The circular economy of devices
Linear and circular economy, the waste hierarchy, electrical and electronic waste, obsolescence, refurbishment, the product-service system and the repairability index.
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- 4 topics
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Circular economy: what is it?
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A system that limits resources taken and waste produced by making products last and reusing material, rather than making, consuming then discarding.
It stands against the linear economy. ADEME breaks it into seven pillars, including eco-design, longer product use and recycling.
A seller takes back a used phone, tests it, replaces the battery, then resells it with a warranty. Which operation is this?
- Refurbishment
- Recycling
- Energy recovery
- A product-service system
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Refurbishment
The device stays whole and keeps its function: that is refurbishment, which avoids making a new one. Recycling instead destroys the object to recover material.
Three forms of obsolescence are distinguished: … (failure), … (the end of updates) and … (the device goes out of fashion).
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Three forms of obsolescence are distinguished: technical (failure), software (the end of updates) and image (the device goes out of fashion).
Each form calls for a different lever: repairability for technical, support period for software, awareness for image.
Waste hierarchy: what is it?
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The order of priority for dealing with an object or waste: prevent, reuse, repair, refurbish, recycle, recover energy, dispose.
The higher up you are, the less material and energy you use: the best waste is the one never produced.
A five-year-old phone works, but the bank's app refuses to install. What is the likely cause?
- Technical obsolescence: the phone's battery is worn out
- Image obsolescence: the device has gone out of fashion
- A touch screen failure
- Software obsolescence: the system no longer receives updates
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Software obsolescence: the system no longer receives updates
The device works, it is the software that rules it out: the app requires a system version the phone no longer receives.