Environmental implications caused by disruptive business models for service life extension of mobile devices

The environmental impact of mobile Internet-enabled devices (MIEDs) is highly relevant and growing. According to Belkhir & Elmeligi (2018), the relative contribution of the information and communication technology to global greenhouse gas emissions will rise from around 1% in 2007 to over 14% by 2040, which corresponds to around 5 GtCO2eq. The largest negative environmental impact of MIEDs is caused during production (see Keller et al., 2019). For this reason, the lifetime extension of MIEDs could significantly reduce their ecological footprint. The Lifesaving project aims to develop innovative approaches for lifetime extension that are both economically viable and appealing to consumers. Therefore, not only environmental factors are analysed, but also the needs of consumers and the various market players, such as repair shops or second-hand retailers. Based on these findings, disruptive business models are developed, which stimulate the lifetime extension of mobile devices. Finally, these business models will be assessed on their direct and indirect impact on the environment and evaluated in field experiments. Life cycle assessment (LCA) studies of MIEDs have shown that greenhouse gas emissions increase over time due to the increasing complexity and storage capacity of the devices (see Ercan et al., 2016). The studies agree that the manufacturers of the integrated circuits (IC) cause the majority of the environmental impact (see Proske et al., 2016; Ercan et al., 2016; Moberg et al., 2014). This effect is mainly due to electricity production, as the manufacturing of integrated circuits is a highly energy-intensive process. However, the currently published life cycle inventory models for production of mobile devices show a considerable difference in the environmental impacts per device compared to the most recent environmental reports of device producers (e.g. Apple) and availability of MIED specific components is limited. Therefore, up-to-date life cycle inventory models for modular modelling of MIEDs, especially ICs, are being developed within the project, which will allow to quantify the environmental impacts caused by lifetime extending business models. In this way, the full life cycle of MIEDs, including rebound effects, will be evaluated