| 1. |
- Wasserbaur, Raphael, 1989-, et al.
(författare)
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What if everyone becomes a sharer? A quantification of the environmental impact of access-based consumption for household laundry activities
- 2020
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Ingår i: Resources, Conservation and Recycling. - : Elsevier BV. - 0921-3449 .- 1879-0658. ; 158
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- In order to meet the EU's climate and resource efficiency targets, changes in our daily-life behaviours, as well as business models, are urgently necessary. More insights are needed to make real changes based on research with a systems perspective. We developed a system dynamics model to analyse the environmental benefits of a transition from ownership-based to access-based household laundry activities. The model considers demographic, technological and behavioural aspects and thereby assesses the environmental impact of laundry activities. The model is applied to the Swedish as well as the European context and allows cross-country comparisons. The results indicate a significant potential of the sharing economy. The higher utilisation of shared machines and extended lifespans of the machines can cut greenhouse gas emissions by a third and lower raw material usage overall and lower primary raw material in production due to higher recycling rates. The carbon intensity of the energy mix is a crucial factor for the environmental consequences that arise through changes in energy usage due to sharing economy practices. This case study shows the value of adopting policies that could promote sharing and extended life spans.
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| 2. |
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| 3. |
- Crafoord, Katarina, et al.
(författare)
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The use of public procurement to incentivize longer lifetime and remanufacturing of computers
- 2018
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Ingår i: Procedia CIRP. - : Elsevier BV. - 2212-8271. ; 73, s. 137-141
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Konferensbidrag (refereegranskat)abstract
- Improving the product lifetime of consumer electronics can provide significant environmental benefits. However, there is a tendency among both professional users and consumers to change products, like computers and mobile phones regularly, and as a result their lifetimes become increasingly shorter. With the rise of the Circular Economy, new policies to promote longer product lifetimes have emerged in Europe. These include the regulation of minimum product lifetime through the Ecodesign Directive, the extension of consumer warranties, and the French criminalization of planned obsolescence. Public procurement is an instrument with a significant potential to incentivize longer lifetimes. This study examines the potential for extending the lifetime of computers through public procurement in a Swedish context. The methods employed are literature reviews and interviews with procurers in municipalities, computer remanufacturers, suppliers of computers, and national authorities. There is increasing interest in promoting longer lifetimes through procurement among procuring organizations. Some Swedish municipalities are already procuring remanufactured computers, mainly for economic reasons, and they generally have positive experiences. However, remanufactured computers may not work for all kinds of functions, which highlight the importance of identifying needs of different users. Some municipalities do not plan to purchase remanufactured computers, outlining several barriers. The public sector can also support Circular Economy objectives through supporting recycled materials in new computers. In addition to procurement practices, the public sector can support remanufacturing through selling used computers to remanufacturers.
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| 4. |
- Dalhammar, Carl, et al.
(författare)
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Ecodesign and the Circular Economy: Conflicting Policies in Europe
- 2020. - 1
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Ingår i: EcoDesign and Sustainability : Products, Services, and Business Models - Products, Services, and Business Models. - Singapore : Springer Singapore. - 9789811567780 - 9789811567797 ; 1, s. 187-198
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Konferensbidrag (refereegranskat)abstract
- The number of policies that address the various life cycle environmental impacts of products are increasing, especially in Europe. With the rise of the Circular Economy (CE) concept, the traditional product policies have been supported by new ones that pursue new policy objectives such as increasing product lifetimes and encourage more repairs. In this contribution we discuss principles for improving synergies and reduce conflicts among different product policies. We then outline some of the recent conflicts between policies that have emerged in the context of the CE. We conclude that often the conflicts can be mitigated, or that it is possible to reach a compromise. However, we need to accept that in many cases there is no solution that will satisfy all involved stakeholders.
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| 5. |
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| 6. |
- Dalhammar, Carl, et al.
(författare)
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Options for lifetime labeling: design, scope and consumer interfaces
- 2017
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Ingår i: PLATE: Product Lifetimes And The Environment : Conference Proceedings - Conference Proceedings. - 9781614998198 - 9781614998204 ; 9, s. 461-463
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Konferensbidrag (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- In the context of the Circular Economy, there is a lot of discussion on how policies at European Union and member state levels could provide incentives for the design of more durable products. One potential policy approach is to mandate manufacturers to provide lifetime information to consumers at the time of purchase. This could be done through a specific labeling scheme, or by including such information in the mandatory energy labeling scheme. However, the concept of lifetime is far from straightforward, and it is crucial to analyze the type of product and user patterns if such labeling is to be adopted. In this paper we outline some of the policy options and the issues that must be taken into consideration.
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| 7. |
- Gåvertsson, Ida, et al.
(författare)
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Quality Labelling for Re-used ICT Equipment to Support Consumer Choice in the Circular Economy
- 2020
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Ingår i: Journal of Consumer Policy. - : Springer Science and Business Media LLC. - 1573-0700 .- 0168-7034. ; 43:2, s. 353-377
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- The ever-increasing consumption of natural resources required for the production of consumer electronics, and the growing amount of electronic waste, underline the importance and urgency of extending the lifespan and use of such products. Information and Communication Technology (ICT) remanufacturing is a growing industry, which nonetheless faces several barriers. Consumers often have a perception of re-used and remanufactured products that they are of lesser quality than their new counterparts. To increase consumer confidence, a quality label could be used to communicate quality aspects of re-used ICT equipment. This study investigates the potential of establishing a comprehensive labelling scheme for ICT products, covering criteria on product quality, as a way to support the uptake of re-used and remanufactured products in Sweden. A detailed analysis, through interviews and a literature review of existing re-use certification initiatives in different jurisdictions, highlighted aspects that should be considered for the design and implementation of a labelling scheme, including appropriate marketing, funding sources, establishment of networks, and the necessity of specific quality criteria on ICT products. Interviews with Swedish ICT stakeholders revealed a trade-off between the information communicated by a label of re-used and remanufactured ICT products and the costs to cover and verify these aspects. The Swedish ICT re-use sector is small and it could only benefit from a labelling scheme if there is wide stakeholder participation and government support. Lastly, a quality labelling scheme should be linked to public procurement processes to improve its effectiveness and efficiency.
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| 8. |
- Milios, Leonidas, et al.
(författare)
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Ascending the Waste Hierarchy: Re-use Potential in Swedish Recycling Centres
- 2020
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Ingår i: Detritus. - : Eurowaste SRL. - 2611-4135. ; 9, s. 27-37
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- According to the waste hierarchy principle, which constitutes the basis of European waste legislation, waste prevention and re-use are considered – most of the times – better waste management options than recycling. However, prevention and re-use activities are difficult to operationalise and measure, without a monitoring framework in place. This contribution investigates the potential of re-using end-of-life products that have been disposed at recycling centres in Sweden. Recycling centres receive a wide variety of materials for recycling, of which a portion could be re-used instead. The aim is to identify what product groups can be re-used, the share of these potentially re-usable products in the recycling centres, and under what conditions their re-use is feasible. A literature review of similar studies, site visits at recycling centres in Sweden, and semi-structured interviews with relevant stakeholders were used to analyse the potential for re-use in private recycling centres in Sweden. The most suitable product groups for re-use identified are building materials, furniture and electrical equipment (mainly white goods), as other material types are mostly handled by charity organisations (e.g. textiles). There is significant potential for increasing re-use operations in recycling centres, but in order to be economically profitable it is important to identify the most suitable material fractions (or product groups) and engage in strategic partnerships that will allow more effective organisation of re-use processes.
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| 9. |
- Milios, Leonidas, et al.
(författare)
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Consumer Perceptions of Product Lifetimes and Labelling: Implications for Introducing a Durability Label
- 2023
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Ingår i: Circular Economy. - 2752-163X. ; 1:1
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Extending the lifetime of products enables material resource savings and provides an effective resource efficiency strategy within a circular economy paradigm. Although consumer demand for longer lasting products that can be easily repaired has been on the rise, it is not certain that consumers are fully able to identify such products and willing to pay a premium for them. France introduced a mandatory product repairability index in 2021 and plans to introduce a mandatory product durability index by 2024. The reasoning was to allow consumers to benchmark products, and to provide incentives for manufacturers to design durable and repairable products. This initiative would most likely speed up activities for developing a harmonised European Union (EU) labelling scheme to avoid the possibility that various EU countries start their own schemes, which could be problematic for business within the EU single market. However, there is uncertainty regarding how to best display a durability label for influencing consumer choice. This contribution reviews the literature on product durability information and labelling, addressing consumer perceptions on durability labelling and whetherthe provision of durability information is taken into account in purchasing decisions. Potential implications in durability labelling implementation are discussed, concluding the article with suggestions for overcoming potential implementation challenges.
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| 10. |
- Monciardini, David, et al.
(författare)
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Circular Economy regulation : An emerging research agenda
- 2023
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Ingår i: Handbook of the Circular Economy : Transitions and Transformation - Transitions and Transformation. - : De Gruyter. - 9783110723229 - 9783110723373 ; , s. 219-240
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Bokkapitel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Circular Economy regulation is rapidly adopted at different levels of governance, including municipalities, private and industry standards, national law and supranational standard-setting. There are increasing demands from policymakers, businesses and civil society for theoretical insights and more knowledge on the effects of policies and laws ('policy learning'). However, despite this mounting interest, the literature still lacks a real strand of studies that systematically and comprehensively addresses this area of research. The chapter offers a review of the origins and limitations of the current model of regulation and the emergence of a law of the Circular Economy in Europe. We maintain that the policy and academic debate is currently too fragmented, depoliticised and undertheorised, highlighting existing gaps and new research directions.
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