What if everyone becomes a sharer? A quantification of the environmental impact of access-based consumption for household laundry activities
(2020) In Resources, Conservation and Recycling 158.- Abstract
In order to meet the EU's climate and resource efficiency targets, changes in our daily-life behaviours, as well as business models, are urgently necessary. More insights are needed to make real changes based on research with a systems perspective. We developed a system dynamics model to analyse the environmental benefits of a transition from ownership-based to access-based household laundry activities. The model considers demographic, technological and behavioural aspects and thereby assesses the environmental impact of laundry activities. The model is applied to the Swedish as well as the European context and allows cross-country comparisons. The results indicate a significant potential of the sharing economy. The higher utilisation... (More)
In order to meet the EU's climate and resource efficiency targets, changes in our daily-life behaviours, as well as business models, are urgently necessary. More insights are needed to make real changes based on research with a systems perspective. We developed a system dynamics model to analyse the environmental benefits of a transition from ownership-based to access-based household laundry activities. The model considers demographic, technological and behavioural aspects and thereby assesses the environmental impact of laundry activities. The model is applied to the Swedish as well as the European context and allows cross-country comparisons. The results indicate a significant potential of the sharing economy. The higher utilisation of shared machines and extended lifespans of the machines can cut greenhouse gas emissions by a third and lower raw material usage overall and lower primary raw material in production due to higher recycling rates. The carbon intensity of the energy mix is a crucial factor for the environmental consequences that arise through changes in energy usage due to sharing economy practices. This case study shows the value of adopting policies that could promote sharing and extended life spans.
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- author
- Wasserbaur, Raphael ; Sakao, Tomohiko ; Ljunggren Söderman, Maria ; Plepys, Andrius LU and Dalhammar, Carl LU
- organization
- publishing date
- 2020-07
- type
- Contribution to journal
- publication status
- published
- subject
- keywords
- Access-based consumption, Environmental impact analysis, Sharing economy, System dynamics, Washing machine
- in
- Resources, Conservation and Recycling
- volume
- 158
- article number
- 104780
- publisher
- Elsevier
- external identifiers
-
- scopus:85081607157
- ISSN
- 0921-3449
- DOI
- 10.1016/j.resconrec.2020.104780
- language
- English
- LU publication?
- yes
- id
- a656e10c-1d4f-4db4-84f1-80ea876cdc7e
- date added to LUP
- 2020-03-29 17:35:42
- date last changed
- 2022-04-18 21:19:03
@article{a656e10c-1d4f-4db4-84f1-80ea876cdc7e,
abstract = {{<p>In order to meet the EU's climate and resource efficiency targets, changes in our daily-life behaviours, as well as business models, are urgently necessary. More insights are needed to make real changes based on research with a systems perspective. We developed a system dynamics model to analyse the environmental benefits of a transition from ownership-based to access-based household laundry activities. The model considers demographic, technological and behavioural aspects and thereby assesses the environmental impact of laundry activities. The model is applied to the Swedish as well as the European context and allows cross-country comparisons. The results indicate a significant potential of the sharing economy. The higher utilisation of shared machines and extended lifespans of the machines can cut greenhouse gas emissions by a third and lower raw material usage overall and lower primary raw material in production due to higher recycling rates. The carbon intensity of the energy mix is a crucial factor for the environmental consequences that arise through changes in energy usage due to sharing economy practices. This case study shows the value of adopting policies that could promote sharing and extended life spans.</p>}},
author = {{Wasserbaur, Raphael and Sakao, Tomohiko and Ljunggren Söderman, Maria and Plepys, Andrius and Dalhammar, Carl}},
issn = {{0921-3449}},
keywords = {{Access-based consumption; Environmental impact analysis; Sharing economy; System dynamics; Washing machine}},
language = {{eng}},
publisher = {{Elsevier}},
series = {{Resources, Conservation and Recycling}},
title = {{What if everyone becomes a sharer? A quantification of the environmental impact of access-based consumption for household laundry activities}},
url = {{http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.resconrec.2020.104780}},
doi = {{10.1016/j.resconrec.2020.104780}},
volume = {{158}},
year = {{2020}},
}