Recyclability an emerging criterion in IoT projects

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Not easy to produce recyclable connected objects. But "large groups like Schneider Electric and Somfy have set targets to achieve a carbon balance by 2025. The recyclability of the Iot fits into these objectives,' explains Yanis Cottard, president of the manufacturer Altyor, who, like Lacroix Group, is working on the recyclability of its Iot projects. Carole Bonnafous, director of the smart data & Iot BU in the Spie group, integrator of solutions in the fields of energy and communications: "The recyclability of the sensors will become an unavoidable criterion even if it is not yet an operational reality for companies".

Beyond the CSR approach, the legislation on the end of single-use plastic by 2040 will also encourage companies to take an interest in the recyclable nature of their devices. Customers will have to pay more attention to processes," says Edouard Clément, Regional Delegate at Plastiouest, a group of plastics and composite companies. Companies have cost imperatives. Recyclable solutions will only be industrialized when they generate an ROI for their user", however, warns Christophe Fourtet, scientific director at the French Iot operator Sigfox, which develops the concept primarily for disposable connected objects.

"It is essential that the products are removable"

The first step in ensuring the recyclability of connected objects lies in the choice of components. " They generally combine plastic, silicon, aluminum and electronic components, explains Fourtet. However, to ensure their recyclability, it is important not to vary the materials in the same object." The manufacturer Altyor, which formalized its Design for tomorrow approach in mid-April, uses Siliconexpert software to control the choice of electronic components according to responsible criteria. Pierre Garner, CEO of Elium Studio, who has worked on the design of ten products, advocates the use of plastic. This material has certain technical advantages, especially for performing complex injections, and it is preferable to steel for example in the complete study of the life cycle of the products. ' The plastics industry also has an operational recycling sector.

The battery, the first subject of companies.

Manufacturing, the second pillar of the recyclability approach, must be thought of beforehand: "It is essential that the products are removable, says Pierre Garner, at Elium Studio. We no longer put glue, varnish and paint on our connected objects." It is on this principle that Altyor designed two years ago its Clic-me action button, available with the Sigfox and Lorawan networks. This fully removable button has no screws. A first example for Altyor, which manufactured one million connected objects in 2019 – Iot represents 50% of the group’s turnover (32 million euros in 2019). Eventually, all of its products will be designed to promote their recyclability from conception. Their remote updating is also planned to extend their service life. 

For Objenious, Bouygues Telecom’s Iot brand, Iot also has the advantage of using low-energy, low-speed networks. The LPWAN networks have been designed to meet a need for frugality that is part of the green approach," says Christophe Fourtet at Sigfox. His team focuses on this subject of recyclability and Sigfox works with partners to develop autonomous objects in energy. Because the battery is the main stumbling block for businesses. At Objenious, batteries are a way of providing customers with devices with the least environmental impact. Our customers want batteries to certify the life of their objects and this is the most affordable solution. We then recommend standard batteries that are easily found," says Pierre Garner, at Elium Studio.

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Altyor, for its part, promotes energy harvesting, which makes it possible to recover the ambient energy to power the sensors. More and more companies are embracing these solutions and we have three upcoming energy harvesting deployment projects," says Bastien Spinella, mechanical engineer in charge of the Design for tomorrow approach at Altyor. Spie company confirms its claims. In particular, she created a chair on Iot in 2016 with the INSA school in Lyon to work on this topic: "Energy is the first topic we are working on, before looking at recyclability", says Corinne Figuereo, Director of Innovation and Transformation at Spie France. For Bastien Spinella, managing the electronics of objects is the next step of the Design for tomorrow programme.
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