Makov, T;
Font Vivanco, D;
(2018)
Does the Circular Economy Grow the Pie? The Case of Rebound Effects From Smartphone Reuse.
Frontiers in Energy Research
, 6
, Article 39. 10.3389/fenrg.2018.00039.
Preview |
Text (Published article)
fenrg-06-00039.pdf - Published Version Download (857kB) | Preview |
![[thumbnail of Supplementary data]](https://discovery-pp.ucl.ac.uk/style/images/fileicons/other.png) |
Other (Supplementary data)
DoestheCircularEconomyGrowthePieTheCaseofReboundEffectsFromSmartphoneReuse.XLSX - Accepted Version Download (23kB) |
Abstract
The environmental benefits of the circular economy (CE) are often taken for granted. There are, however, reasons to believe that rebound effects may counteract such benefits by increasing overall consumption or “growing the pie.” In this study, we focus on two main rebound mechanisms: (1) imperfect substitution between “re-circulated” (recycled, reused, etc.) and new products and (2) re-spending due to economic savings. We use the case study of smartphone reuse in the US to quantify, for the first time, rebound effects from reuse. Using a combination of life cycle assessment, sales statistics, consumer surveying, consumer demand modeling, and environmentally-extended input-output analysis, we quantify the magnitude of this rebound effect for life-cycle greenhouse gas emissions. We find a rebound effect of 29% on average, with a range of 27–46% for specific smartphone models. Moreover, when exploring how rebound might play out in other regions and under different consumer behavior patterns, we find that rebound effects could be higher than 100% (backfire effect). In other words, we estimate that about one third, and potentially the entirety, of emission savings resulting from smartphone reuse could be lost due to the rebound effect. Our results thus suggest that there are grounds to challenge the premise that CE strategies, and reuse in particular, always reduce environmental burdens.
| Type: | Article |
|---|---|
| Title: | Does the Circular Economy Grow the Pie? The Case of Rebound Effects From Smartphone Reuse |
| Open access status: | An open access version is available from UCL Discovery |
| DOI: | 10.3389/fenrg.2018.00039 |
| Publisher version: | https://doi.org/10.3389/fenrg.2018.00039 |
| Language: | English |
| Additional information: | Copyright © 2018 Makov and Font Vivanco. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY) (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) and the copyright owner are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms. |
| Keywords: | rebound effect, circular economy, reuse, smartphones, life cycle assessment |
| UCL classification: | UCL UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > UCL BEAMS UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > UCL BEAMS > Faculty of the Built Environment |
| URI: | https://discovery-pp.ucl.ac.uk/id/eprint/10054074 |
Archive Staff Only
 |
View Item |
