As a detoxification strategy, design for disassembly is concerned primarily with disassembling computers and cell phones easily into their component parts in order to ensure that heavy metals do not end up in landfills.

Active disassembly is a method of disassembling products into their separate components by creating gadgets that can break apart just by being exposed to heat or magnetism. It allows for a clean, nondestructive, quick and efficient method of component separation. This saves money, and the materials can be recovered more efficiently.

Utilizing active disassembly, Nokia has created a prototype of a cell phone that dissembles itself in two seconds. Today, most cell phones and other small electronics are shredded instead of taken apart for recycling, because the disassembly time is too expensive for the amount of material reclaimed.