Some sustainability strategies - such as making manufacturing processes or the products themselves more energy efficient - are generally seen as a win-win from a business profitability, customer satisfaction, and sustainability standpoint. Other elements of sustainability, however, might be viewed in some ways (but not all) to be in contradiction to objectives of business growth and profitability — for example, by costing more money to implement.

This presentation explores how academics, who are focused on reducing the environmental impact of human production and consumption systems, view product longevity (i.e. device lifetime extension), regardless of the impact (positive or negative) on business objectives. It presents the academic view where total sustainability impacts — across the total volume of products produced — are important, not just per-product impacts (as businesses normally focus on).

Summary:

• Academics have for some time identified a clear link between increasing product lifetimes and improving sustainability, and see product longevity as a key factor for the sustainability for durable goods (even more than recycling)

• The overall logic is that by increasing lifetimes of products, less materials and energy are consumed to meet the same consumer needs, therefore mitigating environmental impacts

• Academics have been more recently studying, however, identify several complexities that need to be considered:

  • Release of more energy-efficient models: if a significantly more energy-efficient model is released, it is sometimes better for the consumer to immediately upgrade

  • Over-engineering durability: while some products can be used longer without any design changes, other products need more resource-intensive materials to make them more durable. If customers do not actually use those products for longer, sustainability outcomes can actually be negative

  • Rebound effects: There are many types of rebound, but one example relates to the money consumers save from more energy- or material-efficient products (or when buying a product secondhand): they may take their savings and spend it on another product/service with equal or greater negative sustainability impact

• Planetary boundaries imply we must not just reduce our environmental impacts, but ensure we don’t cross the irreversible “cliffs” of system boundaries

• While product longevity is a promising strategy, the increasing evidence of rebound shows us that we need to take even greater responsibility to help ensure our sustainability efforts do not in reality make the situation worse