Abstract
Nowadays, smartphones are one of the most common devices in developed countries, as most citizens are owners of at least one. The lifetime of these products, however, is far from that of many other electronic devices such as laptops, tablets, eBooks or any household device. Smartphone’s average lifetime is reported to be between 2 and 3 years by many studies, and the environmental impact of manufacturing, using and disposing of these products may grow to be a global issue in the years to come. This calls for a reformulation of our relationship with these devices, both from the user and design perspective, that allow us to extend their lives. But, with that purpose in mind, we first need to take a look at how this new way of thinking can greatly improve the sustainability of smartphones by evaluating how different its environmental impact would be from the one of our current consumption habits. In this work, we will explore current practises and different potential scenarios that could prevent, if only, just a small fraction of the environmental impact of smartphones.
This work shows how a change on new different kind of behaviours and habits can be a potential new path for diminishing the environmental impact of smartphones. It also reveals how easily, when faced with a component malfunction, consumers tend to replace their smartphone against the alternative of repairing them and what cost this has from a GWP perspective for the case of battery and/or display malfunctions. Finally, it estimates an average lifetime for every component and an average extended lifetime for every phone repaired.
