IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/bla/inecol/v27y2023i3p896-907.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Carbon and water conservation value of independent, place‐based repair in Lima, Peru

Author

Listed:
  • Josh Lepawsky
  • Kathia Cáceres
  • Marco Gusukuma
  • Ramzy Kahhat

Abstract

To what extent do repair and maintenance of consumer electronics conserve the materials and energy they embody? In this paper we examine the conservation value of a cluster of independent third‐party electronics repair businesses in Lima, Peru. Drawing on a combination of methods that include fieldwork, digital methods for online sociology, and life cycle assessment (LCA) of phones and tablets we quantify the conservation value of typical repairs performed at businesses in this cluster in terms of CO2 equivalent (CO2e) and water consumption relative to new manufactures of the same categories of electronics. We model typical repair scenarios and find that repair can offer substantial conservation benefits. However, these benefits vary by device sub‐unit repaired (e.g., replacing a camera vs. replacing a display). For example, while two screen repairs through replacement is nearly equivalent to replacement with a whole new device, repairing with components that are already in the market could save around 10% of total emissions in global warming potential (GWP) for both devices. Further, we discuss the politics of attributing the conservation value achieved by the third‐party repair cluster in Lima to either domestic (that is, Peruvian) or foreign CO2e and water consumption. Whose conservation of CO2e and water is this? How do the answers to that question shape understandings of the relevance of location for industrial ecology? Our work contributes to the emerging subfield of political industrial ecology and its incorporation of spatially explicit LCAs.

Suggested Citation

  • Josh Lepawsky & Kathia Cáceres & Marco Gusukuma & Ramzy Kahhat, 2023. "Carbon and water conservation value of independent, place‐based repair in Lima, Peru," Journal of Industrial Ecology, Yale University, vol. 27(3), pages 896-907, June.
  • Handle: RePEc:bla:inecol:v:27:y:2023:i:3:p:896-907
    DOI: 10.1111/jiec.13368
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://doi.org/10.1111/jiec.13368
    Download Restriction: no

    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1111/jiec.13368?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Paul Teehan & Milind Kandlikar, 2012. "Sources of Variation in Life Cycle Assessments of Desktop Computers," Journal of Industrial Ecology, Yale University, vol. 16(s1), pages 182-194, April.
    2. James R Suckling & Jacquetta Lee, 2017. "Integrating Environmental and Social Life Cycle Assessment: Asking the Right Question," Journal of Industrial Ecology, Yale University, vol. 21(6), pages 1454-1463, December.
    3. Sandra Boldoczki & Andrea Thorenz & Axel Tuma, 2021. "Does increased circularity lead to environmental sustainability?: The case of washing machine reuse in Germany," Journal of Industrial Ecology, Yale University, vol. 25(4), pages 864-876, August.
    4. 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.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Koide, R. & Murakami, S. & Nansai, K., 2022. "Prioritising low-risk and high-potential circular economy strategies for decarbonisation: A meta-analysis on consumer-oriented product-service systems," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 155(C).
    2. Kasulaitis, Barbara V. & Babbitt, Callie W. & Kahhat, Ramzy & Williams, Eric & Ryen, Erinn G., 2015. "Evolving materials, attributes, and functionality in consumer electronics: Case study of laptop computers," Resources, Conservation & Recycling, Elsevier, vol. 100(C), pages 1-10.
    3. Florian Lüdeke‐Freund & Stefan Gold & Nancy M. P. Bocken, 2019. "A Review and Typology of Circular Economy Business Model Patterns," Journal of Industrial Ecology, Yale University, vol. 23(1), pages 36-61, February.
    4. Sourabh Jain & Jury Gualandris, 2023. "When does upcycling mitigate climate change? The case of wet spent grains and fruit and vegetable residues in Canada," Journal of Industrial Ecology, Yale University, vol. 27(2), pages 522-534, April.
    5. Lin Shi & Katharine J. Mach & Sangwon Suh & Adam Brandt, 2022. "Functionality‐based life cycle assessment framework: An information and communication technologies (ICT) product case study," Journal of Industrial Ecology, Yale University, vol. 26(3), pages 782-800, June.
    6. Fabio Pesari & Giovanni Lagioia & Annarita Paiano, 2023. "Client‐side energy and GHGs assessment of advertising and tracking in the news websites," Journal of Industrial Ecology, Yale University, vol. 27(2), pages 548-561, April.
    7. Kevin Joseph Dillman & Áróra Árnadóttir & Jukka Heinonen & Michał Czepkiewicz & Brynhildur Davíðsdóttir, 2020. "Review and Meta-Analysis of EVs: Embodied Emissions and Environmental Breakeven," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(22), pages 1-28, November.
    8. Haitao Yu & Pratima Bansal & Diane-Laure Arjaliès, 2023. "International business is contributing to environmental crises," Journal of International Business Studies, Palgrave Macmillan;Academy of International Business, vol. 54(6), pages 1151-1169, August.
    9. Anders S. G. Andrae & Tomas Edler, 2015. "On Global Electricity Usage of Communication Technology: Trends to 2030," Challenges, MDPI, vol. 6(1), pages 1-41, April.
    10. Raihanian Mashhadi, Ardeshir & Behdad, Sara, 2018. "Discriminant effects of consumer electronics use-phase attributes on household energy prediction," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 118(C), pages 346-355.
    11. Eric Masanet & Niko Heeren & Shigemi Kagawa & Jonathan Cullen & Reid Lifset & Richard Wood, 2021. "Material efficiency for climate change mitigation," Journal of Industrial Ecology, Yale University, vol. 25(2), pages 254-259, April.
    12. D. Nishijima & M. Oguchi, 2024. "Comparing Product Lifetime Extensions by Enhancing Consumers’ Expected Product Lifetime Among Different Durable Products," Journal of Consumer Policy, Springer, vol. 47(2), pages 223-239, June.
    13. Anders S. G. Andrae & Mikko Samuli Vaija, 2014. "To Which Degree Does Sector Specific Standardization Make Life Cycle Assessments Comparable?—The Case of Global Warming Potential of Smartphones," Challenges, MDPI, vol. 5(2), pages 1-21, November.

    More about this item

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:bla:inecol:v:27:y:2023:i:3:p:896-907. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Wiley Content Delivery (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.blackwellpublishing.com/journal.asp?ref=1088-1980 .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.