The Challenge

Consumer electronics are traditionally designed to meet the immediate needs of the user by making life simpler or more convenient. However, this approach has contributed to a growing global problem: electronic waste, or “e-waste”. Electronics are among the fastest-growing waste streams globally. Since 2010, the amount of e-waste created per year has risen by 82% (UNITAR, 2024). In 2022, the world generated a record 62 million tonnes of e-waste, which would fill 1.5 million 40-tonne trucks, roughly enough trucks to form a bumper-to-bumper line encircling the equator (UNITAR, 2024).

Modern electronics are often designed with complex, miniaturised components and composite materials, making disassembly and recycling difficult (UNITAR, 2024). Most products lack design features that support recyclability, especially for rare and critical raw materials. As a result, valuable elements like lithium and neodymium are frequently lost during processing (UNITAR, 2024).

Research shows that extending the use of electronic equipment has clear environmental benefits. Extending the life of phones, for example, from 2 to 3 years reduces their carbon footprint by between 23 and 30 per cent, depending on whether repairs are required or not (Cordella et al., 2021). A UK study revealed that extending the life of devices (such as phones, tablets and laptops) by 50% would reduce the amount thrown away by 24%, over ten years (Lysaght, 2023).

Recognising this, policymakers are beginning to act. The European Union’s 2024 Eco-design for Sustainable Products Regulation requires manufacturers to ensure products are more durable, repairable, and recyclable. This signals a shift from conventional design, which prioritises only the first user, toward circular design, which considers the needs of multiple stakeholders: initial users, second-hand buyers, repairers, recyclers and more. By extending product lifespans and reducing material and energy use, circular design tackles waste at its source.

Importantly, this approach also aligns with consumer expectations. Surveys indicate that 70% of consumers are interested in buying durable, maintainable products (Capgemini, 2021). Spending on sustainably marketed products is rising rapidly. Over the past five years, sales of such products have grown by 28%, compared with 20% growth for products without sustainability claims (McKinsey, 2023).

Consumers also increasingly value repairability. More than half (54%) of consumers say they would prefer to repair their electronic equipment rather than replace it (Bruce, 2021). However, the cost of repair is the biggest deciding factor (Higginbottom, 2024). If the repair is just as expensive as the new item, then why bother? This underscores the need for repairs and aftermarket parts to be affordable and accessible.

Taken together, these factors highlight that e-waste is not merely a by-product of technological progress; people want change. Advancing circular design is therefore essential to minimise waste, conserve resources, and respond effectively to both regulatory pressures and evolving consumer expectations.

The Circular Solution

Logitech is a global manufacturer of computer peripherals, such as mice, keyboards and headsets, shipping around 3 million products per week to over 100 countries (O’Mahony, 2021). Its products are used by 71% of the world’s 500 largest companies, and feature in one in three meeting rooms and desks worldwide (Logitech, 2025). When operating at such a scale, circular solutions can offer huge positive impacts. Logitech recognises that many of the most effective opportunities to reduce a product’s environmental impact occur during early-stage development, when fundamental design and material choices are made. Consequently, the company has integrated circular design principles across its entire product development process (Logitech, n.d.).

Logitech achieves this through a deep understanding of its products and their impacts. Teardowns are performed to analyse each part, the materials used and how these parts are assembled (Logitech, 2025). Insights from these analyses feed into life cycle assessments (LCAs) (Logitech, 2024). This is a systematic analysis of a product’s material sourcing, production, distribution, use and disposal to understand and quantify the carbon emissions associated with each step. Currently, 84% of Logitech’s products have independently verified LCAs (Logitech, 2025), providing detailed insights into their environmental impacts. This drives data-driven decision-making to target the most impactful hotspots (Logitech, 2024).

Logitech has also developed an internal Circularity Assessment Tool. This measures the comparative circularity of product designs while aligning with stakeholder views, regulatory trends, and industry best practices (Logitech, 2024). This uses a semi-quantitative scoring system to evaluate factors like longevity, reuse, and recyclability, which helps development teams identify improvement opportunities and implement more sustainable solutions (Logitech, 2024).

This evidence-based circular development has driven several tangible outcomes, including:

• Materials: 78% of products now use post-consumer recycled plastics (Logitech, 2024).

• Manufacturing: the MX Creative Console replaces painted finishes with microtextures, improving recyclability while giving a premium surface finish (Logitech, 2024).

• Product Design: Steel reinforcing plates have been removed from keyboards to reduce carbon-intensive material use (Logitech, 2023).

• End of life: In the US, Logitech has partnered with Staples to take back end-of-life products in exchange for a 25% discount voucher (Logitech, n.d.).

  
  

These circularity initiatives both complement and enhance the user experience. Logitech aims to foster emotional attachment between users and their devices so they keep them for longer and repair them when they break (Logitech, 2024). Transparency is another key aspect: LCA results are displayed on Logitech’s product packaging, empowering consumers to make more informed purchasing decisions (Logitech 2025).

Logitech is advancing design for repair. For example, the G733 headset features detachable ear pads and headband strap with easily replaceable internal parts such as battery and microphone (iFixIt, n.d.). The Logitech Repair Hub, developed in partnership with iFixIt, provides multilingual step-by-step repair guides for common problems on 20 popular products and offers direct sales of replacement parts. For the G733, replacing the battery for €25 (iFixIt, 2025) instead of the entire product for €160 exemplifies how repair can extend product lifetimes while saving costs. By making repairs accessible and affordable, Logitech is reducing barriers to circular product use and empowering consumers to participate in the circular economy.

Climate Impact

The data-driven decision-making in Logitech is having a positive impact on their products. For example, the second generation of the Wave Keys keyboard implemented post-consumer recycled plastics, a redesigned circuit board, a redesigned frame, paper packaging and was manufactured with renewable energy (Logitech, 2025). These steps reduced the second generation's emissions by 37% compared to the first, which equates to 310 tonnes of CO₂ per 100,000 units (Logitech, 2025).

Logitech’s emissions are highly dependent on its manufacturing and material suppliers. More than 99% of Logitech’s emissions are Scope 3 (Logitech, 2024); 60% of which are from materials and manufacturing, and a further 25% are from the use of the products (i.e. the energy consumed by the devices) (Logitech, 2024).

The direct contribution of the different carbon reduction initiatives can be quantified. The transition to renewable energy of their suppliers saves 79 thousand tonnes of CO₂ emissions per year, post-consumer recycled plastic saves 25 thousand, and low-carbon aluminium saves 13 thousand(Logitech, 2024). Of all the materials used in their products and packaging, about one-third contains recycled content, and a further quarter is renewable natural materials (Logitech, 2024). Across all programs, this saved roughly 140 thousand tonnes of CO₂ emissions in 2023 (Logitech, 2024). You would need a forest roughly four times the size of Killarney National Park to capture a similar amount of CO₂ (Based on 3.5tCO₂ sequestered per hectare of native woodland per year (Teagasc, 2025) and area of Killarney National Park = 10,236 hectares (Discover Kerry, n.d.)).

Logitech highlights how data-driven decision-making in product development enables lower impact and more circular products.

Replicability

• Shift produces modular, easy-to-repair devices such as smartphones and speakers made with circularity in mind.

  
  

• Fairphone creates phones and audio devices that are easy to repair and built to last.

  
  

• iFixIt is spearheading the right-to-repair movement and is working with major tech manufacturers to improve the repairability of their devices. They also provide repair guides, parts and tools to break down barriers to repair.

  
  

• Refurbed offers a range of refurbished technology, such as mice, keyboards and headsets, giving them a second life.

  
  

• Google’s Pixel Watch 4 is assembled with screws and seals instead of glue, making it more repairable. iFixIt rated its repairability a 9/10 and called it “the first mainstream smartwatch to make repairability cool.”