If you're spending a lot of time figuring out how to fail in such a way that your product doesn't become waste, you're probably working on the wrong things.

Perhaps the choices you make and the time you spend on mitigating the possibility of your product becoming e-waste will make you more likely to fail, leading to a higher probability of your product becoming e-waste because most people won't bother re-flashing the hardware you're making.

Work on improving your product and making sure that you succeed.