Home > Circular economy > Digitalization and natural resources Digitalization and natural resources Great expectations are being set for digital solutions to reach climate targets, but their environmental impacts are not widely known. For example, the demand for critical raw materials used in smartphones and televisions, metals and minerals, is constantly increasing. Furthermore, the required metal alloys are difficult to recycle, and the devices have a shortlifespanThe circular economy and sustainability must be included throughout the value chain from the mining of metals and minerals to the material development, device design, marketing, use, and recycling. The life cycle of digital products is short © SYKE Infographs The life cycle of digital products is short (png) Products contain more metals (png) Accelerating consumption increases impacts (png) Sustainable design saves natural recourses (png) Digitalization and natural recourses (png) / (pdf) Read more Research: Recycling the metals and minerals of smartphones and televisions is difficult, design is key (Press release 2.11.2021, Geological Survey of Finland, VTT Technical Research Centre of Finland Ltd and the Finnish Environment Institute SYKE) Published 2021-11-12 at 16:18, updated 2021-11-17 at 14:57 Suomeksi In English Share: More about the topic CircBrief – Electronics and circular economy, 9/2021 (Issuu)