There is an urgent need for greener electronics, especially considering the statistic from EnABLES, an EU-funded project, that predicts around 78 million batteries from IoT devices will be discarded globally every day by 2025. In light of these facts, it is more crucial than ever to explore sustainable technologies.
The Importance of Sustainability in IoT
Internet of Things (IoT) devices, ranging from smart bandages to temperature sensors, offer revolutionary potential to tackle some of the world's most pressing challenges. However, as the EnABLES project underscores, the benefits of IoT will be severely curtailed if we do not radically improve the environmental impact of small electronics.
Anticipating the Impact of IoT Expansion
Expanding upon this concern, one can envision the dramatic escalation of electronic waste should each package in our increasingly digital and interconnected world be outfitted with IoT labels for functions such as tracking and temperature monitoring. The concept of incorporating up-to-date, real-time tracking and monitoring capabilities into each package is appealing, particularly for sensitive or high-value goods. However, without sustainable power solutions, this innovation could lead to the disposal of billions of additional batteries each year.
The need to create more sustainable electronics is not just about upgrading our current gadgets and industrial IoT devices; it extends to every potential corner of our modern world, including something as commonplace as package delivery. This scenario further highlights why we truly cannot afford to ignore the call for eco-friendly electronics and sustainable power technologies.
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Mattias Josephson, CSO