How to address obsolescence in LCA studies – Perspectives on product use-time for a smartphone case study

Abstract

Obsolescence of products is generating much debate with a view to many relevant aspects, such as the amount of electronic waste generated, the environmental impact of producing new products, or the costs of difficult repairs and replacement. In this context, obsolescence is also a relevant LCA issue and possible trade-offs in context of repair or upgrades need special consideration.A case study is presented to evaluate anti-obsolescence strategies for smartphones (as an example for a product with its greatest environmental impact in the manufacturing phase) using different scenarios. Two different approaches (stock-based and individual) are applied to calculate the use-time of the smartphone with and without anti-obsolescence measures, leading to differences in the reference flow of the smartphone itself as well as the need for consumables, spare, and upgrade parts.The results show that most anti-obsolescence measures such as battery replacements, repairability, or upgrades of cameras are environmentally favorable and that the remaining use-time to reach the break-even point for the environmental amortization of spare parts is quite short, e.g. battery replacements pay-off environmentally even for older devices after less than half a year.However, LCAs with an individual perspective on a single product tend to overestimate the potential benefits of such measures. The stock-based approach on the other hand shows the effects of specific design decisions on a complete market and assesses possible design conflicts. From the analyzed scenarios, it could be shown that even 3% increased manufacturing impact pays off when it allows for more repair. The stock-based approach also helps to assess which anti-obsolescence measures have the greatest potential from an environmental perspective in a given market and can thus support eco-design decisions. This paper contributes to the understanding of how the product perspective and the definition of use-time impacts the possible interpretations of an LCA study and argues for the necessity to apply a stock-based approach to better reflect the effects of design conflicts.