An overview of social impacts and their corresponding improvement implications: a mobile phone case study

Wilhelm, Michael; Hutchins, Margot J.; Mars, Carole; Benoît-Norris, Catherine

doi:10.1016/j.jclepro.2015.04.025

Cited by 47 publications

(35 citation statements)

References 71 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Unclassified

Order By: Relevance

“…[]), only a few researchers have actively engaged in a discussion (Wilhelm et al. ). Recently, in this Journal , Schaubroeck and Rugani () provided a conceptual revision of LCSA and criticized the prevalent “paradigm that mankind damages the environment.” (p. 8) They argue that damage‐focused instruments of LCSA are incomplete “if they do not cover the other side of the coin” (i.e., indicators systems reflecting benefits of human and industrial systems to nature and human well‐being; p. 8).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

From SLCA to Positive Sustainability Performance Measurement: A Two‐Tier Delphi Study

Kühnen

Hahn

2018

J of Industrial Ecology

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Summary Life cycle sustainability assessment (LCSA) currently has a preoccupation with capturing and repairing negative dysfunctions and pathologies instead of fostering positive features that make a human life sustainable and worth living. With the intention to overcome this imbalance, this paper aims at transferring the shift to a positive sustainability performance measurement (PSPM) perspective in industrial ecology. We argue that positive performance is likely to develop from the lens of social life cycle assessment (SLCA), because sustainability is an anthropocentric concept that puts positive benefits to human well‐being (i.e., the social dimension of sustainability) at the center of the analysis. However, the field of SLCA is highly fragmented, without a coherent theoretical understanding and without a clear prioritization of problems and future research directions. Therefore, we engage in an extensive Delphi study with experts from academia and practice to foster a discussion of lessons learned from SLCA for PSPM. In this way, the paper contributes to a more coherent and deeper understanding of both connected fields. The results emphasize that SLCA has become a defensive risk management instrument against reputational damages, whereas PSPM offers the potential to proactively measure and manage positive contributions to sustainable development. We identify three main challenges (definitional, methodological, and managerial) and two main areas of benefits (organizational and societal) and use them to consolidate the debate on SLCA and PSPM and to provide a roadmap for future research.

show abstract

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

From SLCA to Positive Sustainability Performance Measurement: A Two‐Tier Delphi Study

Kühnen

Hahn

2018

J of Industrial Ecology

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…This also fails to account for economic and social factors associated with both, which are numerous and location specific (Wilhelm et al. ). Many issues regard health, but potential for child labor is also highlighted in multiple regions, such as China (Li et al.…”

Section: Background To the Life Cycle Of A Mobile Phonementioning

confidence: 99%

“…; Robinson ; Wilhelm et al. ), such as contamination of foods with heavy metals in wider areas than the immediate recycling site (Fu et al. ).…”

Section: Background To the Life Cycle Of A Mobile Phonementioning

confidence: 99%

“…The EoL phase is under-represented in eLCA, generally discussed as disposal by recycling or landfill and simplistically, for example, 50% recycled, 50% landfilled (Moberg et al 2014). This also fails to account for economic and social factors associated with both, which are numerous and location specific (Wilhelm et al 2015). Many issues regard health, but potential for child labor is also highlighted in multiple regions, such as China (Li et al 2011) or Africa (Schmidt 2006).…”

Section: End-of-life Phasementioning

confidence: 99%

“…Disposal to landfill has associated environmental and health issues through leaching of hazardous materials (Kiddee et al 2013;Lincoln et al 2007). When recycling does happen, it may be through informal practices, leading to serious health and wider environmental problems Huo et al 2007;Robinson 2009;Wilhelm et al 2015), such as contamination of foods with heavy metals in wider areas than the immediate recycling site (Fu et al 2008). It may be possible for the informal sector to have a viable part in a cleaner recycling of electronics (Davis and Garb 2015), while providing an income (Lepawsky and Billah 2011), but only if the barriers to effective collection of old phones can be overcome (Welfens et al 2016).…”

Section: Lifetime Extensionmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 2 more Smart Citations

Integrating Environmental and Social Life Cycle Assessment: Asking the Right Question

Suckling

Lee

2017

J of Industrial Ecology

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Mobile phones offer many potential social benefits throughout their lifetime, but this life is often much shorter than design intent. Reuse of the phone in a developing country allows these social benefits to be fully realized. Unfortunately, under the current state of development of recycling infrastructure, recovery rates of phones after reuse are very low in those markets, which may lead to an environmental burden due to loss of materials to landfill. In order to recover those materials most effectively, recycling in developed countries may be the best option, but at a cost of the ability to reuse the phones. The issues facing integration of social and environmental concerns into a single life cycle assessment and resulting challenges of identifying the disposal option with the most sustainable outcome are explored using mobile phones as a case study. These include obtaining sufficient geographical and temporal detail of the end of life options, the collation and analysis of the large amounts of data generated and the weighting of the disparate environmental and social impact categories. The numerous challenges may mount up to make performing life cycle assessment of mobile phones unwieldy. Instead of trying to encompass every aspect in full, it is proposed that focus is given to answering a question which takes into account the resources available: it is important to ask the question which has the best chance of being answered

show abstract

Implementing a Circular Ecosystem from Post-consumer Textiles: New Cotton Project

Moreira,

Niinimaki

2024

Fashion for the Common Good

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

An overview of social impacts and their corresponding improvement implications: a mobile phone case study

Cited by 47 publications

References 71 publications

From SLCA to Positive Sustainability Performance Measurement: A Two‐Tier Delphi Study

From SLCA to Positive Sustainability Performance Measurement: A Two‐Tier Delphi Study

Integrating Environmental and Social Life Cycle Assessment: Asking the Right Question

Implementing a Circular Ecosystem from Post-consumer Textiles: New Cotton Project

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About