A Gnanapragasam

Extending product lifetimes through WEEE reuse and repair: Opportunities and challenges in the UK

Discarded electrical and electronic equipment (EEE) is a rapidly growing waste stream. This has increased, in part, because advances in technology have contributed to shorter product lifetimes. As such, waste electrical and electronic equipment (WEEE) has received increasing attention from policy makers. Previous research has revealed the large proportion of end-of-life consumer electronics disposed of through residual waste collections and destined for landfill disposal or incineration. This represents a missed opportunity for extending their lifetime by facilitating recovery for repair or reuse. This paper outlines current policy context, explores routes for end-of-life EEE in the UK and examines opportunities for product life extension through reuse. A series of semi-structured interviews were undertaken to determine if current collection system for end-of-life equipment in the UK adequately encourages increased repair and reuse in line with UK Governments waste reduction programme, or whether there is excessive focus on recycling. The findings are reported to discuss if UK policy framework is adequate to embed legislative requirements and improve current practices and whether the current system promotes awareness and understanding by householders sufficient to encourage behaviour change.

Consumer expectations of product lifetimes around the world: a review of global research findings and methods

This paper presents the findings of research to identify and evaluate current studies into consumer expectations of product lifetimes across durable goods. Following a literature review, studies were classified using a product categorisation scheme formulated at Nottingham Trent University and a product lifetime expectations typology adapted from Oguchi et al. (2016a) was developed. The results would appear to suggest that consumer expectations of product lifetimes are in decline, and that those in the United Kingdom appear to be lower than those in other parts of the world. However, identifying differences in consumer expectations of product lifetimes is hindered by the different methods employed in studies, as face-to-face interviews, and online, telephone and postal studies all have the potential to produce different results. Three key challenges to furthering research into consumer expectations of product lifetimes were identified: Product coverage, definitions of consumer expectations and sampling strategies. Only if these challenges can be addressed will researchers be able to draw meaningful conclusions on both personal and cultural trends in expected product lifetimes and make a positive contribution to addressing both material and social aspects of the circular economy.

Consumer perspectives on product lifetimes: a national study of lifetime satisfaction and purchasing factors

The extension of product lifetimes of consumer goods has the potential to encourage sustainable consumption, reduce carbon emissions and facilitate a transition to a circular economy. However, current understandings of consumer perspectives on product lifetimes are limited. This paper presents the findings of the first national study of consumer satisfaction with product lifetimes across an exhaustive range of consumer durables. The research was undertaken in the United Kingdom where consumer satisfaction and purchasing factors were studied across eighteen product categories. These product categories were devised from academic and market research undertaken at Nottingham Trent University. In total, 2,207 participants completed the survey and the sample profile was similar to the United Kingdoms population with respect to age and gender. The results indicate that consumers appear generally satisfied with the lifetimes of their products and suggest that efforts to extend product lifetimes should focus on developing business and policy options. However, participants also emphasised that longevity, reliability and guarantee length were important factors in their purchasing decisions. Consumer interest in these factors could indicate that lifetime labelling and the promotion of longer guarantees by manufacturers and retailers may offer pathways to reduce energy and material consumption associated with short-lived products, facilitating movement towards a low carbon circular economy.