Here’s how electronics will work in the future.
Written by Will Godfrey, Founder & CEO
July 5, 2023
Let’s imagine the world depended on electronics.
Now let’s imagine those electronics depended on rare, limited and precious materials. Precious because they’re worth a lot of money. Precious because they’re rare and limited. And precious because each time we mine the earth for them, we pump eye-watering amounts of carbon into the air.
You’d think we’d be pretty good at looking after those materials, right?
Welcome to the world’s most valuable waste.
Welcome to the world’s most valuable waste.
Welcome to the world’s most valuable waste.
Electronics unlock so much of the value of modern life – travel, health care, entertainment. Our health, wealth and happiness depends on them, and also on the materials they’re built with.
But do you know what happens to them?
Well actually, you do.
Check that drawer where you keep your old iPhones, laptops and wires. That’s what happens to them.
As new products come out, in what feel like ever-quickening cycles, old ones fill our drawers, our bins, our industrial estates, our landfills, and barely get used to their potential.
Electronics unlock so much of the value of modern life – travel, health care, entertainment. Our health, wealth and happiness depends on them, and also on the materials they’re built with.
But do you know what happens to them?
Well actually, you do.
Check that drawer where you keep your old iPhones, laptops and wires. That’s what happens to them.
As new products come out, in what feel like ever-quickening cycles, old ones fill our drawers, our bins, our industrial estates, our landfills, and barely get used to their potential.
Electronics unlock so much of the value of modern life – travel, health care, entertainment. Our health, wealth and happiness depends on them, and also on the materials they’re built with.
But do you know what happens to them?
Well actually, you do.
Check that drawer where you keep your old iPhones, laptops and wires. That’s what happens to them.
As new products come out, in what feel like ever-quickening cycles, old ones fill our drawers, our bins, our industrial estates, our landfills, and barely get used to their potential.
This is the world’s most valuable waste - worth, by some estimates, up to $57 billion every year. And if that wasn’t enough of an incentive it’s also incredibly toxic if not disposed of properly, posing a huge longterm threat to our health.
And instead of finding ways to better utilise products so we can make less or recovering it, we keep losing it, and desperately try to dig up more.
This is the world’s most valuable waste - worth, by some estimates, up to $57 billion every year. And if that wasn’t enough of an incentive it’s also incredibly toxic if not disposed of properly, posing a huge longterm threat to our health.
And instead of finding ways to better utilise products so we can make less or recovering it, we keep losing it, and desperately try to dig up more.
This is the world’s most valuable waste - worth, by some estimates, up to $57 billion every year. And if that wasn’t enough of an incentive it’s also incredibly toxic if not disposed of properly, posing a huge longterm threat to our health.
And instead of finding ways to better utilise products so we can make less or recovering it, we keep losing it, and desperately try to dig up more.
A broken system.
A broken system.
A broken system.
We don’t have a plan for our products. We build them, sell them, and leave it up to customers to try and get the most out of them and dispose of them safely.
We’re so used to the status quo that it’s hard to see it for what it is: a broken system.
We’re wasting resources, contributing to terrible labour conditions, and pushing us further towards climate catastrophe.
We don’t have a plan for our products. We build them, sell them, and leave it up to customers to try and get the most out of them and dispose of them safely.
We’re so used to the status quo that it’s hard to see it for what it is: a broken system.
We’re wasting resources, contributing to terrible labour conditions, and pushing us further towards climate catastrophe.
We don’t have a plan for our products. We build them, sell them, and leave it up to customers to try and get the most out of them and dispose of them safely.
We’re so used to the status quo that it’s hard to see it for what it is: a broken system.
We’re wasting resources, contributing to terrible labour conditions, and pushing us further towards climate catastrophe.
And what does it all boil down to? It’s simple. The people that produce our stuff – businesses – aren’t incentivised to look after the earth’s resources or the products they make with them.
So how do we flip the model, and make more money for businesses in the process?
And what does it all boil down to? It’s simple. The people that produce our stuff – businesses – aren’t incentivised to look after the earth’s resources or the products they make with them.
So how do we flip the model, and make more money for businesses in the process?
And what does it all boil down to? It’s simple. The people that produce our stuff – businesses – aren’t incentivised to look after the earth’s resources or the products they make with them.
So how do we flip the model, and make more money for businesses in the process?
We need a plan for every product.
We need a plan for every product.
We need a plan for every product.
My vision is for a world where products are looked after by the people that make them. They build products to last, take responsibility for their utilisation and when they’re no longer usable, they recapture the material value.
The only way to get to this future is by totally reimagining our relationship to our products.
Here’s how it works: instead of each of us owning our electronics, and owning the responsibility for looking after them too, businesses step in instead.
In this model, businesses keep ownership of their products. Customers use them while they’re working, and businesses take them back as soon as they’re not. In return, customers get a fresh product.
My vision is for a world where products are looked after by the people that make them. They build products to last, take responsibility for their utilisation and when they’re no longer usable, they recapture the material value.
The only way to get to this future is by totally reimagining our relationship to our products.
Here’s how it works: instead of each of us owning our electronics, and owning the responsibility for looking after them too, businesses step in instead.
In this model, businesses keep ownership of their products. Customers use them while they’re working, and businesses take them back as soon as they’re not. In return, customers get a fresh product.
My vision is for a world where products are looked after by the people that make them. They build products to last, take responsibility for their utilisation and when they’re no longer usable, they recapture the material value.
The only way to get to this future is by totally reimagining our relationship to our products.
Here’s how it works: instead of each of us owning our electronics, and owning the responsibility for looking after them too, businesses step in instead.
In this model, businesses keep ownership of their products. Customers use them while they’re working, and businesses take them back as soon as they’re not. In return, customers get a fresh product.
It’s called producer ownership.
This is the only way to a more efficient future. And if you believe that we will continue to move towards more efficient economy, as we have done for centuries, then this future is inevitable.
And I believe that businesses will get us there, because they have so much to gain if they do. I think of this as the big three incentives:
It’s called producer ownership.
This is the only way to a more efficient future. And if you believe that we will continue to move towards more efficient economy, as we have done for centuries, then this future is inevitable.
And I believe that businesses will get us there, because they have so much to gain if they do. I think of this as the big three incentives:
It’s called producer ownership.
This is the only way to a more efficient future. And if you believe that we will continue to move towards more efficient economy, as we have done for centuries, then this future is inevitable.
And I believe that businesses will get us there, because they have so much to gain if they do. I think of this as the big three incentives:
1.
1.
1.
They keep the long term value of their products materials instead of losing them with every sale. Which means much better margins. Just like software businesses
They keep the long term value of their products materials instead of losing them with every sale. Which means much better margins. Just like software businesses
They keep the long term value of their products materials instead of losing them with every sale. Which means much better margins. Just like software businesses
2.
2.
2.
They keep their customers over longer periods and in more predictable patterns. Just like software businesses.
They keep their customers over longer periods and in more predictable patterns. Just like software businesses.
They keep their customers over longer periods and in more predictable patterns. Just like software businesses.
3.
3.
3.
And they can use the data they generate in the process to make better decisions and access smarter financing. A fully digital mode and climate compatible model, perfectly fit for our moment in time.
And they can use the data they generate in the process to make better decisions and access smarter financing. A fully digital mode and climate compatible model, perfectly fit for our moment in time.
And they can use the data they generate in the process to make better decisions and access smarter financing. A fully digital mode and climate compatible model, perfectly fit for our moment in time.
In the future, it will seem weird we ever did it any other way.
In the future, it will seem weird we ever did it any other way.
In the future, it will seem weird we ever did it any other way.
To the future.
To the future.
To the future.
Of course, if it was all so obvious and easy, hardware businesses would be doing this already. But it’s not. It’s actually far too difficult. With all of our systems set up for a world without producer ownership. Creating huge friction for companies in communicating and financing these new models. So we’ve put a plan together to make it easy whilst building ourselves an enduring business. Here it is:
Of course, if it was all so obvious and easy, hardware businesses would be doing this already. But it’s not. It’s actually far too difficult. With all of our systems set up for a world without producer ownership. Creating huge friction for companies in communicating and financing these new models. So we’ve put a plan together to make it easy whilst building ourselves an enduring business. Here it is:
Of course, if it was all so obvious and easy, hardware businesses would be doing this already. But it’s not. It’s actually far too difficult. With all of our systems set up for a world without producer ownership. Creating huge friction for companies in communicating and financing these new models. So we’ve put a plan together to make it easy whilst building ourselves an enduring business. Here it is:
Increase circular models' observability and efficiency
Leverage IoT and digitalization of processes for better monitoring of product lifecycles.
Deliver insights into the environmental and economic impact of these assets.
Focussing on electronics assets in the most emitting industries: mobility, construction, robotics and energy transition.
Build our collective knowledge to deliver more certainty in our predictive models on an asset's future, that will let us deliver our next step.
Leverage IoT and digitalization of processes for better monitoring of product lifecycles.
Deliver insights into the environmental and economic impact of these assets.
Focussing on electronics assets in the most emitting industries: mobility, construction, robotics and energy transition.
Build our collective knowledge to deliver more certainty in our predictive models on an asset's future, that will let us deliver our next step.
Leverage IoT and digitalization of processes for better monitoring of product lifecycles.
Deliver insights into the environmental and economic impact of these assets.
Focussing on electronics assets in the most emitting industries: mobility, construction, robotics and energy transition.
Build our collective knowledge to deliver more certainty in our predictive models on an asset's future, that will let us deliver our next step.
Facilitate free-flowing capital to circular models
Collaborate with financial institutions to develop dedicated risk scoring for circular models
Acting as a carbon and credit bureau for connected assets we will provide these risk scores live.
Enabling new dynamic financing products to be rolled out on top of our models.
Reduce the cost of capital by leveraging risk and environmental data.
Make it easy for banks to distribute our system
Collaborate with financial institutions to develop dedicated risk scoring for circular models
Acting as a carbon and credit bureau for connected assets we will provide these risk scores live.
Enabling new dynamic financing products to be rolled out on top of our models.
Reduce the cost of capital by leveraging risk and environmental data.
Make it easy for banks to distribute our system
Collaborate with financial institutions to develop dedicated risk scoring for circular models
Acting as a carbon and credit bureau for connected assets we will provide these risk scores live.
Enabling new dynamic financing products to be rolled out on top of our models.
Reduce the cost of capital by leveraging risk and environmental data.
Make it easy for banks to distribute our system
Grow revenue around the lifecycle
Use our insight to address structural challenges hindering circularity.
Collaborate with other industry players to increase asset observability and the distribution of Twist.
Create new revenue streams on top of our data platform, managing SLA’s, selling benchmarks, emissions-based discounting and any other brilliant idea our team puts forward.
Use our insight to address structural challenges hindering circularity.
Collaborate with other industry players to increase asset observability and the distribution of Twist.
Create new revenue streams on top of our data platform, managing SLA’s, selling benchmarks, emissions-based discounting and any other brilliant idea our team puts forward.
Use our insight to address structural challenges hindering circularity.
Collaborate with other industry players to increase asset observability and the distribution of Twist.
Create new revenue streams on top of our data platform, managing SLA’s, selling benchmarks, emissions-based discounting and any other brilliant idea our team puts forward.
This is the future we're passionately sprinting towards at Twist. Together, let's redefine the way products are managed and financed, ensuring their longevity, minimizing waste, and maximizing value for businesses and the planet.
This is the future we're passionately sprinting towards at Twist. Together, let's redefine the way products are managed and financed, ensuring their longevity, minimizing waste, and maximizing value for businesses and the planet.
This is the future we're passionately sprinting towards at Twist. Together, let's redefine the way products are managed and financed, ensuring their longevity, minimizing waste, and maximizing value for businesses and the planet.