&D projects going on. We also look into that. So let’s see. There will be a way, but it’s not there’s no standard way at the moment to recycle those. And of course, there’s standard ways for all the, I would say classical, regular cars. This is this exists, but they’re on the road for much longer. There will be a way for also the e-cars and the hybrid cars and all of that. Yeah.
Uh, what can the automotive industry do to promote a circular economy, in your opinion?
What’s the automotive industry actually at the moment does or what they can do? Yeah, I mean there are a lot of initiatives at the moment. What the automotive recycling industry is doing at this moment is looking for partners who can help them. What they can do is the easiest. I mean, that’s that’s really a dream. But if they could if they could all work on a common standard for charging technology, for example, or for battery technology, that would help a lot for the recyclers because then they know exactly how to design the processes. But it’s the same with the with the classical car or with the cars that we use today, the combustion engine powered ones. There’s also a lot of variances between the cars, but there are established recycling processes that can deal with it. I think if they can agree on a certain type of of of standardization in terms of battery, that would help a lot and this would help the recyclers. Yeah. And a lot faster and will boost it to the next level. This is what they can do and then of course work with the with the industry, with the recyclers would also help a lot. Yeah.
Uh, do you have concerns about privacy and personal data stored in car electronics or in electronics in general?
Good question. I think, you know, I’m using Google, Microsoft, linked, LinkedIn and so on. I’m not so much on social networks. But on the other hand, I mean, I’m not so worried about it because first of all, we can’t avoid it. Second, we give data for free to the companies and to the big, big tech. Every day you order something at Amazon, we check emails with Google or with Microsoft. We search on Google, we search with ChatGPT and so on. So I’m not really concerned because they honestly, I think they know either way.
Uh, does recycling and reusing mean different things to you?
I mean, reusing is well, the best way is I mean there are the three R’s. The best way is if you avoid it. I mean that is, that is of course the best if, if the waste doesn’t even even exist if you don’t create it. But reusing, yes, for me, reusing is if you have, for example, a used car and you reuse that. So just another person is using that car. Recycling, of course, is you really bring your car then to the to the car recycler and then the car has no use anymore. It will be shredded. That’s it. And the material will be brought back to life as good as possible. But yeah, that is a totally different meaning for me.
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?
Um, very concerned. Five was the five was the worst. Yeah. Then, um. Then it’s. Then it’s five because, I mean, I studied that, so I’ve seen quite a lot. And it’s not only it’s not only the solid waste we see, it’s also the water that is going to be polluted worldwide, etcetera, and the water shortages we will see over time. So yes, there are big concerns. The good thing is that the industry, I think everybody has seen that. And also it’s now a real topic, not only greenwashing, but it’s really a topic in the industry and everybody wants to be more carbon neutral and so on and so forth because the society wants it and that could be a big boost. So at the moment I’m concerned, but I know that humans always have solutions for everything and there will be a solution also for that. I’m 100% sure.
What, if any, actions do you take in your life to promote sustainability?
Well, first of all, I reduce to drive with my car. I save water, by the way. And what I really do, I yeah, You know, ten years ago, I didn’t really think about eating meat and how much it pollutes the planet. So to say. So now it’s only 1 or 2 times per week. And more or less just because I have a little son who needs that. So. So this is something I really do. And try also to avoid flying, take the take the trains and all of that. Not not, you know, not fly far away for holiday, go very nearby, something like that. So these these are the things that I do in my personal life. Yeah. And there will be more in the future. I’m also sure about that.
How much responsibility does each individual have to make lifestyle and consumer choices that help protect the environment, in your opinion?
I mean, we we have to there are too many people on that planet, I think, for the resources that we have. And everybody has to has to take its part. So, yes, there is a lot of responsibility that each individual has to do. I know that humans don’t work that way, so there must be also regulations, I think. But I guess it would be the best way if we don’t have like, like too hard or too big obstacles. So but everybody has to take it has to take his own part. And yes, that’s very important that each individual takes its own responsibility. And it’s super important, in my opinion.
Last question. Do you see the circular economy as a local or national or international issue?
Um, at the end of the day, it’s I don’t think it should be only local because we need the big solutions here. So in best case, it’s international. So also it would be great if it’s going to be a global thing. And again, if we can define some standards or agree on some standards, that would help a lot because then you don’t have very much single regulations and processes and so on. But you have one standard. I know it’s more or less a dream, but that would be the perfect scenario. So I would say it’s international or I would say it’s global even.
Okay. Thank you very much.