Summary

In order to facilitate a shift to a more sustainable economy, a circular economy (CE) has been proposed as one of the main ways forward. In this context, CE combined with information and telecommunication technologies (ICTs) could enable decoupling of economic growth and environmental impact [b-Ellen]. Due to a seemingly imprecise understanding of the topic of CE and its main aspect resource efficiency (RE), it will be necessary to summarize and then standardize the manner in which CE and RE are quantified.

Supplement 28 to ITU-T L-series Recommendations investigates current approaches, concepts and metrics of CE and RE and their applicability for ICT infrastructure goods.

This Supplement:

1)          introduces CE and RE,

2)          describes CE as used in the ICT industry,

3)          describes existing CE and RE metrics and examples of their use.

4)          proposes next steps in CE and RE standardization.

The scope of this Supplement includes the following aspects: upgradability, repairability, removability, durability, reusability, recyclability, recoverability, refurbishability and remanufactureability. The following additional parameters, indicators and metrics are included: recycled content, use of critical raw materials and proportion of re-used parts.