Innovation in compound semiconductors and optoelectronics: structural limits and pathways to sustainability and circularity

Compound semiconductors are increasingly used in electronics and optoelectronic technologies, but their manufacturing, processing, and disposal have significant environmental and resource costs. As the worldwide demand for photonics, sensing, and high-performance electronic devices grows, sustainability and circularity have evolved from peripheral issues to structural difficulties. This Topical Review covers recent breakthroughs in materials design, semiconductor production, electronic waste recycling, and life-cycle assessment (LCA) for optoelectronic and compound semiconductor systems. Emerging solutions such as organic and biodegradable electronics, recyclable substrates, and dissolvable packaging are compared to process-level efforts to lowering energy, water, and chemical intensity during manufacturing. Crucially, examination of real-world e-waste systems demonstrates that end-of-life recovery of III-V semiconductors is structurally infeasible under current and anticipated recycling infrastructures, resulting in near-complete dissipation of essential elements. These findings indicate that meaningful circularity must be achieved primarily through upstream material selection, process redesign, and life-cycle-informed system strategies, rather than relying on downstream recycling alone.