Does increased circularity lead to environmental sustainability?: The case of washing machine reuse in Germany

Sandra Boldoczki, Andrea Thorenz and Axel Tuma

Journal of Industrial Ecology, 2021, vol. 25, issue 4, 864-876

Abstract: This study investigates under which circumstances increases in circularity through the reuse of use‐phase‐intensive electrical and electronic equipment lead to environmental benefits. We combine dynamic material flow analysis (dMFA) and life cycle assessment (LCA) to assess a Circular Economy strategy toward its environmental sustainability on midpoint and endpoint levels. The hybrid approach measures long‐term implications of policy decisions in multiple impact categories and shows the need to comprehensively evaluate Circular Economy activities. We apply the approach to the strategy of setting reuse targets in a case study on washing machines in Germany. As a consequence of a reuse target, the product portfolio changes over time. The resulting stocks and flows are calculated in a dMFA, and attributed with the respective LCA‐based environmental impacts. We present cumulated impacts between 2015 and 2050 for scenarios with different reuse targets for 18 midpoints and three endpoints of the impact assessment method ReCiPe 2016, and the cumulative energy demand. The latest proposal of a 5% reuse target results in average impact reductions of 1% compared to “business as usual.” An increase of reuse up to 87% results in an average impact reduction of 9%, ranging from an increase of 1% (water consumption) to a decrease up to 26% (land use). This shows that even high reuse rates only have a limited leverage on reducing environmental impacts and that it is therefore necessary to include detailed environmental assessments in a holistic evaluation of Circular Economy activities. This article met the requirements for a gold‐gold JIE data openness badge described at http://jie.click/badges.

Date: 2021
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (5)

Downloads: (external link)
https://doi.org/10.1111/jiec.13104

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:bla:inecol:v:25:y:2021:i:4:p:864-876

Ordering information: This journal article can be ordered from
http://www.blackwell ... bs.asp?ref=1088-1980

Access Statistics for this article

Journal of Industrial Ecology is currently edited by Reid Lifset

More articles in Journal of Industrial Ecology from Yale University
Bibliographic data for series maintained by Wiley Content Delivery ().