Belgian start-up launches "world's first circular microcomputer"

Belgian start-up Citronics has launched a microcomputer made from old smartphones. The device can be used in smart home applications or as a tool for researchers. The company is collaborating with Dutch company Fairphone, a pioneer in circular electronics.

Every year in Europe, an estimated 200 million smartphones end up in waste, although their components - which are difficult to recycle and highly polluting - are often still perfectly usable. "These are powerful chips that we at Citronics want to give a second life," says founder Jean-Brieuc Feron.

International partners

Citronics, based in Braine-le-Château, Walloon Brabant, is collaborating with Dutch company Fairphone, which produces smartphones where users can easily replace components themselves. First, old smartphones are collected and dismantled. The parts are sorted and tested, after which Citronics turns them into new microcomputers.

The company already makes customised microcomputers, but is now also launching an off-the-shelf version. The device can be used, for example, in smart home applications to monitor energy consumption. Students are also already using the microcomputer in an image recognition system.

"In a world with infinite resources and cheap energy, this would not make sense," says Feron. "But since COVID, the blockade of a ship in the Suez Canal and piracy in the Red Sea, we realise that our economic resilience relies on less dependence on strategic components such as electronics."

"Our economic resilience relies on less dependence on strategic components such as electronics."

The microcomputer is currently in a launch phase, awaiting new large-scale applications. Citronics is already working with partners such as UCLouvain and Deutsche Telekom and is preparing for a capital round in 2025 to support further growth.

^{© BELGA PHOTO JEROME FETU}