An integrated circularity and life cycle assessment of power electronic converters: key hotspots and improvement opportunities

Abstract

The rapid electrification of energy systems relies heavily on power electronic converters (PECs), which enable efficient electricity conversion and control in applications such as industrial drives, renewable energy systems, and electric mobility. However, despite their high operational efficiency, PECs are associated with significant environmental impacts due to cumulative energy losses during use and the resource- and energy-intensive manufacturing of electronic components. This study assesses the circularity and environmental performance of PECs, identifying key hotspots and evaluating how design choices influence environmental sustainability outcomes. Two PECs (15 kW and 18.5 kW) used in industrial elevators were analysed through manual disassembly, circularity assessment using the Product Circularity Index (PCI), and life cycle assessment (LCA) covering 16 impact categories. The functional unit was defined as 1 kWh of electrical energy converted for elevator-drive applications. The results show that circularity improvements can increase PCI values from approximately 0.20 to 0.60, mainly driven by higher recycled content, reuse potential and improved recovery rates. Nevertheless, the environmental benefits remain comparatively moderate. Depending on the impact category considered, circularity improvements reduced impacts by approximately 28–47% relative to the business-as-usual configuration, with the strongest reductions observed in resource-related categories. Despite PECs conversion efficiencies close to 97%, cumulative operational losses remain a major contributor due to the high electricity throughput over the 13-year lifetime. At component level, strong disparities are observed: metallic parts exhibit high circularity potential, whereas PCBs remain critical hotspots, combining high manufacturing impacts (up to 60–75%) with limited recyclability (∼30%). Overall, the results reveal only a partial coupling between circularity and environmental sustainability in PECs.