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Service Lifetime, Storage Time, and Disposal Pathways of Electronic Equipment: A Swiss Case Study

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  • Esther Thiébaud (†Müller)
  • Lorenz M. Hilty
  • Mathias Schluep
  • Rolf Widmer
  • Martin Faulstich

Abstract

Product lifetime is an essential aspect of dynamic material flow analyses and has been modeled using lifetime distribution functions, mostly average lifetimes. Existing data regarding the lifetime of electronic equipment (EE) are based on diverging definitions of lifetime as well as different temporal and regional scopes. After its active use, EE is often not disposed of immediately, but remains in storage for some time. Specific data on the share of EE that is stored and the time they remain in storage are scarce. This article investigates the service lifetime, storage time, and disposal pathways of ten electronic device types, based on data from an online survey complemented by structured interviews. We distinguish between new and secondhand devices and compute histograms, averages, and medians of the different lifetimes and their change over time. The average service lifetime varies from 3.3Â years for mobile phones to 10.8Â years for large loudspeakers, the average storage time from 0.8Â years for flat panel display televisions to 3.6Â years for large loudspeakers. Most service lifetime histograms are positively skewed and show substantial differences among device types. The storage time histograms, being more similar to one another, indicate that the storage behavior is similar for most device types. The data on disposal pathways show that a large proportion of devices are stored and reused before they reach the collection scheme.

Suggested Citation

  • Esther Thiébaud (†Müller) & Lorenz M. Hilty & Mathias Schluep & Rolf Widmer & Martin Faulstich, 2018. "Service Lifetime, Storage Time, and Disposal Pathways of Electronic Equipment: A Swiss Case Study," Journal of Industrial Ecology, Yale University, vol. 22(1), pages 196-208, February.
    • Handle: RePEc:bla:inecol:v:22:y:2018:i:1:p:196-208
    DOI: 10.1111/jiec.12551
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    Cited by:

    1. van der Merwe, Antoinette & Cabernard, Livia & Günther, Isabel, 2023. "Urban mining: The relevance of information, transaction costs and externalities," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 205(C).
    2. Simon Glöser‐Chahoud & Matthias Pfaff & Frank Schultmann, 2021. "The link between product service lifetime and GHG emissions: A comparative study for different consumer products," Journal of Industrial Ecology, Yale University, vol. 25(2), pages 465-478, April.
    3. Torsten Hummen & Stefanie Hellweg & Ramin Roshandel, 2023. "Optimizing Lifespan of Circular Products: A Generic Dynamic Programming Approach for Energy-Using Products," Energies, MDPI, vol. 16(18), pages 1-27, September.
    4. Zeynep Ozsut Bogar & Askiner Gungor, 2023. "Forecasting Waste Mobile Phone (WMP) Quantity and Evaluating the Potential Contribution to the Circular Economy: A Case Study of Turkey," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(4), pages 1-38, February.

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