Executive Summary
The production of electronic waste is a significant challenge for Horizon Company because it increases its environmental impact. The same analogy is true for its high-energy demand because Horizon’s use of fossil fuel and electricity to power its organisational processes contribute to the depletion of the earth’s resources. This report suggests that Horizon should adopt three new technologies (active disassembly, closed-loop product lifecycle management and the circular economy) to reduce the company’s waste and increase its production efficiencies.
Recommendations are also made to recycle its waste to reduce its reliance on developing countries for raw materials. The recommendations published in this report stem from the need to explore innovative techniques to reduce Horizon’s energy demand and environmental impact from six key perspectives – circular systems, examples, energy, developing countries, materials and technology.
Introduction
This report investigates the energy consumption and waste management practices of Horizon, which is an electronics company. Its goal is to recommend ways that the company could minimise its environmental impact by reducing its energy consumption and minimising its waste volumes. The report is written from six perspectives – using circular systems to promote workplace efficiencies, reducing reliance on developing countries for raw materials, reduction in energy demand, the role of technology in reducing energy consumption and the need for illustrations to demonstrate how to improve organisational efficiencies.
Circular Systems
Horizon’s business model is currently hinged on three processes – taking, making and disposing of. This operating model accounts for its high-energy demand and huge volumes of waste. However, it could become more efficient by adopting a circular production system. According to van Buren et al. (2016), the circular system is a regenerative model, which minimises energy consumption and reduces waste production by closing energy and material loops in production. One benefit Horizon could get from adopting such a system is a decreased reliance on new materials and improved recycling capacity (Lacy & Rutqvist 2016).
According to the works of Watson et al. (2017) and Crocker et al. (2018), the support for a circular economy stems from the model’s ability to reduce waste. Horizon could benefit from this advantage because it encourages companies to re-evaluate how they sell, reuse, or recycle waste. Typically, the model helps companies to get maximum value from their waste. For example, a registered U.K. Charity Organisation known as WRAP (2018) used the model to decrease the volume of plastic waste generated by different California-based companies.
The technology also helped to change consumer behaviour by increasing the rate of recycling processes for waste plastic water bottles from a low of 5% in the year 2000 to a high of 48% in 2011 (WRAP 2018). Based on these insights, the circular system could lower Horizon’s environmental impact through a decreased need for raw materials and energy.
Reliance on Developing Countries
Horizon relies on developing countries as its main source of raw materials. The Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) and China are among its top source markets for raw materials. Some of these source markets are overstretched and characterised by conflict. Consequently, there is a high supply risk. To overcome these challenges, Horizon should integrate recycling as a key tenet of its procurement and supply chain processes.
In a report to assess the environmental impact of electronics, Cook and Jardim (2017) suggested that, if adopted, recycling should be integrated with a larger corporate strategy of consumer communication because customers should be encouraged to donate/sell any electronic device (for recycling) they may not use. Using this strategy, Horizon should recycle these parts and extract salvageable components for future use. This approach should reduce the company’s need to purchase new raw materials because an increase in the volume of recycled parts would cause a decline in purchase orders for new inputs. If this strategy is adopted, there will be a lower reliance on developing countries for raw materials.
Energy
The potential for Horizon to reduce its energy needs affects different aspects of the company’s processes. However, product design is a key area of energy efficiency that needs to be exploited. This outcome can best be achieved by making “life cycle thinking” ubiquitous to the operationalisation of the company’s production and assembly processes (Lacy & Rutqvist 2016). Different jurisdictions have unique laws that govern how companies should manufacture their products or dispose of waste. While such laws provide a general operational guideline for Horizon, they do not limit its creativity and innovation to develop new product designs for improved energy efficiency.
The process of maximising energy efficiencies for Horizon could be improved if the company seeks the services of a third-party electronic recycler. The United States Environmental Protection Agency (2018) supports this proposal by saying that the work of a third party recycler would be to make sure the company meets specific standards for recycling and electronics management. Here, the third-party recycler would make sure that the company’s products have effective designs and meet existing standards for energy use and conservation.
Materials
As highlighted by Haque (2018), electronics contain several valuable materials, including gold, copper, aluminium and titanium (just to mention a few). Horizon often obtains these raw materials from far-flung markets. Based on the challenges associated with getting them, it is imperative for the company to integrate recycling as a key part of its supply chain management process. Rogetzer, Silbermayr and Jammernegg (2018) support this view by saying that recycling old electronics could provide tonnes of raw materials for reuse.
To demonstrate the efficiency of this process, Apple reported recovering 2,204 pounds of gold by recycling old electronic products (the value of gold recovered from the recycling process was estimated at $40 million) (Haque 2018). This example shows that recycling could generate significant cost savings for Horizon, while, at the same time, reducing its environmental impact
Technologies
Horizon could use several new technologies to minimise waste creation and reduce its energy consumption. They are outlined below.
Active Disassembly
Active disassembly refers to the use of cost-effective materials in the production and assembly of electronic devices (Fukuda et al. 2014; Stjepandić 2014). Horizon could use its associated technologies, such as shape memory alloys, to simplify the disassembly of electronic gadgets in a cost-effective manner (Fukuda et al. 2014). It could also use engineering polymers, which are made of plastic to improve the thermal properties of electronic gadgets as well as their mechanical soundness (Stjepandić 2014). These technologies could simplify Horizon’s manufacturing process, thereby lowering its energy consumption and decreasing the frequency of its waste generation process.
Closed-Loop Product Lifecycle Management (PLM)
The closed-loop PLM should be adopted by Horizon to improve the company’s energy efficiency and reduce its waste generation volumes. The technology works by tracking and managing information relating to a product’s lifecycle (Stjepandić 2014). By doing so, it creates opportunities to reduce the lifecycle inefficiencies of specific product categories because it offers managers a broad understanding of the company’s product lifecycle processes. However, as Fukuda et al. (2014) recommend, the closed-loop PLM requires a high level of coordination and integration across a company’s departments if such benefits are to be realised.
Examples
Cloud (Big Data)
The application of big data in business process development is a phenomenon of the 21st century because of the ability of cloud computing to reshape how business is done from both business-to-customer and business-to-business perspectives (Stjepandić 2014). Horizon could tap into this potential of using big data to anchor circular systems in its waste management processes (Worrell & Reuter 2014).
For example, it could provide its customers with information on where to take their old electronic gadgets for recycling. The electronic waste collection could be integrated back into the supply chain. Buying this type of waste is a logical step that the company should adopt to facilitate this process, but more importantly, it means that Horizon’s customers would be getting an impetus to participate in the circular economy (Stjepandić 2014; Worrell & Reuter 2014).
Robotics
More integrated use of robotics at Horizon would also improve the company’s waste management processes by increasing the effectiveness and efficiency of the recycling process (Danish Technological Institute 2016). Robotics could improve the efficiency of sorting out waste because of increased precision (Danish Technological Institute, 2016). Collaborating with different companies to employ the technology could be a useful step in realising the advantages of robotics. For example, Sitra (2017), which is a fund supporting Finnish Innovation, suggests that companies should collaborate with technology firms that have a successful record in implementing this technology.
Machine-To-Machine Communication
The emergence of new technologies in business process development provides Horizon with opportunities for embracing the circular economy. Machine-to-machine communication is one type of digital innovation that creates such opportunities (Clift & Druckman 2015). Machine-to-machine communications also provide support for the circular economy because they merge two categories of disruptive technologies – engineering (physical technologies) and digital technologies (information technology) (Benetto et al. 2018).
By integrating these two categories of technological development, machine-to-machine communication would make Horizon’s supply chain more resource-productive (Clift & Druckman 2015; Benetto et al. 2018). At the same time, it would improve the company’s efficiency of operations through increased connectivity and precision in production modelling (Clift & Druckman 2015; Benetto et al. 2018).
Summary
Horizon’s corporate success depends on its ability to manage its costs and evaluate its environmental impact. This statement largely underscores the premise for preparing this report because it was designed to recommend ways for reducing the company’s energy consumption and waste volumes. Based on the suggestions highlighted in this document, Horizon is encouraged to rethink the company’s choice of raw materials and redesign its organisational processes to minimise its energy needs. Therefore, Horizon’s prospects for realising improved efficiency lie in its ability to reorganise its production processes by embracing recycling and using new technological innovations to enhance its operational processes.
Reference List
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