Robotic ease of Disassembly Metric (Re-DiM)

The European Union's Circular Economy Action Plan (CEAP) and the Critical Raw Materials Act (CRMA) are key legislative frameworks designed to promote sustainable resource use and reduce dependence on critical raw materials (CRMs).

These policies emphasize the importance of designing products that facilitate ease of disassembly, particularly to access and recover CRMs embedded in electrical and electronic equipment (EEE).

In line with Industry 4.0 advancements, disassembly strategies are evolving beyond manual processes toward semi- and fully automated methods, often involving human-robot cooperation. This shift necessitates new tools and metrics to evaluate and optimize product designs for ease of disassembly under these emerging paradigms.

Re-DiM's main function is to estimate operational times for specific disassembly tasks by analysing product components, connectors, and the conditions for robotic handling.

The tool is primarily intended for product developers and designers who need to evaluate disassembly processes in order to inform design improvements or plan disassembly strategies.

The information provided by Re-DiM can support better product design focused on ease of disassembly, which is important for improving resource recovery through repair, reuse, and recycling.