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Is your new phone already slowing down or are your expensive earphones acting up?

You're not imagining it. Our products are no longer designed to last, with some barely working a few years before ending up in a landfill.

Shortening the lifespan of a product is a strategy known as planned obsolescence.

My new research takes a closer look at this concept and argues that, by strengthening existing laws, it is possible to make products that last while reducing costs for consumers and the environment.

Modern devices like laptops and smartwatches are made of a combination of rare materials, toxic substances such as mercury and arsenic, and flammable batteries. When released into the environment, these toxic chemicals can pollute the soil and waterways.

This should make us think twice about throwing out broken devices. Yet, Australians produce almost three times the global average of electronic waste, known as e-waste. Globally, we generated 62 million tonnes (68 million tons) of e-waste by 2022. That amount could fill more than 1 million trucks, about enough to wrap around Earth's equator. E-waste worldwide is set to rise by another 32%, reaching 82 million tonnes (90 million tons) by 2030.

In Australia, reducing waste must be a priority if we're to meet our net-zero goal and transition to a circular economy , where our belongings are reused, repaired or recycled instead of piling up in landfills.

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