Planned Obsolescence

Planned obsolescence is when a manufacturer designs a product to fail after a set period, so that you replace it sooner than you otherwise would. Manufacturers do this because every early replacement means another sale. The failure might be built into a component, or a worn-out part such as a battery might be sealed in so that it cannot be replaced. It is not only about software becoming out of date: physical parts can be designed to fail.

For example, imagine a home printer fitted with a built-in page counter. Once it has printed a fixed number of pages it stops working and shows an error message, even though the rollers and print head are still in good condition. The counter cannot be reset, so the owner throws the printer away and buys a new one rather than paying for a repair. The short life was not an accident; it was planned into the design.

Why it matters

Planned obsolescence shortens the replacement cycle, which is the time between buying a device and buying its replacement. A shorter cycle means more products are bought over the same number of years. Each extra product must be manufactured, which uses raw materials, energy and water, and each old product must be disposed of, adding to e-waste and landfill. The overall environmental impact therefore rises.

A longer replacement cycle usually has the opposite effect: fewer devices are made and thrown away, so fewer resources are used and less waste is created.