Power electronic converters (PECs) are critical enablers of the energy transition, supporting renewable integration, electrified transport, and smart grids. Their advantages, energy efficiency, precise control, and reliability, come at the cost of resource consumption, environmental impacts, and increasing electronic waste (e-waste). PECs contain hazardous substances such as lead and mercury, and their dense, multi-material architectures hinder dismantling and recovery, leading to significant losses of valuable metals and critical raw materials. Eco-design has been recognised as an essential instrument for sustainable life cycle management, as emphasised by the EU Sustainable Products Initiative. This study presents an integrated circularity assessment of industrial PECs used in residential elevators. The methodology combined full manual disassembly and desoldering with the calculation of four complementary circularity indicators: the Product Circularity Index (PCI), the assessment of a product’s ability to be repaired (AR), and the Recyclability and Recoverability Rates (Rcyc and Rcov). Over 78 steps, 60 fasteners, and more than 1,500 electronic parts were required in the disassembly and desoldering processes, reflecting the converter’s compact and complex architecture. Results showed limited circularity performance (PCI = 0.20; Rcyc and Rcov = 0.17; AR = 0.66), reflecting strong reliance on virgin resources, low end-of-life strategies, and moderate reparability. By linking empirical teardown data with metric-based evaluation, the study identifies key design bottlenecks, fastening strategies, material heterogeneity, and high electronic density, that compromise disassembly, repair, recycling and recovery. To address these challenges, we propose three main areas of action to reorient PEC design under a life cycle engineering perspective. Aligning these measures with regulatory initiatives such as the Ecodesign for Sustainable Products Regulation (ESPR) will be essential to enhance the circularity of PECs and support the transition towards sustainable power electronics.
Azúa et al. (Thu,) studied this question.