Elevate Economics

That’s like throwing 800 laptops away per second (The World Counts)

Tech companies sold a total of 13bn smartphones between 2010 and 2019. Only about 3 billion are in use today. This means 10 billion smartphones (which contain valuable hardware) were just thrown away (Data source: Stastista.com).

That’s a huge amount of natural resource extraction… and which ends up as (toxic) waste!

This is an outcome of planned obsolescence.

According to the latest “Global E-waste Monitor” report, around 5.1 million tonnes of e-waste were shipped across borders in 2022, with approximately 65% (3.3 million tonnes) of this amount being shipped from high income to low income nations, through undocumented and uncontrolled movements, highlighting the significant issue of e-waste being shipped to developing countries. 

‘Planned obsolescence is a business strategy in which the obsolescence (the process of becoming obsolete, that is, unfashionable or no longer usable) of a product is planned and built into it from its conception, by the manufacturer’. From: User Experience in the Age of Sustainability, 2012.

This may include programmed software failures or design flaws, or designs by which products are not built to last.

Ecologists say that a sustainable amount of material footprint is about 8 tons per person per year. High income nations consume nearly four times that number at 28 tons per year per person! (Bringezu, ‘Possible target corridor for sustainable use of global material resources’)

Examples of planned obsolescence:

Technology: A computer that can no longer be updated with the latest software, a smartphone that is no longer compatible with new apps, a printer that uses cartridges that can’t be refilled 

Cars: A car manufacturer that releases a new model each year with minor changes 

Consumables: Limiting the life of a light bulb, using batteries that wear out and can’t be replaced 

One of the challenges we have as consumers is that it costs more to repair than it does to replace. And advertisements lure consumers in to get the upgrade.

This needs to change.

Pathways Forward: ending planned obsolescence, from ‘Less is More’ by Jason Hickel. Introduction of:
1. Mandatory extended warranties on products. The tech exists for products to last two to five times more than they already do!
2. ‘Right to Repair’ legislation making it illegal for firms to sell stuff that cannot be repaired by ordinary users and to make replaceable parts available
3. Switching to lease models for large appliances and devices, with manufacturers assuming full responsibility for all repairs, with modular upgrades.

#ewaste #plannedobsolescence #resourceextraction #righttorepair #lessismore #jasonhickel #elevateeconomics #degrowth #postgrowth #sustainability #economics