Economic, Environmental, and Social Impact of Remanufacturing in a Competitive Setting

Raz, Gal; Овчінніков, Антон; Blass, Vered

doi:10.1109/tem.2017.2714698

Cited by 43 publications

(30 citation statements)

References 54 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Order By: Relevance

“…This result is similar to several recent studies with regard to remanufacturing electronics products that suggested that remanufacturing may actually increase firms environmental impact by causing the overall market to grow (e.g., Quariguasi‐Frota‐Neto and Bloemhof , Raz et al. ).…”

Section: Welfare and Environmental Impact Of Recyclingsupporting

confidence: 90%

Recycling as a Strategic Supply Source

Raz

Souza

2018

Production and Operations Management

Self Cite

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

We investigate how recycling can be a strategic source of supply in the presence of a changing supply market. This research is inspired by the metal cutting tools industry, where challenges regarding a key raw material present an opportunity for the manufacturers to create an alternative supply source by recycling. In this study, there is a virgin material market that supplies two manufacturers differentiated in their recycling ability. The problem is formulated as a game, where the manufacturers first make a decision to recycle or not, and then decide on their respective production quantities, and recycling rates. Depending on the fixed recycling cost relative to the unit cost of the virgin material, as well as the recycling cost structure of the two manufacturers, there are four possible equilibria: both manufacturers recycle, neither manufacturer recycles, only the more recycling‐capable manufacturer recycles, or a scenario with two Nash equilibria (either manufacturer recycles whereas the other does not). We show that recycling is indeed a strategic supply source resulting in higher quantities and profits. Interestingly, a manufacturer may recycle less if the unit cost of the virgin material increases, at high recycling rates. This result emphasizes the importance of carefully modeling the recycling cost structure. Although a recycled unit has necessarily a lower life‐cycle environmental impact than a unit made of virgin materials, the industry‐wide environmental impact can be higher in a recycling scenario due to higher production quantities overall. Welfare, however, is higher with recycling.

show abstract

Section: Welfare and Environmental Impact Of Recyclingsupporting

confidence: 90%

Recycling as a Strategic Supply Source

Raz

Souza

2018

Production and Operations Management

Self Cite

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…As mentioned previously, research has shown that trade in used goods can result in an overall increase in consumption (Thomas, 2003;Ghose et al, 2006;Raz et al, 2017). Such surplus consumption suggests that, if prices and transaction costs in secondary markets were to become unattractive (i.e., as a result of the platform charging excessive commissions, or following regulatory changes), some consumers would refrain of buying the used good.…”

Section: • No Surplus Consumptionmentioning

confidence: 95%

“…In fact, some studies suggest that reuse may stimulate new production, for example by allowing consumers to sell their older products and use the earnings toward the purchase of new units (Waldman, 2003;Cooper and Gutowski, 2017). While such surplus consumption might have social benefits (Ovchinnikov et al, 2014;Raz et al, 2017) it is likely to increase overall environmental burdens.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Does the Circular Economy Grow the Pie? The Case of Rebound Effects From Smartphone Reuse

Makov¹,

Vivanco²

2018

Front. Energy Res.

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

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.

show abstract

“…; Raz et al. ). It follows that products with longer economic life spans (defined here as the time during which a product can be resold “as is” via secondhand markets) are generally more sustainable than products that lose their value faster and have shorter economic life spans.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 98%

“…Similarly, according to the Ellen MacArthur Foundation, reuse that involves little repair, remanufacturing, or alteration of products represents one of the most environmentally beneficial paths of the circular economy (MacArthur 2013). In addition, much like other used products, smartphone reuse (via access to communications) likely has a positive impact on welfare, especially for households with lower economic power (Gavazza et al 2014;Raz et al 2017). It follows that products with longer economic life spans (defined here as the time during which a product can be resold "as is" via secondhand markets) are generally more sustainable than products that lose their value faster and have shorter economic life spans.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

What Affects the Secondhand Value of Smartphones: Evidence from eBay

Makov

Fishman

Chertow

et al. 2018

J of Industrial Ecology

Self Cite

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Summary Reuse via secondhand markets can extend the use phase of products, thereby reducing environmental impacts. Analyzing 500,000 listings of used Apple and Samsung smartphones sold in 2015 and 2016 via eBay, we examine which product properties affect how long smartphones retain market value and facilitate market‐based reuse. Our results suggest that although repairability and large memory size are typically thought to be “life extending,” in practice they have limited impact on the current economic life span of smartphones and their market‐based reuse. In contrast, we show that brand, an intangible product property, can extend smartphones’ economic life span by 12.5 months. Because longer economic life spans imply extended use phases and longer life spans overall, these results illustrate the potential of harnessing the intangible properties of products to promote sustainable consumption.

show abstract

Economic, Environmental, and Social Impact of Remanufacturing in a Competitive Setting

Cited by 43 publications

References 54 publications

Recycling as a Strategic Supply Source

Recycling as a Strategic Supply Source

Does the Circular Economy Grow the Pie? The Case of Rebound Effects From Smartphone Reuse

What Affects the Secondhand Value of Smartphones: Evidence from eBay

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About