iGo Green: A Life Cycle Assessment of Apple's iPhone
Author(s)
Rodriguez, Emely
Carrasquillo, Odemaris
Lee, Christopher
Lee, Jon
Zhou, Angela
Issue Date
2015-03-15
Keyword(s)
qualitative research methods
quantitative analyses including statistics
sustainable computing
Abstract
Greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions continue to rise as a result of growth in population and industrialization. Manufacturing of new products with shortened life cycles, like the iPhone, are a significant source of GHG emissions. To identify and analyze potential environmental impacts of the iPhone, a life cycle assessment (LCA) was completed. A survey of iPhone users was conducted to gain a deeper understanding of consumer behavior. As part of this research it has been found that Apple’s design of the iPhone used a strategy of planned obsolescence, resulting in a shorter life cycle, increased mining of rare earth minerals (REMs), higher rates of product turnover, and higher shipping costs and fuel usage. Surveyed iPhone users were largely unaware of Apple’s iPhone recycling program.
Publisher
iSchools
Series/Report Name or Number
iConference 2015 Proceedings
Type of Resource
text
Language
English
Permalink
http://hdl.handle.net/2142/73760
Copyright and License Information
Copyright 2015 is held by the authors. Copyright permissions, when appropriate, must be obtained directly from the authors.
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