Carbon Reduction Assessment of a Product Service System: A Case Study of Washing Machines

Abstract

Global warming has constantly been regarded as a major threat to sustainable development. Thus, reducing energy consumption and carbon emissions entails committed action through sustainable management practices based on a life cycle perspective. A product service system (PSS) is a new business model that has been adopted by many companies and is currently widely used in developed countries. The PSS model can achieve not just economic benefits, but also many environmental benefits such as carbon reduction. Currently, almost every household owns various types of appliances such as washing machines. Along with lifestyle changes, self-service laundries have become a typical PSS. This study investigates carbon emissions from traditional laundry practices (i.e., washing machines) and PSS modes (i.e., self-service laundries) by life cycle assessment. We compare the life cycle carbon emissions of a community with 360 households, each owning a washing machine, with those of a commercial coinoperated laundromat with five self-service commercial washing machines. Two life span scenarios of washing by a household's washing machine (i.e., 7 years) and a commercial coin-operated laundromat (i.e., 21 years) were considered for comparison.