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A critical analysis of the sustainability of mobile phone use
... Similarly, the working force in the production plants is treated as slaves and compelled to work beyond their physical comforts. While some studies claim that smartphones can provide service for 5−10 years, in practice, it has been seen to serve consumers for an average of 2 years (Paiano et al., 2013). Such discrepancy might be initially a shocking fact, but a look at a typical advertisement makes everything clear. ...
... The environmental implications of this economics are deep and immoral. A huge pile of e-waste is produced when manufacturers sell electronics to the same customer each year, considering the fact that only a fraction of these electronics gets recycled (Paiano et al., 2013). Most of those electronics, which probably still works, finally end up in the landfills without proper management. ...
... Although there is a rising awareness against ewaste and the necessity to recycle or reuse electronics, most of the damage has already been done even before the customers get a hand on their smartphones. The use of fossil fuel is the main culprit as it has been estimated that a single cell phone produces a waste of 200 times its weight while manufacturing it (Paiano et al., 2013). ...
We, humans, have invented many technologies in the past few decades to enhance our lifestyles. Some of them induce the invention of electronics like cell phones, better cooking apparatuses, plastics, and insecticides for better farming. These inventions are utilitarian at first look, but the other side of them greatly goes missing. We are still manufacturing tons of cell phones, whereas the old disposed phones are not properly recycled, hence they stay in the landfills polluting the environment. The toxic elements required to manufacture such electronics also have similar effects. Moreover, the convenient cooking apparatuses are coated with chemicals that are harmful to humans. Similarly, the insecticides, used for better farming are actually deleterious in the long run.
... However, ubiquitous smartphone usage has brought some far-reaching influences on university students' emotions [13], consumption attitude and lifestyle [4,6]. Some issues, such as the end-of-life waste from smartphones and their associated equipment, have aroused great concerns from the whole society [14,15]. Previous research concluded that waste electrical and electronic equipment (WEEE) is one of the largest growing waste streams globally [16]. ...
... It is found that smartphone with a larger screen also had a higher battery capacity, which was confirmed by the statistical results (Pearson coefficient = 0.605, significant correlation at the 0.01 level, 2-tailed). Such smartphone usually costs much money and consumes more energy than the traditional non-smart counterpart does [14]. There are 50.2% of the smartphones with both large screen (� 4 inches) and high battery capacity (� 1500 mAh). ...
... Smartphone is one of the battery-powered devices that have some notable characteristics with respect to energy consumption [5]. It is important and meaningful to estimate the daily power consumption from an individual smartphone usage [14]. However, the complexity of modern smartphone makes it difficult to accurately measure its energy consumption [5]. ...
Background
The usage status, waste electrical and electronic equipment (WEEE) related to the smartphones of on-campus engineering students should be studied. Furthermore, the correlations between their smartphone profiles with energy consumption and environmental knowledge should be understood make measures improve their environmental behaviors.
Methods
Pro-environmental behavior and smartphone uses of the on-campus engineering undergraduates in Xi’an, China, were investigated with a self-designed questionnaire anonymously. The energy-saving activities they participated in and their e-waste treatment patterns were analyzed.
Results
Most of the respondents had a smartphone with large screen and high battery capacity, which also had long standby/usage time and frequent charging. Average daily power consumption of one smartphone was estimated to be 6.475 Wh. The surveyed undergraduate students changed their smartphones frequently, which produced large quantities of WEEE annually.
Conclusion
Most on-campus students treated their waste smartphones in the proper ways. However, some of them were short of environmental knowledge about their smartphones. Some measures were suggested to improve their environmental concerns. The findings will help the on-campus engineering undergraduates in China to use their smartphones rationally and to deal with their waste smartphones appropriately.
... As a result, the sale of mobile phones has grown immensely, and their lifespan ranges between only 12 and 24 months, even if the devices could function for up to10 years (Paiano et al., 2013). Because of this, electronic waste (e-waste) generation has increased, thus wasting the valuable materials contained and increasing the negative environmental impacts due to inadequate management of electronic waste. ...
... In addition to this, surface and ground water can be affected because of leaching (Awasthi et al., 2016). Besides this, there are other impacts such as CO 2 emissions generated during the use and discard stages of e-waste; while in use, it is common knowledge that these devices use electrical energy, which often is produced from fossil resources and generates greenhouse emissions (Paiano et al., 2013;Suckling and Lee, 2015;Yu et al., 2010). In addition, once the phone is discarded the emissions produced through decomposition must be kept in mind (Arup and De Montfort University, 2012;Chen et al., 2019). ...
... The articles focus on the environmental impacts of mobile phones estimating the amount of electronic waste based on the number of discarded units and the total mass they make up, considering their lifespan, sales figures of devices, and the number of mobile phone lines per year in the country of interest (ICF International, 2011;Paiano et al., 2013;Yu et al., 2010). The context of each country where the research is conducted has been considered to determine the lifespan of mobile phones (ICF International, 2011;Paiano et al., 2013;Yu et al., 2010). ...
Global concern about electronic waste is growing due to the awareness of the consequences of inadequate management of this waste. The relationship between the accelerated development of telecommunications, globalization, economic growth, market conditions, environmental policies, the generation of electronic waste and the negative impact on the environment are of increasing interest for specialists in environmental science. This study aims to identify the relevant variables that influence electronic waste generation from discarded mobile phones, and the environmental implications of use and disposal of mobile telephones via a case study in Colombia, using a System Dynamics Model and the analysis of several various scenarios. The main determining factors were identified as mobile telephony line acquisitions, gross domestic product per capita, and the lifespan of mobile phones. These were shown to be the determining variables in the generation of waste of electrical and electronic equipment (WEEE) in the case of mobile phones in Colombia. Secondly, the amount of carbon dioxide emissions depends on the length of usage of the phones; in 2019 the actual waste generated by the disposal of mobile phones only contributed to 10.07 CO2 tons, compared to 102,245 tons generated by their usage.
... In this sense, brand image is derived not only from signals sent by companies, but also by online reviews written by consumers. Specifically, we focused on the cell phone category, an interesting case study given its impact on sustainability [12]. The shortened lifecycle and first world throwaway culture that affect these types of products are concerning, given that the conditions surrounding the extraction of necessary minerals, such as coltan use in batteries, often result in conflict and involve unfair labor practices and human rights abuses [13], such as in the issue of child soldiers [14]. ...
... Specifically, we used the corpus about "Cell Phones and Accessories" and particularly the category "Cell Phone". The case study addressed the need to examine the sustainability of the mobile phone sector [12]. This is due to the fact that the manufacturing of mobile phones with a short lifecycle has increased sales of these electronic goods [12], which in turn has produced a negative environmental impact due to the corresponding increase in demand for resources such as coltan, as previously mentioned. ...
... The case study addressed the need to examine the sustainability of the mobile phone sector [12]. This is due to the fact that the manufacturing of mobile phones with a short lifecycle has increased sales of these electronic goods [12], which in turn has produced a negative environmental impact due to the corresponding increase in demand for resources such as coltan, as previously mentioned. ...
Companies have realized the importance of “big data” in creating a sustainable competitive advantage, and user-generated content (UGC) represents one of big data’s most important sources. From blogs to social media and online reviews, consumers generate a huge amount of brand-related information that has a decisive potential business value for marketing purposes. Particularly, we focus on online reviews that could have an influence on brand image and positioning. Within this context, and using the usual quantitative star score ratings, a recent stream of research has employed sentiment analysis (SA) tools to examine the textual content of reviews and categorize buyer opinions. Although many SA tools split comments into negative or positive, a review can contain phrases with different polarities because the user can have different sentiments about each feature of the product. Finding the polarity of each feature can be interesting for product managers and brand management. In this paper, we present a general framework that uses natural language processing (NLP) techniques, including sentiment analysis, text data mining, and clustering techniques, to obtain new scores based on consumer sentiments for different product features. The main contribution of our proposal is the combination of price and the aforementioned scores to define a new global score for the product, which allows us to obtain a ranking according to product features. Furthermore, the products can be classified according to their positive, neutral, or negative features (visualized on dashboards), helping consumers with their sustainable purchasing behavior. We proved the validity of our approach in a case study using big data extracted from Amazon online reviews (specifically cell phones), obtaining satisfactory and promising results. After the experimentation, we could conclude that our work is able to improve recommender systems by using positive, neutral, and negative customer opinions and by classifying customers based on their comments.
... The mobile phone lifecycle includes several stages (see Fig. 5) and while phones have a usable life of up to ten years (Geyer and Blass, 2010;Paiano et al., 2013), most are retained by the owner for a fraction of that time. The average initial lifetime of a phone ('A' in the calculation) is two years in Europe and the US (Geyer and Blass, 2010;Wilhelm et al., 2011). ...
... Phones are replaced for financial, personal or technical reasons. Operators continually propose more financially appealing offers (such as phone promotions and discounts or cheaper tariffs) and consumers seek more fashionable products (Paiano et al., 2013). Technologically, planned obsolescence or innovation also encourage change (Paiano et al., 2013;Wilhelm et al., 2011). ...
... Operators continually propose more financially appealing offers (such as phone promotions and discounts or cheaper tariffs) and consumers seek more fashionable products (Paiano et al., 2013). Technologically, planned obsolescence or innovation also encourage change (Paiano et al., 2013;Wilhelm et al., 2011). ...
There are many different assessment techniques and indicators to determine environmental performance. Each technique is based on a specific rationale. Almost all existing assessments techniques evaluate resource use based on their burden relative to value. This conflicts with the view of the Circular Economy which suggests that economic, social and environmental development will be achieved by keeping resources in use for as long as possible. The existing burden-orientated techniques are therefore unsuitable for guiding managers in relation to Circular Economy objectives. We fill this gap by developing an environmental performance metric, the longevity indicator, which measures contribution to material retention based on the amount of time a resource is kept in use. The indicator has three generic components (initial lifetime, earned refurbished lifetime and earned recycled lifetime), which can be used for managerial decision making and the Circular Economy. Using the example of mobile phones we demonstrate the general application and suitability of this indicator.
... While the transition of a cellphone throughout its lifecycle has not been fully studied to provide data on the average lifespan of a cellphone (Paiano et al., 2013), extending the use of a cellphone beyond its service life, as compared to the disposal of the device, can reduce electronic waste. Hence, getting a used cellphone, whether donated, reconditioned, or from a second-hand store, can avoid the climate and other impacts associated with the purchase of a new cellphone (Li et al., 2010). ...
... Hence, getting a used cellphone, whether donated, reconditioned, or from a second-hand store, can avoid the climate and other impacts associated with the purchase of a new cellphone (Li et al., 2010). While 65% of cellphones are recyclable (Paiano et al., 2013), recycling should be the last option when the cellphone is beyond repair. The recycled materials are reintroduced into the production cycle, thereby minimizing the waste going into landfills or incinerators (Cordova-Pizarro et al., 2019). ...
This paper introduces a conceptual framework designed to promote everyday sustainable habits that mitigate climate impacts. Recognizing that individual behaviors significantly contribute to global greenhouse gas emissions, the framework aims to inform, involve, and incentivize individuals to adopt sustainable practices. Drawing on interdisciplinary research, the paper addresses the challenges of behavioral change, including information deficits, eco-anxiety, and the influence of convenience and cultural norms on consumption patterns. It recognizes the lack of practical guidance in many sustainability frameworks and proposes a structured approach in encouraging sustainable living through incremental behavioral changes.
The framework categorizes sustainable habits into three levels of adoption—Easy, Frugal, and Heroic—based on the effort required and the potential climate impact. Five everyday routines—brushing teeth, preparing meals, commuting, online shopping for clothing, and owning cellphones—are used to illustrate how small, collective actions can drive significant environmental benefits. For each routine, the paper outlines specific sustainable habits, their positive impacts, and the ease of adoption, providing a clear pathway for individuals to reduce their carbon footprint.
The paper emphasizes the importance of stakeholder engagement and community support in fostering sustainable habits. It proposes strategies for disseminating information, incentivizing participation, and building communities of practice to sustain behavioral change. By leveraging social media and other communication tools, the framework aims to create a supportive environment where individuals can share experiences and motivate one another.
... The environmental impacts of the mobile communication industry (MCI) have been assessed extensively (Lubritto et al., 2011;Williams, 2011;Paiano et al., 2013;Mejame et al., 2018;Belkkhir and Elmelgi, 2018;Joshi et al., 2021). Although the MCI benefits economic and social developments tremendously, the technologies, devices, and services in the MCI have significant environmental consequences throughout their life cycle from manufacturing, operation, and device disposal (Williams, 2011). ...
... Device disposal is another concern. Due to the short life span of electronic equipment such as mobile phones, the rapidly growing e-waste and resulting toxic chemicals and heavy metals (Paiano et al., 2013;Mejame et al., 2018) pose risks to eco-sensitive environments and human health. In China, rapid development in mobile telecommunication and significant increase in the device installations also enhance the request to the service, featured by rapid growing BTS (Base Transceiver Station) operational hours and traffic management. ...
While the rapid expansion of China's 5G mobile network helps to speed up the nation's economic and social development, it tends to release more CO2 due to the 5G's significant energy demand, hampering sustainable development of the 5G network. Previous assessments of CO2 emissions from China's 5G development were based on a projected 5G network ranging from six to fifteen million base stations with the absent of a convincing business model in 5G's application. Under the scenario of business-estimated six million base stations in 2030, the share of electricity consumed by China's 5G networks in 2030 could reach 8.4 % of the national total power generation, causing 0.44 GtCO2/yr CO2 emissions. We collected 5G base station numbers in 2020 and 2021 in 31 provinces and province-level municipalities (PLM), the period with the rapid growth of the 5G base stations in China. We linked these provincial base stations with provincial Gross Domestic Product (GDP), population (POP), and big data development level (BDDL) and established a statistical model to predict 5G base stations by 2030. The model predicted 2-5 million 5G base stations by 2030, considerably lower than the business-projected base station number. Under the model predicted 5G base stations, China's 5G network could yield 0.15-0.29 GtCO2/yr emissions subject to the nation's BDDL from 40 to 80 % by 2030. Both 5G base stations and CO2 emissions are significantly lower than the previous estimates. We decomposed the CO2 footprint of China's 5G networks and assessed the contribution of the number of 5G base stations and mobile data traffic to 5G-induced CO2 emissions. We find that increasing the application of clean energy and promoting energy efficiency can reduce CO2 emissions in the 5G network. To more accurately estimate 5G's climate effect, we propose that it urgently needs to improve vivid 5G business models.
... 540). Paiano et al. (2013) also considered that the behavioral patterns of the users would influence the sustainability of mobile phones [41]. Other studies have focused on the sustainable business model of smartphones, for example, Schneider et al. (2018) proposed a sustainable smartphone business approach by combining product modularity, product-service systems, and design [42]. ...
... 540). Paiano et al. (2013) also considered that the behavioral patterns of the users would influence the sustainability of mobile phones [41]. Other studies have focused on the sustainable business model of smartphones, for example, Schneider et al. (2018) proposed a sustainable smartphone business approach by combining product modularity, product-service systems, and design [42]. ...
The rapid growth of smartphones over recent decades has brought a large amount of e-waste as well as an increased carbon footprint. Facing severe environmental issues, sustainable development of smartphones has become a particularly important public concern. The main aim of this study was to clarify the key factor of sustainability for smartphones based on Taiwanese consumers’ perceived values. Apple’s iPhone was taken as an example. First, key factors of perception that smartphone consumers valued the most in terms of sustainable practice were extracted through a factor analysis. Second, demographic differences related to these key factors were investigated through t-test and one-way ANOVA analyses; demographic variables were gender, age, education level, occupation, and income level. The results were as follows: (1) the key factors were “recognition”, “brand advantage”, “service quality”, “usage period”, and “perceived price”; (2) there was a significant difference between genders on the key factors of perceived value (“recognition”, “brand advantage”, and “perceived price”). Specifically, females have higher perceived values of “recognition”, “brand advantage”, and “perceived price” than males; (3) there was a significant effect of income level on the key factor (“perceived price”) of perceived value. Specifically, respondents with an income level of NTD15,001–30,000 had a higher perceived value of “perceived price” than respondents earning NTD30,001–45,000. Among the five key factors, “recognition” and “brand advantage” are primary factors influencing purchase motivation; “recognition”, “brand advantage”, and “service quality” are primary factors that could influence brand loyalty; “perceived price” is the primary factor that affects purchase intention. This study contributes to the green market segmentation of smartphones. The limitations of the study relate to the size and distribution of the samples.
... Such devices are often discarded while fully functional but considered outdated, or with minor defects like decreased battery life, leading to short product lifetimes. [34,72] This approach enables consumers to replace or upgrade certain components of a product instead of discarding the entire product when it becomes outdated or partially non-functional, thereby increasing the product's lifetime. [62] Encouraging practices such as regular maintenance and offering services like repair workshops can also contribute to product longevity. ...
This perspective addresses the key challenge of advancing the use of Critical Raw Materials (CRMs) and proposes a transition towards circular raw material management. In the context of our current economy, the unsustainable consumption, environmental degradation, geopolitical risks, and economic vulnerabilities associated with CRMs highlight the limitations in ensuring long‐term CRM availability, emphasizing the environmental, social, and economic implications. In response, this perspective underlines a multifaceted technological approach to mitigate CRM criticality, focusing on reducing CRM use, substituting CRMs with less critical materials, and enhancing recovery and recycling processes, with Design for Circularity as the most impactful solution. The latter advocates for a paradigm shift in product design and material utilization, emphasizing principles like modular design, product life extension, and the transition from product ownership to service models. Such a holistic approach is not only crucial for sustainable CRM management, but is also key to fostering a resilient and low‐carbon economy.
... Hence, efforts are needed towards more sustainable smartphone design, fairer production, and better product and disposal regulations whilst seriously considering higher-level issues such as overconsumption, eternal economic growth, and social and environmental depletion. Therefore, scholars from diverse academic fields, including design, industrial ecology, waste management, and law, along with the industry, have started to explore more sustainable smartphone alternatives [5,[12][13][14][15][16][17][18][19][20][21], with which the society might 'move the needle' in the right direction towards a safer space for humanity [22]. Not least, fields such as transition and interaction design have raised attention to sustainability [10,23,24] through their streams such as responsible/sustainable interaction [24][25][26][27][28] or critical-speculative design to discuss future technologies [29][30][31][32]. ...
The smartphone industry is undergoing a slow transition towards sustainable design and circular business models in response to mounting social and ecological concerns. This paper discusses a smartphone concept regarding sustainable value creation over its entire lifecycle—thereby urging the creation of alternative designs and future-fit businesses. Hence, drawing inspiration from existing start-ups seeking to establish a sustainable smartphone market, a speculative business proposal is synthesised. It employs an analytical framework, with the three layers ‘agent-situation’, ‘product system’, and ‘business/venture’, custom-made to explore value creation in smartphone design, production, and consumption for both existing businesses and this study’s case. Through the simultaneous consideration of designing and business modelling, this case exemplifies a sensible navigation between sustainability values, regardless of whether trade-offs or even synergies emerge. The resulting cross-fertilisation of the two fields contributes to stretching notions of what is possible and desirable in an advanced circular society future.
... Electronics waste (from now on e-waste) is the fastest growing category of hazardous solid waste in the world (Apolloni et al., 2021;Awasthi et al., 2019;Sundar et al., 2023). Indeed, short product life cycles, poor repairability, growing segments of consumers of electronic products and quick replacements, mainly for consumer electronics, create enormous quantity of e-waste (Arain et al., 2020;Camilleri, 2020;Paiano et al., 2013;Rubin et al., 2014). In 2014, the amount of e-waste was 44.4 million tons, which increased to 53.6 million tons in 2019, and is projected to increase to 74.7 million tons in 2030 (Forti et al., 2020). ...
Electronics waste (e-waste) is the fastest growing category of hazardous solid waste in the world. While the generation of e-waste has recently attracted the attention of a number of researchers, currently, there is little awareness on its management, monitoring and control among the consumers of crowdfunding platforms. This is surprising because the supporters (backers) of crowdfunding are usually considered as disruptive innovators by other stakeholders. In this light, this research explores the role of e-waste management solutions and the formulation of "message framing" in influencing consumer behaviours in crowdfunding contexts. To do this, this study involves an in-depth investigation of fund-raising campaigns focused on e-waste, that were promoted between 2009 and 2020, through Kickstarter's reward-based crowdfunding platform. The results show that environmentally sustainable projects focused on waste reduction and pollution prevention are generating increased funds and triggering the interest of a number of crowd investors who are willing to finance such laudable initiatives. At the same time, the findings suggest that the fundraisers elaborate framing messages on environmental protection and on the preservation of the natural ecosystems can increase the likelihood of the success of their crowdfunding projects. This contribution contributes to both environmental management and to the crowdfunding literature. In conclusion, it offers practical implications for sustainable entrepreneurs who may resort to crowdfunding platforms to raise finance to decrease the accumulation of e-waste from the planet, as well as for other stakeholders including governments, policymakers, and public agencies.
... Hence, Rathore et al. (2011) explored the feasibility of product remanufacturing by assessing consumer perceptions and discovering the answer to the critical question of whether Indian consumers would accept remanufactured products and their marketability or not. Paiano et al. (2013), by focusing on energy usage in the cellphone market in Italy, evaluated cellphone sustainability from two major perspectives: firstly, consider the energy usage of cell phone devices and their accessories, and secondly, consider the confrontation between probable dematerialization as a result of device miniaturization and also concerns with resource usage and waste in this industry. The findings indicate that the persistence and personalization of cell phone devices have a positive impact on cell phone choice. ...
Mobile phones, often known as cell phones, have grown in popularity to the point that they are now almost necessary in today's lifestyle. However, its manufacture, usage, and disposal can impose enormous economic, social, and environmental costs. In recent years, economic, social and environmental concerns have become global public attention. This is particularly true for electronic products like cellphones, which are the subject of this paper. Therefore, consumer electronics should create social and environmental values while achieving positive economic results. Due to consumers’ different behavior based on their local situation, this study looks at people’s perspectives on cellphone sustainability in developing and developed countries. According to the triple bottom line principle, it is crucial for countries to have a responsible attitude toward society and the environment to achieve sustainable development, as well as a concentration on economic profit. Therefore, a mixed method of quantitative and qualitative approaches (based on Twitter data and thematic analysis of literature) has been adopted. In this research, content analysis, descriptive analysis, and sentiment analysis are used to analyze both quantitative and qualitative content for research methodology which is provided with a lexicon-based approach based on Twitter data to identify the most frequent dimensions of “sustainability” that customers perceive. We collected over a hundred-thousand tweets using the Twitter Application Programming Interface (API) over Twenty months. In terms of the three dimensions of "sustainable development," the data show that the "economic" feature is the most important in developing countries, while the "environmental" dimension is the least important. Further analysis shows that the effects of these aspects differ between developed and developing countries. On the other side, due to higher welfare in the developed world, the priority of these aspects included, the "environmental", "social" and lastly "economic" dimensions.
... Sustainability has been the focus of much academic concern. Paiano et al. (2013) take into consideration how the other users' behavioral types would impact the smartphones, sustainability. Some academics have attention to the sustainability of the smartphone business model and developed a sustainable smartphone business Frontiers in Psychology 04 frontiersin.org ...
In recent decades, the fast development of smartphones has resulted in an enormous mass of e-waste besides a carbon footprint increase. In the face of serious environmental concerns, the manufacture and disposal of smartphones have become a primary customer concern. Environmental concerns are becoming a decisive factor when it comes to purchasing a product. Manufacturers have shifted their focus to product design with sustainable requirements in response to these new customer requirements. With all of the affordable technology manufacturers now may consider customer-sustainable requirements. This research aims to examine the relationship between traditional customer requirements, sustainable customer requirements, and sustainable purchase intention for smartphones in China, as well as the mediation effect of sustainable perceived value and the moderation effect of price sensitivity. Customers’ preferences are determined by using an online questionnaire. This research proposed an advanced sustainable purchase intention model by conducting an empirical analysis of the data gathered from 379 questionnaires. To gain a competitive advantage, companies should concentrate on meeting traditional and sustainable requirements more than the product price, according to the findings of the research. And contributes to the segmentation of the eco-friendly smartphone market.
... In smartphones (Ercan et al., 2016) and tablets (Clément et al., 2020), the bulk of negative impacts is actually outside the use phase (Cordella et al., 2021) even if it must be noted that the possibility to carry smartphones everywhere allows for more prolonged Internet usage times and, consequently, it is possible that there could be rebound effects, which have already been studied in the context of ICT (Gossart, 2015;Hilty et al., 2006;Plepys, 2002;). Just during the production phase, smartphones can require amounts of energy resources as high as 30−40 times their weight and can generate waste amounting to 200 times their weight (Paiano et al., 2013). Smartphones, unlike desktop computers, have batteries, which are a source of environmental damage (Kang et al., 2013). ...
Electronic devices consume energy both in the production and the use phase. Furthermore, the “hidden” impacts linked to their use are not frequently assessed and they depend on the behavior of the users, besides the servers and complex web networks. It must be underlined that many websites employ ads and trackers as part of their monetization strategy and, in order for online ads and trackers to work, they add an additional code to be executed on the users’ machines, which in turn requires more processing power. Considering that the Internet had an estimated 4.9 billion users in 2021, the global energy and carbon impacts of online ads and trackers might be significant. To investigate this phenomenon, we designed a novel automated framework for bottom‐up estimation of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions attributable to software using exclusively free and open source software. Our process involved the building of a random sample of global news websites which we visited with and without an ad‐blocker, each time collecting power usage in identical conditions. The gathered data were put into an ordinary least squares (OLS)‐based linear regression model, which showed that ads and trackers on news websites require on average an additional 6.13 W of power on personal computers. This result was then tuned to global environmental and technological parameters to estimate that in 2019, on the client side, ads and trackers on the news websites consumed 0.61 TWh of electrical energy, emitted 0.29 MtCO2eq of GHG, and cost all Internet users approximately 140 million USD (purchasing power parity) of electrical energy. This article met the requirements for a gold‐gold JIE data openness badge described at http://jie.click/badges.
... Wong et al. (2019) developed a theoretical model for smartphone marque swapping behaviour, on the basis of the consumption value theory and the cognition affect behaviour prototype and explored the benefits in terms of emotional worth, social value, epistemological value, and confidence a higher level of consumer brand loyalty and a lower likelihood of switching smartphone brands. Paiano et al. (2013) analysed the smartphone sector's long-term viability in light of key consumer behaviour patterns. The study looked into the relationship between probable dematerialisation as a result of gadget miniaturisation and resource usage. ...
... Each functionality is supported by a set of hardware, software, as well as energy inputs and connections to broader information infrastructure. The multifunctionality nature of smartphone has been explored in academic studies (Nielsen, 2013;Paiano et al., 2013;Schaefer et al., 2003;Suckling & Lee, 2015). To streamline the analysis, we leverage a framework proposed to evaluate the energy impact of Internet of Things devices and incorporate LCA approach (Hittinger & Jaramillo, 2019). ...
Life cycle assessment (LCA) has been widely applied to assessing the environmental impacts of information and communication technologies (ICT) products throughout their lifetime. Building upon LCA methodology, this study proposes a user‐oriented, functionality‐based LCA (FLCA) framework that evaluates the environmental impact of multifunctional ICT products such as smartphones. Incorporating the quality function deployment and LCA literature, we develop an approach that highlights the linkages among user behavior, product functionalities, and product environmental footprints. We use matrix algebra to outline a computational method and a streamlined process to operationalize such analysis. FLCA analyzes the impact of materials in the context of how they are used. To illustrate the concept with a simple example, our first case study calculates the manufacturing GHG emissions of a well‐known multifunctional product, a Swiss Army knife. In the second case study, we estimate the functionality‐based GHG emissions of a hypothetical smartphone. We consider various scopes of impact, including at the levels of device, infrastructure, and supply chains. Extending from LCA methods, FLCA moves away from a general understanding of functionality to a more granular perspective to accommodate the complexity in modern ICT products. Our study advances a user‐oriented perspective to understand product sustainability impacts. Additionally, it offers a method to provide empirical evidence of the “hidden” impacts of industrial products during consumption, enabling more precise linkage of the production‐consumption relationship through LCA toward better design to uncover and address users' needs.
... 10 years, consumers frequently upgrade their devices, limiting use to 1-2 years (Tan et al., 2017). Moreover, the increasingly low cost of electronic equipment, together with the adoption of ever more aggressive marketing strategies for items such as mobile phones, has resulted in a continuous renewal of these devices by consumers (Paianoa et al., 2013). Therefore, the amount of spent mobile phones is constantly rising, thus implying a need to develop efficient strategies for the recycling of such a complex waste. ...
A micro X-ray fluorescence-based approach for the chemical characterization of spent printed circuit boards (PCBSPCBSS) from mobile phones was applied. More in detail, twelve spent mobile phones were grouped into three clusters according to brands, models and year of release, and a study to evaluate the technological evolution of PCBSs over time was carried out. Precious metals and hazardous elements were investigated, revealing a few differences between samples from the different groups. For instance, the distribution of gold on PCBS layers was more widespread for the older analyzed samples, and smaller quantities of bromine and lead were detected in the more recent models in accordance with the Restriction of Hazardous Substances Directive 2002/95/EC. Analysis of PCBS composition should contribute towards correctly managing such a complex waste, maximizing the recovery of base, critical and precious metals and considering the possible presence of harmful elements requiring careful management. The experimental results showed how, using the proposed approach, distribution maps for chemical elements present in PCBSs could be obtained, thus allowing the definition of optimal strategies for further handling (i.e. classification) and processing (i.e. critical/precious metal recovery).
... Nearly 197 billion apps were downloaded in 2017 (Statista 2020), and Android apps have been leading the market share with 87% in 2016 (Store 2020). One of the key features standing behind the exponential usage growth of mobile apps is their usability (Paiano et al. 2013). Mobile apps are more user-centered by a trade-off between providing an interactive and appealing design along with highperformance execution. ...
As the development of Android mobile applications continues to grow and to follow up its high increase in demand and market share, there is a need for automating the evaluation of Graphical Mobile User Interfaces (GMUI) to detect any associated defects as they are perceived to lead to bad overall usability. Although, there is growth in research targeting the assessment of mobile user interfaces, there is a lack of studies assessing their impact on quality. The goal of this work is to analyze the impact of defects on the maintainability of user interfaces by studying the connection between the existence of defects and the change-proneness of user interfaces. We empirically study the impact of 8 aesthetics defects in 56 releases of 5 Android applications and examine the diffuseness of GMUI defects throughout mobile apps evolution. Then, we investigate whether infected classes are changed more frequently, and have a larger change-size than other non-infected classes in terms of Change Frequency (CF) and Change-Size (CS). Moreover, we studied the survivability and co-occurrences of GMUI defects in order to prioritize their corrections. Our empirical validation confirms that the infected user interfaces are more prone to undergo many changes than other user interfaces, and there are some severe aesthetic defects still exists even after makingmany improvements in the code that may need more maintenance efforts.
... In the last two decades, there has been an increase in the consumption of equipment with a short life cycle such as mobiles [21]. The increasing importance of smartphones is also visible in Romania; they are generally used to access the Internet and multimedia. ...
Nowadays, the use of smartphones has become essential for daily activities that have either a personal or professional purpose. A large number of resources is necessary for both the production and the use of these devices, which means that solutions in terms of sustainability are needed. The purpose of this research is to highlight the concept of sustainability when talking about smartphones, as well to underline the possibilities that exist for the consumers. This study examines the habits of young consumers in Romania, the reasons behind a mobile phone replacement, and the factors that influence the purchase decision. The methodology section follows quantitative and qualitative market research. An analysis was performed in order to have a deep understanding of trends in terms of mobile phone ownership and preferred brands. This study also provides a general view on the neglectfulness of the young population of Romania regarding the dangers to which the environment is exposed because of the purchasing habits that go against sustainability. For accomplishing this purpose, important results have been discovered through the analysis of the data obtained from self-administered questionnaires and interviews. The results show that people are usually using only one mobile phone at a time and they change it once every two years for sustainability and financial reasons. The same applies when it comes to choosing a certain brand. The reasons behind the purchase of a new phone and the decisions regarding an old one are based on healthy principles of the circular economy and sustainability. The preferences in terms of technology and design, and the decision process are correlated with incomes.
... Rathore et al., 2011 by analyzing users' perceptions and finding the answer to the main question of whether Indian customers accept remanufactured products or not, as well as the relevance of these products to the market, investigated the feasibility of establishing remanufacturing. Paiano et al. (2013) examined the mobile phone market in Italy, mainly in terms of energy consumption during use. Their study assessed the sustainability of the mobile phone sector in two main aspects: first, concerning the energy consumption of mobile phones and their peripherals, and second, concerning the conflict between potential dematerialization caused by the miniaturization of devices, as well as resource consumption and waste issues in this sector. ...
Today, sustainability is among the key considerations for company strategy and marketing efforts, especially large and established technology companies with short product life-spans. Companies often provide sustainability agendas that focus on the social, environmental and economic dimensions, also known as the Triple Bottom Line (TBL) of sustainability. Social media provides a trove of evidence on how customers perceive and discuss the sustainability efforts of companies, which companies further utilize to understand and modify their efforts. In this study, we utilize Social Media Analysis to understand the perception of consumers towards sustainability efforts of two major companies in the mobile phone industry. We suggest a dictionary-based framework, including Content analysis, Descriptive Analysis and Sentiment analysis to extract the features that correspond to the three dimensions of TBL. Findings indicate that Environment, Material, Technology and Corporate social responsibility (CSR) are among the key topics that customers are interested in. Results of Content analysis and Sentiment analysis indicate that companies differ in terms of perceptions along the TBL dimensions, with company 1 perceived better on environmental dimension, whereas, company 2 is perceived better on social and economic dimensions. We demonstrate how knowledge from user-generated data help understand and improve their supply chain.
... The average weight of the mobile phone was 64.1 g, in which motherboard and casing account for the significant weight of 34.09% and 25.89%, respectively. Based on the manufacturer, design, model, and age of mobile phones, the composition and the content of the mobile phones may be varied(Oguchi et al. 2011)(Paiano, Lagioia, and Cataldo 2013).3.2 Elemental composition of MPCBThe acid digested samples were diluted before ICP-OES analysis to meet the requirement of the equipment. ...
Globally, waste electrical and electronic equipment is one of the fastest-growing waste sectors. Mobile phones constitute the major portion of the telecommunication e-waste category. Over the years waste mobile phones were considered as a potential source of secondary metals. This study aims to determine the physical and chemical composition of the discarded mobile phones and to evaluate its recovery potential. The printed circuit boards from the discarded (waste) mobile phones (MPCB) were collected and samples of different sizes 3x3 cm, 2 mm, 1 mm, 500 µm, and 150 µm were obtained after milling and sieving. Elemental composition revealed the presence of base metals Cu, Zn, Fe, Ni, and Pb in higher quantities with a significant amount of precious metals Au and Ag. Amount of base metals present in different MPCB size fractions were found in the order 3x3 cm > 2 mm > 1 mm > 500 µm >150 µm . The amount of precious metals like Ag and Au found to be higher in large-sized MPCB fractions. FTIR studies declared the presence of polymers like ABS, PC and HIPs in MPCB samples. TCLP tests for toxic metals revealed that MPCBs contained high concentrations of cadmium, lead, and mercury highlighting their hazardous potential. The ultimate analysis revealed that NMF has a GCV of 12.34 MJ/Kg and a volatile content of 42.25%, which can be a potential source of energy that can be recovered through the gasification or pyrolysis process. Overall, the comprehensive characterization of waste MPCBs will systematically provide a better understanding of e-waste recycling processes for beneficiation purpose and sustainable resource utilization.
IMPLICATIONS A comprehensive characterization of waste mobile phone printed circuit boards for its elemental composition was performed. Mechanical treatment steps before MPCBs processing increased the exposure of metals resulting in a higher concentration of metals in acid digested samples. The elemental analysis of MPCBs revealed that MPCBs possessed significant quantities of base and precious metals. The amount of precious metals like Ag and Au were also found in higher ranges in large-sized MPCB fractions, which elucidated fact to be considered in the pre-treatment process for metal recoveries. The high content of base and precious metals in waste mobile phones displayed their economic potential in the market. This new source may compensate for the escalating global demand for gold and silver. Results from the study indicated that MPCBs can serve as an excellent secondary source for various metals and as an efficient alternative fuel.
... This trend has soared rapidly, and apps have become more sophisticated, providing consumers with many feature sets (high display resolution, 3G/4G network access, simulation of 3D games, and multimedia). As mobile apps become more accessible, versatile, and user-friendly, users tend to use mobile phones over software applications [39]. Users of smartphones communicate with an application through its user interface (UI), which is a touch-sensitive display that recognizes the events of the user and delivers the results via graphical components. ...
Smartphone users are striving for easy-to-learn and-use mobile apps user interfaces. Accomplishing these qualities demands an iterative evaluation of the Mobile User Interface (MUI). Several studies stress the value of supplying a MUI with a pleasing look and feel to engaging end-users. The MUI, therefore, needs to be free from all kinds of structural aesthetic defects. Such defects are indicators of poor design decisions interfering with the consistency of a MUI and making it more difficult to use. To this end, we are proposing a tool (ADDET) to determine the structural aesthetic dimension of MUIs. Automating this process is useful to designers in evaluating the quality of their designs. Our approach to assessment is composed of two modules. 1)Metrics assessment: is based on the static analysis of a tree-structured layout of the MUI. We used 15 geometric metrics (also known as structural or aesthetic metrics) to check various structural properties before a defect is triggered; 2)Defects detection: the manual combination of metrics and defects are time-consuming and user-dependent when determining a detection rule. Thus, we perceive the process of identification of defects as an optimization problem. We aim to automatically combine the metrics related to a particular defect and optimize the accuracy of the rules created by assigning a weight, representing the metric importance in detecting a defect. We conducted a quantitative and qualitative analysis to evaluate the accuracy of the proposed tool in computing metrics and detecting defects. The findings arm the tool's reliability when assessing a MUI's structural design problems with 71% accuracy.
... The actual service lifetime of smartphones is less than 3 years, even though it was designed to be approximately 10 years (Tan et al., 2017). Because the appearance and functionality of smartphones have become more important, consumers have developed a desire to quickly substitute obsolete phones with newer and more innovative ones (Paiano et al., 2013). Nielsen (2013) revealed that more than one in three mobile phone users own multiple phones, indicating the rapid growth of multiple phone usage. ...
Ultra-thin curved (2.5D, 3D) glass is widely used in the most recently developed smartphones, and the market demand for it is steadily increasing. The high-precision ultra-thin glass molding process (UTGMP) is very important in the fabrication of high-quality 2.5D/3D ultra-thin glass for smartphones; however, the UTGMP, with its high energy consumption and low pass rate, is not considered to be environment-friendly. Therefore, in this study, the sustainability of the molding process for 3D ultra-thin glass was comprehensively investigated. First, the ultra-thin 3D glass molding process is described, including a discussion of the glass molding apparatus, and the principle of glass thermos-formation is explained. Secondly, a thermo-mechanical coupling model is proposed to study the effects of loading heat and pressure on the distributions of temperature and internal stress of ultra-thin glass. The results demonstrate that significant amounts of stress were concentrated at the edges, and in holes and slots. A series of experiments were conducted to reveal the respective effect of various UTGMP parameters on the energy consumption, pass rate, and carbon emission level of the process. Consequently, the percentage of the main effect of loading temperature on energy consumption was found to be 23.65%, whereas that of the duration of applied pressure on the pass rate was determined to be 52.48%. The optimal process parameter combinations were determined by analyzing the above-mentioned research results and subsequently implementing them in a hybrid intelligent optimization algorithm that utilizes quantum-behaved particle swarm optimization (QPSO) and a back-propagation neural network (BPNN). The algorithm revealed that energy consumption and carbon emissions can be respectively decreased by 3.39% and 3.45% at a relatively high pass rate (i.e., over 70%). Eventually, the suggested combinations for the UTGMP will be able to achieve at least 60%–76% of the pass rate, as well as consume no more than 0.756 kW⋅h/pcs to meet sustainable manufacturing requirements. Thus, this study contributes to the effective application of a high-precision glass molding process for the sustainable manufacturing of ultra-thin curved glass.
... Among them, considerable works stand out the use of MCDM methods [18,[24][25][26][27][28][29][30][31][32][33][34]. However, the literature in which they consider sustainability criteria when choosing a mobile phone by consumers is much lower [6,15,17,[35][36][37][38][39] and none of them uses MCDM. ...
Consumer preferences in sustaining and designing a product are a vital driver in a company’s long-term strategy. In a supply chain management (SCM), realizing, configuring and analyzing consumer point of view and making sure the product is highly fitted to the consumer dimensions are essential responsibilities. For this purpose, a sustainable supply chain (SSC) can define a platform in order to reach consumer satisfaction. This paper examines the utility and factors related to the use of a phone in the market incorporating sustainable attributes. We firstly identify main factors and indicators that influence the selection of a sustainable phone. Thereafter, we propose decision analysis tools as decision-making trial and evaluation laboratory (DEMATEL) and analytical hierarchy process (AHP) for the realization of the cause, effect, and interrelation of the indicators. The comparisons between them report a high similarity while best and worst indicators are in the same positions. Best worst method (BWM) is then formulated in order to achieve optimal ranking and to express the importance. Counting on this information is of special relevance in marketing decision-making, where companies must look for competitive advantages prioritizing its product attributes, attending both to resources and to consumer preferences. For this project, we invited six experts in various areas (information science, consumer organizations, fair trade, public administration-cooperation office and telecommunication) to participate and fill the questionnaires. The results are analyzed by market experts in terms of comparison and conformity.
... The knowing of the material flow of the photovoltaic waste is necessary to design a holistic plan for recycling of the elements embodied in the PV panel [16]. In order to continually monitor the waste flow of EoL PV panels, the composition of the mass of waste need to be explored [17]. To do so, the market share and specification of the different PV technologies including the year of installation, panel area, power, weight, efficiency, and average weight are collected from the available resources [12]. ...
... Among consumer electronics, cell phone has become the mobile computer in people's daily life and it is related to various living aspects of users [31]. Moreover, the lifecycle of cell phone is going to be shortened to less than 2 years, which is attributed to the high replacement rate and frequent use [32]. With the progress in informationalization, the brand community and consumer community are developed accordingly. ...
Substantial changes took place in the role of consumers in the supply chain with the development of practices. They became creators from consumers of product values. More and more consumers express their consumption experiences by posting in network community. Consumer community network is an important place for feedback of product experiences and facilitating product innovation in future. Manufacturers can promote improvement and innovation of products by exploring effective information on the consumer community network, thus improving the experience level of consumers. Therefore, how to explore information in topics (posts) and their relationships becomes very important. Is it possible to describe the structure of consumer community network by complex network and explore information about products and consumers? There is important and positive significance to study the collaborative innovation in the supply chain in which consumers participate. In this paper, the consumer community network was constructed by Boolean retrieve programming and discussed in the methodology and empirical way based on the community data of Huawei P10/P10 Plus. In methodology, interaction difference and uniformity within consumer community were explored by the density of isolated nodes and generalized variance of degree of network. In empirical studies, community network users were divided into ordinary user group, intermediary user group, and enterprise user group according to empirical data, and corresponding interaction networks were constructed. A contrastive analysis on the interaction of these three groups was carried out by combining the existing properties and innovative properties. Topics in each network were put in the order according to significance. Research conclusions have important significance to enrich the network analysis methods, explore the effective information in consumer community network, facilitate product improvement and innovations, and improve the experience level of consumers.
... Mobile phones are "up to date" products; they are often replaced before the end of their functional life, due to the rapid introduction of advanced technologies and fashionable features (Cox et al. 2013;Paiano et al. 2013). Frequently, the old phones are stored at home while they may still function. ...
All mobile phones will eventually become obsolete and should be collected and recycled in order to recover their high content of both dangerous and valuable materials. End-consumers play a key role in these processes as the collection and recycle systems cannot work properly without their contribution. Therefore, this exploratory study investigates how Dutch end-consumers can be stimulated to return their used mobile phones. The factors influencing consumers' propensity to return and recycle obsolete mobile phones are examined. The results are based on a survey conducted among end-consumers of mobile phones in the Netherlands. There is significant recycling potential as the majority of used mobile phones are simply kept at home. Keeping a used phone as a spare phone and being afraid of privacy disclosures are indicated as main reasons for not taking used phones to a recycling point. The findings indicate that personal satisfaction from recycling and knowledge or awareness of the potential dangers from not properly returning play a crucial role in influencing the propensity.
... lead to a relatively short life cycle of smart phones (for insight into the carbon footprint of the infrastructure, seeFehske et al., 2011;Paiano et al, 2013). One mechanism here is the emergence of generalist species(Liwarska-Bizukojc et al., 2009) that facilitate sharing modes of provision.Considering the provision of personal mobility, we find limited explicit evidence for imitation across new S-BMs. ...
The fragmented academic literature on sharing modes of provision deals with a diversity of initiatives ranging from for-profit business models to commoning initiatives. This literature mainly deals with individual instances, implicitly assuming that the sharing economy comes about by multiplying such initiatives. In this paper we argue that the transition to a sharing economy is a process where sharing and non-sharing modes of provision interact, constituting a complex process of social change. To facilitate research, we provide a literature review of the variegated literature, and develop a conceptualisation of the process of transition to a sharing economy using ecosystem thinking. In addition, we propose an approach to assess the environmental impact of sharing business models that takes the system context into account. This conceptual work is illustrated with the case of personal mobility. This work allows us to define a focused research agenda for researchers interested in the innovation and diffusion of sharing modes of provision as part of the wider transition to a sharing economy.
... It has been estimated that in Brazil the mean generation of waste electrical and electronic equipment (WEEE) was equal to 1.4 million tons per year (Araujo et al., 2015), with a noticeable increase in the sales of electronic products (ABINEE, 2015). It is therefore necessary to reflect on the environmental implications of this increase on consumption (Al Razi, 2016), which appears to be widespread throughout the world (Echegaray and Hansstein, 2017;Paiano et al., 2013). In 2012, for example, 62 million cellular phones were sold only in Brazil, with a total of 256 million active lines (IDC, 2012;ANATEL, 2012), and most devices had less than two years of use (CPQD, 2012). ...
Little is known about the perceptions and practices of institutional users (IUs) and technical assistances (TAs) of electronic equipment, which participate in the WEEE stream as much as the individuals. That is why this study aims to analyze the relationships between these two sectors, the electronic equipment (EEs) and their waste, in Blumenau, Brazil in the years of 2010 and 2015. The seven most frequently used pieces of equipment were selected as follows: the central processing unit, computer monitor, keyboard, mouse, printer, cellular phone, and landline telephone. Questionnaires were used to register the perceptions of IUs and TAs on the useful life, reason to disposal of the EEs, and on their knowledge about the waste and related legislation. The results showed a downward trend for the useful life perception of the equipment. In both years, the most cited reason for the exchange/disposal was related to end-of-use of EEs and one of the highlighted aspects was the difficulty in elimination. For this reason, some IUs and TAs chose to stock their waste in the workplace or dispose them in the municipal solid waste collection. Moreover, the study identifies informal recycling companies of electronic waste (e-waste) as a market that has increased in Brazil. It was also observed that over time there has not been a major change in knowledge about laws of e-waste; therefore it is necessary to consolidate the country's e-waste management with the implementation of a reverse logistics which includes electronic institutional users and technical assistances.
... Simultaneously, demand for innovation is leading to a product turnover that is much higher compared to other electronic devices. As a consequence the lifespan of smartphones is consistently declining to approximately 12 months (Paiano et al., 2013). These developments cause a massive amount of electronic waste and an ever-increasing consumption of resources (Zhang et al., 2012), especially in regard to energy consumption (Bento, 2016). ...
There are two axioms that have shaped the degrowth discussion, namely one on the reduction of production and consumption and one on the necessity of value and attitude change in society to respect environmental limits. Surprisingly little research has focused on the role of technology in connection to value change, consumption behavior and degrowth. This gap is linked to a widely held assumption of technological innovation acting opposed to degrowth.
In contrast, this paper suggests that technological innovation needs to be connected to degrowth. The fast evolution of information and communication technologies in recent years mirrors their growing importance for the global civil society, yet without adequately accounting for the scope of sustainability challenges connected to these technologies, and smartphones in particular. This paper argues that a degrowth movement going hand in hand with technological development is only possible if sustainable alternatives for highly demanded communication technology products are offered.
Specifically, this study draws on lifestyle movements as the nexus between consumption, degrowth and technology. Three core concepts are found to influence the attendance to degrowth-related consumer movements: a sustainable lifestyle, alternative forms of consumption and social commitment, all of which are assumed to have a positive effect. Empirically, this paper draws on the case of Fairphone, a company that applies sustainable characteristics to a smartphone. Data were collected in a survey via online fora of Fairphone from November 4-29, 2015 and analyzed using a structural equation modeling with partial least squares. Results point to a sustainable lifestyle as the dominant factor explaining the involvement with the Fairphone. Surprisingly, the findings show that alternative consumption seems to negatively influence the involvement with Fairphone and social commitment seems to play only a minor role in the model. In other words, findings suggest that Fairphone represents a technical artifact, centered on a choice for a sustainable lifestyle, but has not become a symbol of alternative consumption and the degrowth movement. Future research needs to clarify the relationship of alternative consumption and degrowth related movements beyond this specific case. Furthermore, future studies need to delve deeper into
lifestyle decisions as a leverage point towards degrowth and the potential of lifestyles understood as a from of activism to change contemporary society.
... For example, the introduction of flavoured alcoholic soft drinks (alcopops) to target new consumers would likely exacerbate drinking problems with younger legal and under-age drinkers (Metzner and Kraus, 2008). The introduction of new models of goods (e.g., mobile phones) might increase product churn and also increase the negative impact associated with additional production and disposal of older goods (Paiano et al., 2013). Cell 1.2 is also where 'distortive' corporate social marketing would occur, that is, activities undertaken under the guise of social marketing but which are, in fact, designed not to reduce the targeted negative behaviour (Barry and Goodson, 2010). ...
Purpose
To discuss the potential role of corporate social marketing and identify instances where corporate involvement in social marketing is appropriate. This argument is based on the rationale that there should be a focus on the social outcomes of initiatives rather than which organisations are delivering the message.
Design/methodology/approach
The paper is conceptual and drawing on previous marketing, social marketing and health related literature to discuss the potential positive role of firms in social marketing.
Findings
The paper proposes that there are many instances where corporations can play a vital role in enhancing social outcomes, even though they too may also benefit from these social marketing activities (defined as corporate social marketing). It is argued that corporate social marketing is not only appropriate, but may in fact be more effective than social marketing undertaken solely by non-profits or governments, although it is also identified that there may be inappropriate corporate participation in social marketing.
Practical implications
Two typologies are put forward to assist in evaluating the impact of firm behaviour on society and the situations where corporate social marketing may be more appropriate. These typologies may assist in identifying where firms can play a valuable role in social marketing activities.
Originality/value
The discussion of corporate involvement in social marketing generally has been positioned as negative and this paper identifies instances were corporate social marketing may not only be appropriate, but may in fact bring about better social outcomes than if the activities were undertaken by government or non-profits.
... Mobile phones represent an interesting challenge for sustainable manufacturing. Because users desire to substitute obsolete devices with newer and more innovative models, the average lifecycle of a mobile phone is estimated to be between 15 and 30 months [21,22]. Mobile phones are often accessorised by their owners using either case covers for functional reasons (e.g. ...
Unlike subtractive manufacturing processes, by their own nature additive technologies offer the potential to reduce both raw material consumption and production waste. The positive impact of Additive Manufacturing on sustainability is more evident for those mass consumption products that are characterized by a short lifecycle. Nevertheless, in order to take full advantage of these technologies and let them achieve their full potential, a great change is needed in the behaviour and attitude of consumers. Compromises may be necessary to accommodate technological limitations, and customers may need to prioritize between functional and aesthetic product characteristics. The positive impact of additive manufacturing on sustainability is more evident for those mass consumption products that are characterized by a short lifecycle. The material flow and sustainability of 3D printing are described in this paper for the manufacturing of mobile case covers, and compared to those of mass production injection moulding.
... In China, for example, the desire to keep up with fashion and to acquire new functionality has led to an average mobile-phone service life of less than 3 years, and even less than one year in some cases (Ha et al., 2010;Ongondo and Williams, 2011). Additionally, falling mobile-phone prices, marketing strategies from mobile network operators, and other influences continually promote the newer phones (Paianoa et al., 2013). ...
As more people express their thoughts on products on various online shopping platforms, the feelings expressed in these opinions are becoming a significant source of information for marketers and buyers. These opinions have a big impact on consumers’ decision to buy the best quality product. When there are too many features or a small number of records to analyze, the decision-making process gets difficult. A recent stream of study has used the conventional quantitative star score ratings and textual content reviews in this context. In this research, a decision-making framework is proposed that relies on feature-based opinions to analyze the textual content of reviews and classify buyer’s opinions, thereby assisting consumers in making long-term purchases. The framework is proposed in this paper for product purchase decision making based on feature-based opinions and deep learning. Framework consists of four components: i) Pre-processing, ii) Feature extraction, iii) Feature-based opinion classification, and iv) Decision-making. Web scraping is used to obtain the dataset of Smartphone reviews, which is subsequently clean and pre-processed using tokenization and POS tagging. From the tagged dataset, noun labeled words are retrieved, and then the probable product’s features are extracted. These feature-based sentences or reviews are processed using a word embedding to generate review vectors that identify contextual information. These word vectors are used to construct hidden vectors at the word and sentence levels using a hierarchical attention method. With respect to each feature, reviews are divided into five classes: extremely positive, positive, extremely negative, negative, and neutral. The proposed method may readily detect a customer’s opinion on the quality of a product based on a certain attribute, which is beneficial in making a purchase choice.
This paper aims to identify the obstacles to creating a circular economy for mobile phones in Greater Mexico City (GMC). With this goal in mind, 50 in-depth interviews were performed in the Mexican capital to explore the behaviour of Millennial consumers towards mobile phone ownership, replacement, and disposal practices. Practice Theory was employed to analyse why people in GMC replace their phones while they are still useful, the conduit to replace them and what happens to the replaced phones. The findings of this study suggest that, in opposition to popular belief, consumers are not driven exclusively by individual desires and the pursuit of novelty. Furthermore, we identified that the illicit market for stolen phones in GMC and the short mobile services contract incentivise phones' premature disposal and replacement. Insecurity perception and pedestrian mugging are so high in GMC that they have impacted all income levels and significantly increased mobile stockpiling. Overall, the results propose that instead of solely placing efforts at the disposal stage, authorities and companies shouikld address these issues to decrease mobile replacement rates.
Designing a sustainable system of recycling used mobile phones (UMPs) is an urgent concern in terms of cleaner production ideas. In this paper, sustainability of a UMP recycle system is improved by reutilization of the existent well-developed mobile phone sales network, and readiness of customers to participate in recycling is promoted by buy-back prices and convenience. Consequently, a new integrated optimization model is built to maximize the total profit of recycling UMPs by choosing optimal buy-back prices, optimal collection points and optimal delivery routes. Particularly, the recycled quantity of UMPs in our model is a function with respect to the buy-back price and the chosen collection points from the existent physical sales network. Owing to complexity of this built model, efficient algorithms are developed by alternately solving three subproblems so as to obtain its optimal policy. By numerical simulation, it is found that: (1) With reutilization of the sales network and promotion of customers’ readiness, an optimal recycle network can be designed by the proposed approach; (2) Reutilization of the sales network can greatly improve sustainability of the UMP recycle system; (3) The maximum recycling profit is closely related with real values of UMPs, and our model and algorithm can provide a threshold to guarantee a profitable recycle system; (4) Choosing optimal collection points mainly depends on their popularity to customers.
Desalination is increasingly becoming an integral part of water management strategies of several countries worldwide. However, it causes environmental impacts that need to be further assessed. This includes the disposure of end-of-life reverse osmosis (RO) elements. Hence, this work proposes a methodology to estimate and forecast the disposure of these elements without fixing the membrane lifespan. To this, a time-step model was applied for the first and the ARIMA model was used for the latter. It was possible to estimate a generation of 900 t from 2016 to 2019 in Brazil and forecast a generation of 1800 t by 2024. In addition, to define RO industrial use in Brazil as supplied by 8-inch only elements have proved to be a good approximation (2% deviation). Furthermore, the disposure rate (in elements/m³·day) of EoL-RO elements in Brazil was found as double as countries such as Spain and Australia. This indicates that operation conditions should be improved and/or that membranes are being discarded before time. Such results are important to subsidize further environmental impact assessment regarding EoL-RO in Brazil and improve production management. Finally, the proposed methodology can be easily applied to other countries whose membranes are mostly imported, as the case of developing countries.
Waste printed circuit boards (WPCBs) are identified to be the most complex recycling materials among waste electrical and electronic equipment (WEEE). Slurry electrolysis with acidic system can directly separate and recover copper from WPCBs while current efficiency and purity were generally reduced due to deposition of impurity metals and the hydrogen evolution during recovery process. In ammonia-based system, copper can be selectively extracted and copper (II) ammine complexes generally react with metallic copper to form copper (I) ammine complexes, promoting current efficiency and purity. Therefore, an efficient ammonia-ammonium carbonate slurry electrolysis system is proposed for high purity copper recycling from waste printed circuit boards of mobile phones (WPCB-MPs). The factors affecting copper current efficiency and recovery rate are systematically discussed. These results indicate that appropriate increasing NH3·H2O, (NH4)2CO3, Cu²⁺, NaCl concentration, solid-to-liquid ratio, current density and reaction time could effectively increase copper recovery rate and current efficiency. The current efficiency and recovery rate of copper are 95.2 and 90.4%, respectively under the optimum test conditions of 20 g/L Cu²⁺, 0.25 mol/L (NH4)2CO3, 4 mol/L NH3·H2O, 30 g/L solid-to-liquid ratio, 1 mol/L NaCl, 20 mA/cm², 3 h. Moreover, copper could be recovered at the cathode with a purity of 99.97%. Compared with acidic system, this study provides an efficient approach to recover high purity copper from WPCB-MPs, showing a prospective future for WEEE resource recycling.
Product longevity is an important part of the circular economy discussion, contributing to global sustainable development. However, practicing and adopting product longevity remain challenging. Currently, the literature primarily focuses on various proposals and strategies that could lead to an increase in the longevity of products. However, adopting product longevity in practice demands an overview of barriers that must be accounted for before appropriate strategies and proposals can be selected and implemented. Until now, such an overview of the barriers for longevity is largely undefined.
This paper contributes by identifying 14 distinct barriers that are likely to obstruct companies from introducing long-lasting products, to challenge their product development or to make it difficult for consumers to keep or maintain their products for a long time. In this paper, a comprehensive review provides a list of barriers that have been identified through the existing literature across three perspectives: 1) companies and manufacturers, 2) designers, engineers and developers and 3) customers/consumers and users. A systematic search revealed 4204 academic papers that relate to the topic. After reviewing the titles, abstracts and keywords of these papers, a total of 143 papers combined with additional 62 articles identified through snowballing and post-identification were identified as eligible to constitute the foundation of this review. From these, a list of 14 product longevity barriers was created.
The result is a unique identification and overview of barriers to product longevity as well as a categorisation of these barriers with respect to stakeholders.
The purpose of this paper was to investigate the effect of emotionally connotated photographic material on problem awareness regarding sustainability and sustainable behavioral intentions of mobile phones. In a prestudy (N = 110), photographs related to the ecological and social sustainability of smartphones were tested for their valence and arousal. Photographs with a high arousal level and either positive (positive condition) or negative (negative condition) valence were selected. In the main study (N = 435), these photographs were tested in a three-factorial experimental design. Each photo condition contained one pair of photographs depicting ecological and social sustainability. Results indicate that displaying negatively connotated photographic material leads to a higher awareness regarding the problems associated with smartphones compared to the display of positive photographs and a message only. However, no effect was found for the intention to consider sustainability in future purchase decisions or recycling intentions of mobile phones. The effect of the negative photographs on problem awareness was mediated by the credibility of the information presented. Based on the findings, limitations and practical implications are discussed. Specifically, understanding the effects of different types of photographical material on problem awareness can represent the basis for the successful design of marketing or information campaigns regarding the sustainability of mobile phones.
Design research within information and communication technology and human-computer interaction is well poised to link relevant artefacts’ lifecycle phases, such as the end-of-life with design. From a lifecycle thinking perspective, this paper investigates aspects of product longevity, interrogating what sustainable product lifetimes in a sustainable Circular Economy mean. The potential of the latter concepts has not yet been fully exploited. Also, the power of stakeholders, e.g., of designers and consumers, has not been synergistically combined. However, fulfilling this potential might facilitate a transition towards more sustainable future societies. The present work draws inspiration from an extreme case of “single use” cameras. In particular, it uses the notion of “practices” as a basic unit of design to articulate the desired linkages in lifecycles. “Single use” practices then serve as an epitome of a “borrowed for use” scenario, which—transferred to the mobile phone—results in a proto-practice. As outlined and argued in this paper, the proposed proto-practice might exact a more profound change compared to previous concepts or lived practices. It is a specific example of designing for the Circular Economy using the mobile phone, which also epitomises how designers and consumers collectively can address temporalities, rebound-effects and design trade-offs in general. Developing proto-practices and with them setting goals that might have been out of reach previously, is proposed as a central component for future design research. Proto-practices thus promote more provocative visions of transition towards sustainable societies.
Australia has to meet the challenges of End-of-Life treatment of photovoltaic modules in coming years due to rapid growth of photovoltaic capacity during the last decades. This paper contributes towards the sustainable management of decommissioned solar panels through the estimation of PV waste flow between the years 2031–2047 based on the actual installation of the PV modules from 2001 to 2018, and the provision of a forecasting model applying on four major scenarios to project the waste generated from 2048–2060. Assuming three forecasting schemes, and consistent annual-growth-rate of PV installation for each scenario, the future PV waste was quantified. Considering the PV installation from 2001 to 2018, the cumulative waste is estimated to be 0.8 million tonnes until 2047. The mainstream of the waste is estimated to be glass and aluminium with 541,209 and 116,483 tonnes respectively, followed by 8375 tonnes of copper and 71,329 tonnes of steel. The PV waste includes various valuable substances which, if appropriately recycled, can bring significant economic benefit. With regards to all PV penetration scenarios in the electricity generation market until 2030, Australia is estimated to face around 1–8 million tonnes of decommissioned PV until 2060. The recovery of the EoL PV raw materials can lead to value creation of nearly 1.2 billion dollars. These findings can shed light on the possibility of a circular economy and suggest an active contribution of all parties and a very well-planned coordinated approach prevent the potential environmental impacts and maximize resource efficiency.
The main aim of this article is to identify the most frequent damage of Smartphones and problems reported by users in a questionnaire and on social media. Social media are a relatively new issue; they are used by companies to get information about offered products and advertise them. On the other hand, they are used by users to exchange opinion about products and write recommendations; thus these opinions are studied. At the same time planned obsolescence is applied, which makes shorter the replacement cycle. Some of damage and problems observed by users are the results of planned obsolescence. The obtained data were processed statistically.
Natural resources are limited. The circular economy is one of several different concepts that has been useful in the quest to understand how resources can be used most efficiently. It proposes that closing loops and repeatedly using resources has the potential to procure maximum eco-efficiency. To track society's progress towards a circular economy, indicators and measures are needed. The majority of these aim to capture the circularity of resource flows, yet fail to simultaneously consider the length of time for which a resource is in use. More recently, a longevity indicator has been proposed, but similarly, it fails to take into account how many times a resource is used. Both longevity and circularity are needed for sustainable resource use, but to date, no measure that combines both approaches is in use. Based on existing measures we develop and further develop indicators for both circularity and longevity that focus on the contribution that organisations and other resource users make to the sustainability of resource use. By combining both indicators we enhance their explanatory power.
Sustainable management of Electronic waste (E-waste) is a major challenge for contemporary India, an emerging economy burdened with both the domestic generation and illegal import of E-waste. Considering the ever-increasing complexities of E-waste in Indian cities, this paper aims to evaluate the current trends, opportunities and challenges associated with consumption of electronic items (with respect to computers and mobile phones) and disposal of E-waste in urban India. Bangalore, a city popularly known as the ‘Silicon Valley of India’, is considered as a case study in order to evaluate public awareness, household consumption and E-waste disposal behaviours. The city profile of Bangalore indicates that it has a rapidly emerging market for electronics and thus, has the potential to act as a ‘model’ for evaluating the issues concerning E-waste in metropolitan India. Questionnaires were distributed originally among 300 households with an effective response rate of 63.3%. The results indicate that the majority of households (59.3%) still retain their obsolete electronics due to lack of knowledge about proper E-waste management. High awareness about E-waste and high willingness to recycle/repair their E-waste (above 80% in both cases) are yet to be translated into responsible disposal/recycling behaviour as 95.8% of households have no knowledge about the presence of any formal recycling centre. Income, education, age and gender dimensions associated with E-waste disposal behaviour and awareness were also evaluated. Although we found no gender differences for most of the parameters, there have been some interesting correlations in age and income-wise segregation of disposal behaviour. We noted that the city of Bangalore still possesses some typical Indian socio-cultural characteristics, such as considering E-waste as ‘valuables’, changing several hands before final disposal, defying ‘brand’ or ‘looks’ consciousness, etc., which could be directed towards responsible E-waste disposal behaviours. We suggest that establishing appropriate and convenient E-waste collection/recycling facilities, ensuring responsible household disposal behaviour, implementing effective laws and legislation, and organizing mass E-waste awareness campaigns would aid in addressing the current E-waste concerns in the city.
A combined thermal decomposition followed by a solid-state reaction route was employed to re-synthesize non-stoichiometric LiCoO2 extracted from cathodes of two discarded batteries with low and high state of health (SOH). Stoichiometric and structurally ordered Li1CoO2 compounds were obtained from the re-synthesis process, without any influence of the battery's SOH. However, smaller grains and higher specific discharge capacity were obtained for the Li1CoO2 electrodes manufactured from the re-synthesized cathode powder extracted from the low SOH battery. Results indicate that the battery's SOH is a parameter that should be considered in LiCoO2 re-synthesis processes based on solid-state reactions, since it affects grain morphology and electrochemical properties of the electrodes manufactured from the re-synthesized LiCoO2.
Mobile phones offer many potential social benefits throughout their lifetime, but this life is often much shorter than design intent. Reuse of the phone in a developing country allows these social benefits to be fully realized. Unfortunately, under the current state of development of recycling infrastructure, recovery rates of phones after reuse are very low in those markets, which may lead to an environmental burden attributed to loss of materials to landfill. In order to recover those materials most effectively, recycling in developed countries may be the best option, but at a cost of the ability to reuse the phones. The issues facing integration of social and environmental concerns into a single life cycle assessment (LCA) and resulting challenges of identifying the disposal option with the most sustainable outcome are explored using mobile phones as a case study. These include obtaining sufficient geographical and temporal detail of the end-of-life options, collation and analysis of the large amounts of data generated, and weighting of the disparate environmental and social impact categories. The numerous challenges may mount up to make performing LCA of mobile phones unwieldy. Instead of trying to encompass every aspect in full, it is proposed that focus is given to answering a question that takes into account the resources available: It is important to ask the question that has the best chance of being answered.
The US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has estimated that roughly 125 million mobile phones are discarded into landfills each year, illustrating the unequivocal connection between a successful pervasive computing technology and a looming environmental crisis. Extensive research has revealed the material dangers and toxic effects of mobile phone disposal, and programs and regulations that encourage or mandate mobile phone donation and recycling. Options to reduce such waste include recycling through electronics recycling programs, reuse of phones through reselling, phone giveaways, donation of phones to organizations that collect and distribute phones for reuse. The difference in phone usage among the various regions might explain in part why data privacy and transfer were such strong concerns among the Japanese participants and it played such an influential role in decision-making surrounding end-of-life mobile phone practices.
Information technology (IT) is continuously making astounding progress in technical efficiency. The time, space, material and energy needed to provide a unit of IT service have decreased by three orders of magnitude since the first personal computer (PC) was sold. However, it seems difficult for society to translate IT's efficiency progress into progress in terms of individual, organizational or socio-economic goals. In particular it seems to be difficult for individuals to work more efficiently, for organizations to be more productive and for the socio-economic system to be more sustainable by using increasingly efficient IT. This article provides empirical evidence and potential explanations for this problem. Many counterproductive effects of IT can be explained economically by rebound effects. Beyond that, we conclude that the technological determinism adopted by decision-makers is the main obstacle in translating IT's progress into non-technical goals.
Over the last years mobile phones had a remarkable evolution. From a simple device for voice communication, it became a full blown multimedia device with multiple features and appealing services. In parallel with the introduction of novel services, mobile devices became more and more energy-hungry reducing the operational time for the user. To extend the battery life of mobile phones is one of the top priorities for mobile phones' manufacturers. This paper presents results of power and energy consumption measurements conducted on mobile phones for 2G and 3G networks. The services under investigation were text messaging, voice and data. The paper reports larger energy consumption in 3G networks for text messaging and voice services than energy consumption in 2G networks. On the other side the 3G networks become more energy friendly when large volumes of data have to be downloaded. The results imply that mobile phones should switch the network in dependency of the service used to save the maximum amount of energy. As this handover consumes energy, we include its analysis in our measurements.
A life cycle assessment was carried out based on a detailed life cycle inventory for a typical GSM 900 mobile phone network and related End of Life (EOL) treatment infrastructure. The environmental relevance of the three life cycle phases: production, use and EOL treatment was analysed using IMPACT2002+. The environmentally preferable EOL treatment alternative was identified on the basis of six previously developed EOL treatment scenarios.The results indicate that the environmental impacts attributable to the use phase dominate the environmental impacts incurred over the entire life cycle of the network. The impacts of the production phase are primarily attributable to the energy intensive manufacturing of printed wiring boards (PWB). The EOL phase dominates the impacts on ecosystem quality. In particular the long-term emissions of heavy metals have critical effects. Detailed analysis of the EOL phase shows that recycling of network materials in general leads to a two fold reduction of environmental impacts: in the EOL phase itself as well as by means of the avoided primary production of materials recovered in the EOL phase. An increase in the material quality of the secondary precious and rare materials leads to a significant reduction in the impacts on human health.
Owing to booming mobile phone ownership and a short product innovation cycle, waste mobile phones are flooding China. In 2008, about 560 million mobile phones were produced and 634 million users subscribed to a mobile phone plan in China. These large numbers mean that the charging and disposal of mobile phones has the potential to have significant impacts on the environment. Thus the evaluation of material and energy consumption of mobile phones is an important task in the end-of-life management of electronic products. This paper uses material flow analysis (MFA) and life cycle assessment (LCA) methods to estimate the life cycle impacts of mobile phones in China from manufacturing energy, use phase and generation of waste mobile phones. Results indicate over the mobile phone life cycle, manufacturing accounts for 50% of the total energy consumption, whereas the use phase accounts for only 20%. Mobile phones and supporting infrastructures account for a rapidly increasing 0.17% of Chinese energy use. In 2008, around 77 million units of waste mobile phones were generated in China. To manage this energy use and recover valuable materials recommendations are made to increase lifespan, improve energy efficiency during use and ensure recycling.
The scale of environmental impacts associated with the manufacture of microchips is characterized through analysis of material and energy inputs into processes in the production chain. The total weight of secondary fossil fuel and chemical inputs to produce and use a single 2-gram 32MB DRAM chip are estimated at 1600 g and 72 g, respectively. Use of water and elemental gases (mainly N2) in the fabrication stage are 32,000 and 700 g per chip, respectively. The production chain yielding silicon wafers from quartz uses 160 times the energy required for typical silicon, indicating that purification to semiconductor grade materials is energy intensive. Due to its extremely low-entropy, organized structure, the materials intensity of a microchip is orders of magnitude higher than that of "traditional" goods. Future analysis of semiconductor and other low entropy high-tech goods needs to include the use of secondary materials, especially for purification.
As an example of a new communication technology that has reached a high penetration rate within only a few years, this article looks at the energy demand of mobile phone services in Germany. Mobile phone services combine two trends of modern communication technologies — mobility and connectivity. There have been some estimations of the energy usage of handsets in the past, but the energy usage of the network equipment, which makes the mobility possible, has not been analysed. In this analysis, the energy usage of mobile phones, including charging losses, is calculated using different customer profiles. Additionally, the amount of energy consumed by the network equipment is determined. The results show that the energy demand of mobile phone services is mainly caused by the operation of the network equipment and not by the handsets, even if the poor efficiencies of the charging processes are included in the calculations.
Wireless technologies and their future uses are very much at the forefront of telecommunications. Yet understanding which
wireless technology should be deployed is becoming increasingly difficult given the wide choice. To determine which technology
should win in its market-place depends on much more than having a deep technical understanding of its capabilities. This also
requires an understanding of its present uses, and how this might evolve, as well as the total cost of ownership. This paper
describes collaboration between BT Exact and Motorola to help understand the future of wireless technologies from both a network
operator and telecommunications infrastructure supplier points of view. It uses scenario modelling and techno-economic analysis
to position various wireless technologies such as 3G and WLANs.
Environmentally sound management of end-of-life mobile phones is an issue of growing concern in Korea and around the world. This paper discusses the generation rate, collection systems, and recycling processes of used & end-of-life mobile phones in Korea. The results were based on review of the existing literature, a survey of 1090 consumers, site visits to electronic waste recycling facilities, and interviews with mobile telecommunication companies and environmental regulatory authorities. The results show that on average 14.5 million mobile phones have been retired annually in Korea over the period of analysis (2000–2007). A large fraction of used & end-of-life mobile phones has been stored at home waiting for disposal. Approximately five million used & end-of-life mobile phones have been collected by mobile telecommunication companies and producers annually between 2004 and 2007. The results of the consumer survey showed that the average Korean consumer typically replaces his/her mobile phone every 28.8 months. Since collection and recycling of mobile phones has only recently started, the methods and infrastructure for collection and recycling process for used & end-of-life mobile phones have not yet been well-established. More active collection activities and systems for used & end-of-life mobile phone are still needed, adding more collection points where consumers can drop off their used mobile phones. Producers, consumers, mobile telecommunication companies, and local governments should consider more collective actions that can be taken to promote successful collection and recycling schemes.
The rapid transition towards a “digital economy” was enabled by a converging set of innovations. Computing saw the development of the semiconductor transistor, integrated circuit, personal computers (PCs), operating systems, and graphical interfaces. The physical layer of telecommunication was enabled via the emergence of optical fiber and new wireless communication technologies, while networking saw the development of the Internet (essentially packet switching) and the World Wide Web. These advances combined to realize a series of new applications of information and communications technologies (ICTs) such as business software, e-mail, and e-commerce. However, progress seriously stumbled with the collapse of the dot com bubble, which among other things revealed a huge amount of misdirected investment that could have been used more productively. The question of the day is thus how to realize new “killer apps” to stimulate a new round of growth. The use of cell phones for communicating text, pictures, and video is a rapidly expanding area, but it seems unlikely that these applications will have a macroeconomic impact. Entertainment is a key industry whose fortunes are entwined with ICTs. Indeed, the application of ICT to innovating entertainment products is an important driver for the continued growth of the industry. Distribution of music and video via the Web could significantly stimulate demand but also raises the thorny question of how to protect intellectual property rights (IPR) of content providers. Another possible killer apps are interactive video-on-demand and telecalls/teleconferencing. The latter would, among other things, stimulate adoption of telework. The current Internet is capable of handing neither one-way transmissions of high-quality video nor interactive video-on-demand. There are bottlenecks both for the “last mile” connection from Internet service provider (ISP) to the home but also the “first miles” from originating server to ISP. The effective first miles bandwidth has not increased along with improvements in equipment, essentially because demand increases with capacity and thus traffic jams on the net continue. Digital subscriber line (DSL) technologies over telephone wires, and possibly wireless networks, will play important roles in getting over the last mile hurdle. Upgrading the first miles will probably require new networking protocols beyond TCP/IP that support multimedia and also changes in the economic model of information transfer via the Net.
Since the inception of telecom reform in 1994, structural reform has been a main thread surrounding the course of the development of China's telecommunications industry. In structuring the 2008 reform and the 2009 3G rollout China's government adopted a relatively balanced approach in the hope of creating level-playing-field in 3G era. Nevertheless, due to the presence of substantial switching costs, substitution effects from the present technology mode, that is, 2.5G, the absence of killer applications, among other technological and institutional factors, China may not have a realistic 3G era before moving toward 4G and beyond. At the bare minimum, currently there is a lacking of either adequate technological-push or demand-pull for a full-scale 3G commercialization—there is no sign that this situation will change in the near term. Triggered by recent initiatives of market convergence between the telecommunications, Internet, and cable, a renewed circle of market, and regulatory reform is probably necessary to cast a sounder industry basis for a timing migration toward the next-generation-networks (NGNs). The timing migration toward 4G (and beyond) may provide a chance for a late-mover nation like China to leapfrog its western counterparts in leading the industry in the era of NGNs. To this end, China is confronted with a challenge in re-examining its industry policy as well as technological strategies for a sustainable development in the era of NGNs. This study offers heuristic analysis and insights on the above issues based on archival documents and interviews. While implications are suggested for China's circumstances, the Chinese experiences may also be considered by other countries and investors when it comes to 3G (and beyond) policies, regulations, deployments, and evolutions.
In this paper, we present a measurement study of the energy con- sumption characteristics of three widespread mobile networking technologies: 3G, GSM, and WiFi. We find that 3G and GSM in- cur a high tail energy overhead because of lingering in high power states after completing a transfer. Based on these measurements, we develop a model for the energy consumed by network activity for each technology. Using this model, we develop TailEnder, a protocol that reduces energy consumption of common mobile applications. For appli- cations that can tolerate a small delay such as e-mail, TailEnder schedules transfers so as to minimize the cumulative energy con- sumed while meeting user-specified deadlines. We show that the TailEnder scheduling algorithm is within a factor 2◊ of the optimal and show that any online algorithm can at best be within a factor 1.62◊ of the optimal. For applications like web search that can benefit from prefetching, TailEnder aggressively prefetches several times more data and improves user-specified response times while consuming less energy. We evaluate the benefits of TailEnder for three different case study applications—email, news feeds, and web search—based on real user logs and show significant reduction in energy consumption in each case. Experiments conducted on the mobile phone show that TailEnder can download 60% more news feed updates and download search results for more than 50% of web queries, compared to using the default policy.
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