Briefing 2023

The initial situation

As digitalisation advances in almost all areas of our lives, our comfort, opportunities and economic power increase, but at the same time so do our electronic waste mountains. It is well known that this situation has become a massive problem for our environment and climate as well as for humans and animals. It is therefore important for us as a society to take immediate action and come up with effective new concepts that will help us to significantly reduce the generation of electronic waste and to systematically push the disposal and recycling of the materials, raw materials and components used forward.

Our challenge

For this reason, bee produced has launched the "Recycling Heroes" project together with the Automation and Control Institute of the TU Wien, Österreich forscht, TGM, HTL Donaustadt, the vocational school EVITA and the vocational school mfe as part of the "Sparkling Science" programme supported by the Ministry of Education, Research and Science and OEAD.

This has set itself the goal of raising awareness of the topic in society and at the same time working cooperatively to develop effective approaches that contribute to solving the major challenges surrounding e-waste.

We invite you to join us and work together on innovative models that will help us improve the current situation. This could be:

  • a campaign and incentive concept that encourages the society to avoid the generation of e-waste as much as possible (repairing instead of throwing away),

  • new business models that rely on sustainable product design and the logic of the circular economy and thus contribute to the above-mentioned goals,

  • innovative solutions for the correct disposal, treatment and recycling of e-waste, or even

  • creative product ideas and prototypes with a high potential of use in everyday life or specific economic sectors that were produced from e-waste and show which materials, raw materials and components could be sensibly recycled and in what form.

Kick-off video

Contact

The main contact persons for the project on the part of bee produced are Dr. Munir Merdan, Dr. Wilfried Lepuschitz and Emir Aslaner.

About us

Bee produceD

bee produced is a Vienna-based startup that will soon launch the first digital B2B marketplace for local electronics production to match customers with suitable producers nearby. Moreover, the company provides a collaboration tool that systematises and automates the ordering processes of the electronics industry, and supports customers and producers in organising their communication processes. The collaboration tool can also be directly integrated into the web presence of electronics producers in the form of a white label solution that can be visually adapted to their own corporate identity.

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ACIN of TU Wien

The Automation and Control Institute (ACIN) belongs to the Faculty of Electrical Engineering and Information Technology, TU Wien. With more than 70 employees, the institute does basic research, solves challenging practical problems in a number of cooperative projects with industry, develops innovations, and gives the students a profound research-oriented teaching in systems theory, automation and control. The institute is divided into the research areas advanced mechatronic systems and complex dynamical systems.

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Österreich forscht

The Citizen Science Network Austria (founded in 2017) with the associated online platform Österreich forscht (launched in 2014) is a network of institutions from the fields of science, research, education and practice which, taking into account their respective institutional spheres of activity, pursue the following goals: To establish Citizen Science more firmly in Austria, to promote the quality of Citizen Science in Austria and to strengthen the awareness of Citizen Science in Austria.

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TGM

The TGM is Vienna's largest HTL with almost 3000 students - a house with a well-known name and a lot of tradition. In addition, the TGM not only provides the opportunity to take the Matura, but also the possibility to directly enter a highly qualified profession. All departments conclude with the Central Matura, which entitles students to study at a university.

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HTL Donaustadt

HTL Donaustadt (also "HTL Wien 22" or "htl donaustadt") is a HTL in Vienna, built in 1983 on a former industrial site. It offers both higher five-year courses leading to the Matura and four-year technical school courses. The focus of the education programme is on the areas of electrical engineering, electronics and technical informatics and information technology.

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Vocational school EVITA

The Vocational School for Electrical Engineering, Event Engineering and Information Technology Austria (BS EVITA) is located in the 6th district of Vienna. At the school, apprentices are trained in the following apprenticeship occupations: Application Development/Coding, Electrical Engineering, Information Technology and Event Technology.

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Vocational school mfe

The Vocational School for Mechanical Engineering, Production Engineering and Electronics is located in the 7th district of Vienna. At the school, apprentices are trained in the following apprenticeship occupations: Inland shipping, electronics, information and telecommunications, refrigeration technology, metal technology and orthopaedic technology.

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