PLANNED OBSOLESCENCE: HISTORY, TYPES, CONSEQUENCES - ENVIRONMENT - 2025

The planned obsolescence is a strategy employed by manufacturers to reduce the life of the products. In this way, consumption is promoted and greater economic gains are obtained.

This strategy originated in the early 20th century with the development of the Industrial Revolution. Its concept was more clearly defined by the American Bernarda London in 1932, who proposed to implement it as a law.

Mural on planned obsolescence in Catalonia. Source: Coentor

Two basic types of planned obsolescence have been defined. In technical obsolescence, equipment is designed to have a short life span. Perceived obsolescence manipulates the consumer's mind through advertising, so that they consider objects obsolete because they are not in fashion.

Planned obsolescence has both environmental and social consequences. At the environmental level, the stimulation of consumption generates a large amount of waste that affects people and ecosystems. From the social point of view, inequalities between the countries with higher incomes and those less developed are increasing.

To avoid planned obsolescence, legislation should be created that prohibits this practice and promotes recycling and the production of long-lasting goods. In addition, consumer awareness must be created to make responsible consumption.

The advantages of planned obsolescence are perceived by companies, since this practice stimulates consumption, generates profits and produces jobs. While its disadvantages are suffered by the entire planet, by contributing to the global environmental crisis and requiring cheap labor without worker protection.

Among some examples, we have nylon stockings that have been losing quality since their origin in 1940, going from being a durable product to disposable today. In the technological field, some companies such as Apple design their products with a very short useful life and promote continuous updating of their software.

Definition

Planned obsolescence is a practice that is associated with production processes and the prevailing economic model in the world. It is related to the use of technology in planning the design and manufacture of consumer goods.

Taking these characteristics into account, different authors have proposed their own definitions. Among these we have:

Giles Slade (Canadian historian) indicates that it is a set of techniques applied to artificially reduce durability. The manufactured good is designed to be useful for a short time and in this way to stimulate repetitive consumption.

The American economist Barak Orbach defines programmed obsolescence as a strategy to reduce the period of use of a product. In this way, the manufacturer encourages the consumer to replace this good, due to its short useful life.

Finally, the Colombian economist Jesús Pineda considers that it is a production strategy that companies implement to limit the useful life of their products. They are designed to be useless in a period that is planned and known.

The common factor in all these definitions is the planning of the useful life of the products to stimulate consumption.

History

Planned obsolescence arises during the Industrial Revolution, when mass consumer goods began to be produced. In the 1920s (20th century), manufacturers considered creating products with a shorter shelf life to increase their profits.

One of the first experiences of planned obsolescence arises in 1924, with the formation of the Phoebus cartel (manufacturers of light bulbs). They instructed their engineers to design bulbs from more brittle materials and reduce their lifespan from 1,500 to 1,000 hours.

Before the onset of the Great Depression, in 1928, many businessmen already believed that a good that did not wear out affected economic processes.

Later, economic experts began to propose theories about the obsolescence process. Thus, in 1929 the American Christine Frederick postulated the practice of progressive obsolescence. This practice consisted of trying to influence the mind of the consumer to generate her desire to purchase new goods.

In 1932 the American businessman Bernard London wrote an essay entitled End of Depression through Planned Obsolescence. The author proposed a way out of the great global economic crisis that had caused high unemployment and the collapse of many banks.

London considered that one of the causes of the Great Depression was that the production of goods became greater than the demand. This was because people used the products for very long periods.

For this reason, he proposed four measures to the US government that he believed would help stimulate demand. These were:

1. Destroy the goods without any use, which would serve to reactivate the factories in order to replace them.
2. Assign manufactured products a planned useful life that is known to the consumer.
3. Once the useful life period has elapsed, the product would be rendered useless by law and should be destroyed. People would receive financial compensation to replace this product.
4. Production of new goods to replace the unused ones, in order to maintain the functioning of the industries and the employment rate.

London's proposals were not accepted at the legislative level, but their approaches were taken up by the manufacturers. They laid the foundations for all plans for the design and manufacture of consumer goods in the capitalist economy.

Types

Disused mobiles. Source: Lledorut

Planned obsolescence has different modalities or types, but they all lead to the same objective of generating constant demand from consumers. Among these types we have objective or technical obsolescence and psychological, perceived or subjective obsolescence.

-Obsolescence objective or technical

In this mode, obsolescence focuses on the physical characteristics of the product so that it becomes unusable in a programmed period of time. The different types of objective obsolescence are:

Functional obsolescence

It is also known as quality obsolescence, since there is a deliberate intention to render the good useless in a certain period of time. Products are designed and manufactured with materials of low quality and / or resistance based on the programmed useful life.

For this, part replacement or repair costs are planned to be similar to purchasing a new product. Also, no service is offered and no replacement parts are produced.

As examples of this type of obsolescence, we have the life of light bulbs or lithium batteries that are not rechargeable.

Computer obsolescence

It is based on generating computer alterations in electronic equipment, in order to make them obsolete in a certain period. It can be achieved by affecting software (computer programs) or hardware (physical elements of electronic equipment).

When software is affected, programs are created that render the old one obsolete. This induces consumers to buy the new version, which can be reinforced by not offering technical support for the old software.

In the case of hardware, the manufacturer offers the consumer remote software updates that cannot be processed by the computer. In this way, the hardware becomes obsolete and the acquisition of a new one is promoted.

Notice Obsolescence

This strategy consists of the manufacturer telling the consumer about the useful life of the good. For this, a signal is placed on the product that is activated when the planned period of use is fulfilled.

In this sense, the product may continue to be useful but the consumer is encouraged to replace it. This is the case with electric toothbrushes that have a display that indicates that they must be replaced.

One of the cases that is considered more aggressive in this type of planned obsolescence is that of printers. Many of these machines are programmed to stop working after a certain number of impressions, placing a chip to block them.

Psychological, perceived, or subjective obsolescence

In this type of obsolescence, the consumer perceives that the product is obsolete, even if it is useful, due to a change in design or style. The object becomes less desirable even if it is functional, because it does not follow fashion trends.

This form of obsolescence manipulates the mind of the consumer and leads him to think that the product he has is outdated. In such a way, that it is encouraged to acquire the most modern model that is being promoted in the market.

Perceived obsolescence is considered one of the typical features of the so-called “consumer society”. In it, the massive consumption of goods and services is promoted not to cover real needs, but desires created by advertising.

The most prominent examples of this type of obsolescence are found in the fashion and motoring industry.

Consequences

Programmed obsolescence as a common practice in industrial processes has serious consequences for the environment and society.

Environmental

Agbogbloshie landfill fire (Ghana). Source: Muntaka Chasant

In the first place, this practice is considered a waste of the planet's natural resources. The accelerated stimulus of consumption leads to the depletion of non-renewable minerals and a greater use of energy.

For example, it is estimated that with a 2% annual growth in production, by 2030 the reserves of copper, lead, nickel, silver, tin and zinc would be depleted. On the other hand, approximately 225 million metric tons of copper are left unused in landfills.

Another serious consequence of planned obsolescence is the high production of different types of waste. This ends up causing serious garbage pollution problems, as the waste is not properly managed.

One of the most worrying cases is that of electronic waste, since the production rate is very high. In the case of mobile phones, their replacement rate is estimated to be 15 months and more than 400,000 are sold daily.

The UN estimates that 50 million tons of electronic waste are produced per year. Most of this waste is produced in the most developed countries (Spain generates 1 million tons annually).

These electronic waste are usually quite polluting and their management is not very efficient. In fact, currently most electronic waste is taken to the Agbogbloshie neighborhood in the city of Accra (Ghana).

At the Agbogbloshie landfill, workers can earn up to $ 3.5 a day by recovering metals from electronic waste. However, these wastes generate a very high pollution that affects the health of workers.

In this landfill, lead levels exceed a thousand times the maximum tolerance level. In addition, the waters have been polluted, affecting biodiversity and fires release polluting fumes that cause respiratory diseases.

Social

One of the consequences of this practice is the need to maintain production rates with low costs. Therefore, industries try to maintain their income by using cheap labor.

Many industries have been established in countries with underdeveloped economies or where there is no good labor protection legislation. These areas include Southeast Asia, Africa, China, Brazil, Mexico and Central Europe.

This promotes huge social inequalities, as workers are unable to meet their needs. For example, the average monthly income of a textile worker in Ethiopia is 21 dollars and in Spain more than 800 dollars.

It is estimated that currently 15% of the world's population living in developed countries consumes 56% of goods. While 40% of the poorest countries, it only reaches 11% of world consumption.

On the other hand, consumption levels are not sustainable since the current ecological footprint is estimated to be 1.5 planets. In other words, the Earth would need a year and a half to regenerate the resources that we use in a year.

How to avoid planned obsolescence?

Various countries, particularly in the European Union, have promoted laws to prevent the development of these business practices. In France, during 2014, a law was passed that fines companies that apply planned obsolescence techniques to their products.

In order to avoid programmed obsolescence, the consumer must become aware of the problem and make responsible and sustainable consumption. Similarly, governments should promote responsible consumption campaigns and laws that encourage it.

The Swedish government approved in 2016 the reduction of VAT (25% to 12%) on any repair to different equipment. In this way, they seek to prevent consumers from discarding products that may have a longer shelf life.

Currently, there are manufacturers that produce goods that are not programmed to stop being useful. They are manufactured with high-quality materials and with replacement parts to extend their life and have labels to identify them.

Advantages and disadvantages

Electronic waste dump in Agbogbloshie (Ghana). Source: Fairphone

The advantages of planned obsolescence are only perceived by companies. This practice, together with the externalization of social and environmental costs, increases economic profits by stimulating the consumption of goods and services.

The disadvantages of planned obsolescence are illustrated in the environmental and social consequences mentioned previously. This causes significant damage to the environment due to the high rate of waste and emissions produced.

Furthermore, by promoting the accelerated production of goods, the planet's renewable raw materials are consumed. Therefore, planned obsolescence is not sustainable over time.

Lastly, planned obsolescence exacerbates social inequalities worldwide. Thus, companies prefer to settle in countries with cheap labor, without laws protecting the rights of workers.

Examples

There are numerous examples of planned obsolescence worldwide. Here we will present some of the most emblematic:

Nylon Stockings (Dupont Case)

The nylon fiber industry managed to incorporate great technological advances during the 40s of the 20th century. This technology was used during World War II to produce parachutes and tires, but was later applied in the manufacture of women's stockings.

The first nylon stockings were extremely resistant and had high durability, so consumption slowed down. The American industry Dupont decided to gradually reduce the quality of the stockings, in order to reduce their useful life.

The industry was increasingly decreasing the resistance of materials, becoming nylon stockings a practically disposable product. The company justified this practice by stating that consumers demanded greater transparency in garments to make them more attractive.

However, the approach was not very strong since technological advances in the area would make it possible to make resistant and transparent stockings. Therefore, the main objective of this practice is to induce short-term replacement of the product and increase consumption.

This example is considered to illustrate the operation of the fashion and textile industry, where products are manufactured seasonally. Also, this is combined with using materials that have low durability to promote the replacement of garments.

Technological equipment (Apple case)

The technology company Apple has implemented manufacturing policies and protocols to generate planned obsolescence of its products. For example, lithium batteries in popular iPods have a very short life and must be replaced frequently.

On the other hand, in 2009 a screw that was manufactured and distributed solely by the company was included in many Apple products. In addition, when the consumer took to repair older products with generic screws, they were replaced by the exclusive Apple screws.

Another practice that encourages planned obsolescence is the incompatibility of power adapters. Older computer adapters were compatible with each other, but later the company designed them to make them incompatible.

Therefore, when the user buys an Apple product, he is forced to purchase an accessory package that allows the different equipment to be connected. In fact, one of their products includes a chip that disables compatibility with other Apple computer adapters.

Finally, the Apple brand applies a very common practice in technology companies which is software update. In this way, the consumer is offered to improve the computer conditions of the equipment by modifying the operating systems.

In this way, computer obsolescence is generated, since the hardware cannot process the update of the programs and must be replaced.

Perishable food (Yogurt case)

Some perishables have short shelf lives that must be marked with expiration date labels. After this period, the consumption of the product can be risky for health.

There are other products that have a much longer shelf life and carry best-before-date labels. This date indicates the time up to which the product has the quality offered by the manufacturer.

However, consuming food after the best before date does not carry a health risk. In Spain, the regulation establishes that yogurts must carry a preferred consumption date and not an expiration date.

However, the manufacturers have not changed the label and continue to put the expiration date which is approximately 28 days. This causes the user to discard a large number of products that are still fit for consumption.

References

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