Abstract

Consumer electronic products (CEP) manufacturing and retail contribute markedly to global industrial activity; worldwide estimates suggest revenue growth from $1 trillion in 2020 to $1.5 trillion by 2026. Consequently, the production, distribution, use, and end-of-life (EOL) disposition of these products are responsible for considerable social and environmental impacts, including 35 million metric tonnes of waste to landfill per year, 793 million metric tonnes (MMT)—and growing—of carbon dioxide-equivalent (CO2e) greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions per year, and innumerable adverse effects on human health and development. Driving these impacts are the inherent characteristics of CEPs themselves, which increasingly require critical materials in design, high energy consumption in manufacturing, and complex treatment of hazardous waste streams at EOL. In the age of information, however, access to CEPs is increasingly essential to technological and socioeconomic development, particularly in emerging Global South economies. Serving these growing consumer needs while mitigating environmental and human health impacts is a considerable challenge. The circular economy is broadly emerging as a means to address these challenges. In particular, value retention processes (VRPs) including remanufacturing, refurbishing, repair, and direct reuse are gaining market share and acceptance as practical applications of circular economy principles. In some industry sectors—e.g., automotive, aerospace, and commercial machinery—VRPs have been found to be more economically efficient than and environmentally preferable to incumbent linear business models, offering a means to decouple economic advancement from increasing environmental impact. Accelerating demand for CEPs and accordingly growing materials, energy, manufacturing byproducts, and EOL waste problems highlight the necessity of such decoupling to sustainable development in this sector as well. To that end, this research provides a framework for quantifying the market potential for and possible impacts of a shift to VRPs in consumer products industries at large, using the CEP sector as a high-impact case study. To this end, Chapter 2 conducts product-level material flow analysis (MFA) for five key CEP types to assess the material and behavioral feasibility of VRP models in the CEP sector across developmental strata, highlighting the United States of America (US) and the Republic of Ghana (GH) as Global North and South case studies, respectively. Chapter 3 then assesses the relative environmental performance of possible VRP business models at the product level, using survey data on specific rates and modes of failures to inform new VRP life cycle assessment (LCA) models for two case study products at opposite ends of the CEP spectrum: a smartphone and a domestic refrigerator. Finally, Chapter 4 assess the economic viability of VRP business models in the CEP sector through the user lens, proposing a new model for multigenerational multicriteria decision analysis (MCDA) between new and VRP CEPs. We evaluate this model using best available market, survey, and product specification data, and investigate how product attributes and consumer preferences influence VRP purchasing decisions in CEP markets. Outcomes of this research are twofold. First, Chapter 2 and 3 case study modeling results suggest that VRPs are indeed materially feasible and environmentally preferable across the CEP sector, even under current market, technology, and behavioral conditions. Similarly, Chapter 4 results illustrate that circular shifts are a plausible economic reality, and sensitivity analyses highlight strategies to optimize the benefits of and alleviate barriers to such shifts. Second, the underlying modeling frameworks themselves provide a foundation for quantitative analysis of how technology, market, and policy factors affect the viability and preferability of VRPs across contexts. This architecture is thus adaptable across product types, market circumstances, and developmental strata, supporting broader global analysis of circular opportunity, enabling conditions, and possible benefits.

Library of Congress Subject Headings

Household electronics--Environmental aspects; Consumer behavior--Environmental aspects; Life cycle costing; Circular economy

Publication Date

8-2025

Document Type

Dissertation

Student Type

Graduate

Degree Name

Sustainability (Ph.D.)

Department, Program, or Center

Sustainability, Department of

College

Golisano Institute for Sustainability

Advisor

Michael Thurston

Advisor/Committee Member

Nabil Nasr

Advisor/Committee Member

Clyde Hull

Campus

RIT – Main Campus

Plan Codes

SUST-PHD

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