The Current Issue
On 1 January 2016, the 17 Sustainable Development Goals of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, adopted by world leaders in September 2015, officially came into force. One of the goals defined focuses on Responsible Production and Consumption. With material consumption increasing, it aims at “doing more and better with less” or in other words, increasing welfare gains by reducing resource use, degradation and pollution along the whole life cycle of a product. As of today, the material footprint of nations is increasing, driven in part by the problem of planned obsolescence which consists in the artificial boost of the economy by producing unsustainable goods and services that in turn raise the frequency of purchase.
Companies are at the forefront of this issue as they tend to design products that are not repairable. They manufacture goods that are voluntarily different from other brands in order to limit the possibilities of easy repair and prevent from sharing systems with other devices. Apple for example is guilty of doing so with their phone chargers. Moreover, they maintain high repair costs by limiting spare parts. They also further contribute to the dilemma by setting up marketing strategies to push consumers to buy new products that are supposedly more efficient and fashionable.
A quick look at statistics shows how problematic the situation has become. In 44% of cases, consumers keep an electronic device less than 3 years old, and 61% of cases under 5 years old. It is even worse for household appliances where in 45% of cases, it is kept less than 5 years while it is estimated that they should last about 10 years. Only 15% of washing machines last that long. According to a Supreka-Ademe study, 90% of appliances failures occur between 2 years and 5 years, which is not so coincidently at the end of the given warranty.
Yet worryingly, the search for constant economic growth in a context of mass consumption is not compatible with the fossil resources of our planet. The consequences of overconsumption in the long term is environmentally unsustainable. With planned obsolescence becoming a major issue, we must rethink our consumptions patterns. Because what is at stake is the relationship between the use of objects by consumers and the planet. At present, overconsumption induced by planned obsolescence is both harmful for the environment while ironically not satisfying consumers. We can distinguish several issues.
The Ecological issue
Problems induced by planned obsolescence are getting worse. A 2015 German study revealed that the percentage of white goods (large pieces of household equipment such as refrigerators and washing machines) being replaced by consumers within just five years owing to technical defects increased noticeably between 2004 and 2012 - from 3.5% to 8.3%. A Canadian study by the Equiterre association also showed that in 2016, circa 45 million tons of electrical and electronic equipment are thrown away. That could climb by 17% by 2021. This is the equivalent of almost 4,500 Eiffel towers. On average, a household throws away items 10 times more than 100 years ago. Specifically in France, between 17 and 23 kg of electric and electronic waste is produced each year by inhabitants. The consequences of overconsumption and production are serious. In 2015/2016, EU member states were responsible for around 77% of used electric and electronic equipment imported into Nigeria, where huge landfills appeared.
The Social issue
consumers are increasingly frustrated. They invest significant amounts of savings in products that are unsustainable which becomes very costly in the long term. Moreover, they lose autonomy over their tools as products are often not repairable and can’t be easily opened to recover spare parts.
The Individual issue
Consumer habits need to be changed. A study shows that in 20% of cases, one is separated from a technological object for psychological reasons.
However, hope remains
The phenomenon is gaining attention and political actions are emerging to regulate the issue of planned obsolescence :
The French Act (2015). In France, planned obsolescence is now an offense punishable by two years' imprisonment with a fine of € 300,000 (or up to 5% of the company's average annual turnover on French territory).
The Hamon Law (2014). The compliance guarantee for new entrants initially set at 6 months has been extended to 2 years.
The Roadmap for the Circular Economy (2018). This document deals with 50 measures that the State undertakes to promote circular economy, which is composed of 4 parts: better production, better consumption, better waste management and mobilization of stakeholders. Some companies have already emerged as players in the circular economy : Maximum (a furniture manufacturer startup that draws its material from industrial waste), Patagonia, Zippo, Le Creuset...
On the societal side, there are other types of initiatives such as associative initiatives : NGOs or "HOP" (Halte à l'Obsolescence Programmée) which create advertising campaigns, events, conferences, public debates, pedagogy with children in school and encourage business start-ups that promote sustainable and repairable products.
All of these current initiatives show the possibility of entering a virtuous circle. That’s why we asked the question : How can consumers encourage a more responsible production and reduce technological waste in a culture of mass production and consumption ? We believe that there lacks an actor that allows to reduce consumption patterns and provide consumption knowledge to consumers while guiding them in their purchasing choices. With Warrant-e, we want to take advantage of this opportunity.
