curiousChallenge Explorer
Circular Economyadvanced~50 mins

Design a city-wide circular economy ecosystem for electronic waste.

E-waste is the fastest-growing waste stream, packed with both toxins and valuable materials.

Real-world context

E-waste is the fastest-growing waste stream, packed with both toxins and valuable materials. Closing the loop city-wide means coordinating collection, repair, recycling and manufacturing.

The challenge

Design a city-wide circular economy ecosystem for electronic waste. Study who is affected, dig past the obvious symptoms to the real root causes, and design a solution that could actually work in the real world. There is no single correct answer — what matters is the quality of your thinking, the stakeholders you consider, and how clearly you justify your chosen direction.

Reflection prompts

  • Who is most affected by this problem, and how did you account for them?
  • What is the single biggest risk to your solution working?
  • Which assumption, if wrong, would break your whole idea?