Preserving materials and repairing products is a way to generate more money for companies while helping the environment. The products we use every day in our households often hide "wealth" that we lose when we throw them away.
“As society gets richer, we can afford to be more wasteful, even though the post-war generations must have thought the opposite. This is a general trend that has an adverse effect on the global environment and is also disadvantageous from an economic point of view,” says Radoslav Škapa from the Department of Business Management. “In the last few decades, we have very often thrown away things that still have some value. Sometimes they are only partially broken and we could have them repaired, sometimes we just don't like them. It´s extreme with fashion,” he adds.
Meanwhile, repairing products and recovering materials from those that are destined for disposal can be a source of new revenue for companies. In the Czech Republic, for example, there are companies that buy up old laptops and desktops, clean them up and replace some of the components. They then resell the improved products. Car dealerships operate in a similar way. Unfortunately, there is no real market for household appliances such as microwaves, televisions, fridges and washing machines. Making repairing products and parts a profitable activity that generates money for companies and saves money for consumers is the theme of the DiCiM project. It is funded by the Horizon Europe programme and is the work of Alena Klapalová, Michal Krčál and Radoslav Škapa from the Faculty of Economics and Administration of Masaryk University.
The project focuses, among other things, on how digital technologies can help in recovering value from products. In the case of a broken product, they can, for example, determine whether it is a functional or aesthetic defect, whether it makes sense to repair the product or whether some components can be removed and used to repair other items. However, this requires the most detailed database of products, their types and components, so that technical devices with artificial intelligence can assess the task correctly. “Our research is largely applied. The project involves companies and their engineers, but also researchers from technical universities,” Škapa explains.
Don´t throw things away – there is value in them
Finding meaningful solutions for sustainable development is addressed by the concept of the circular economy. “The essence of circular economy is that the usable material that has been put into products does not end up in landfills and incinerators. It is not primarily about recycling, because that saves the least value of the product, but about repairing products, taking undamaged components from them and reusing them. The aim is to devise business models that are economically attractive for companies and that they can profit from,” explains Škapa. As a result, new companies can be created that will offer not only special services and products for users, but also new job opportunities in the region.
Experts from the Faculty of Economics and Administration therefore regularly present the topic of their research to the public. For example, they take part in the annual Night of Scientists, which is attended by children and parents, but especially by high school students, who are motivated to continue their studies. “This year, we looked at the question of the lifetime of products in the average household, their material composition, and how to reuse them to increase their value. My favourite topic is repairing things with my own hands,” said Škapa.
The project “Digitalised Value Management for Unlocking the potential of the Circular Manufacturing Systems with integrated digital solutions (DiCiM; No. 101091536)” is funded by the Horizon Europe programme (Cluster 4). The implementation period is until the end of 2026.