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Towards a Circular Economy : Recommendations for Circularity at UBC IT

University of British Columbia. Campus and Community Planning

The circular economy (CE) decouples resource extraction from economic growth by extending material lifespans through circular processes like reuse, repair, and refurbishment. UBC views the CE concept as a means to achieve its climate and zero-waste goals. Implementing circularity requires an understanding of baseline material flows. The project investigates the following questions: What data are (and are not) available to characterize the procurement, use, and disposal of IT equipment under UBC IT’s jurisdiction? What decisionmakers, processes, and procedures govern the procurement, use, and disposal of IT equipment under UBC IT’s jurisdiction? What are the opportunities to implement circular economy principles in IT equipment flows at UBC IT? What could prevent or enable UBC IT from taking these opportunities? SEEDS provided procurement and disposal data. Further, semi-structured interviews were conducted with UBC IT representatives to learn more about their IT asset management procedures and visions for circularity within UBC. The project thus characterizes the scale of UBC IT’s e-waste problem while developing recommendations for circularity that are grounded in their unique expertise and capacities. Disclaimer: “UBC SEEDS provides students with the opportunity to share the findings of their studies, as well as their opinions, conclusions and recommendations with the UBC community. The reader should bear in mind that this is a student project/report and is not an official document of UBC. Furthermore readers should bear in mind that these reports may not reflect the current status of activities at UBC. We urge you to contact the research persons mentioned in a report or the SEEDS Coordinator about the current status of the subject matter of a project/report.”

Report

eng

2024-05-07

Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International

http://hdl.handle.net/2429/88244

Unreviewed

http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/