scope:

Realization of the circular economy requires incorporating elements in product design that support the reduction of material use, reuse, recycling and recovery of products, product parts, components and materials to circulate them in the value chain for as long as possible. This Recommendation contains a three-step methodology to identify an information and communication technology (ICT) good's circularity in three dimensions via three circularity aspects: first, the ICT good durability; second, the ICT good ability to be recycled, repaired, reused and upgraded; and third, the manufacturers ability to recycle, repair, reuse and upgrade the ICT good put into the market. The three aspects are then divided into indicators for circular product design. The circularity indicators are then assessed at four levels, both from how well circularity has been achieved, the margin of improvement, and the relevance and applicability of each indicator for the ICT good at hand. The margin of improvement (MI) score and relevance score are then combined and translated into a score for each indicator. The average of applicable indicators for each circularity aspect are calculated as the total circularity score for each circularity aspect.

This Recommendation is intended for the circularity assessment of a single product (like phones, computers, servers, chassis, boards, modules, etc.) at a time. Whereas circularity assessment of whole equipment systems - and of organizations' overall circularity performance based on e.g., shipped products per year - are out of scope of this Recommendation.