Improving the environmental impact of the washing machine product-service system by Coolblue

Abstract

In 2019 over 670000 new washing machines(WMs) were purchased in the Netherlands (Statista, 2020). With a WM ownershiprate of 98%, the Dutch people have one of the highest WM ownership percentagesin the world (Laitala et al., 2018). In the traditional business model (BM)these WMs will be used, discarded and recycled. In order to increase sales someWMs are even designed with a planned obsolescence. This ‘take-make-dispose’economy is reaching its limits and caused signiﰇficant resource losses (EMF, 2013). The Circular Economy (CE)suggests that the economic growth can be decoupled from the use of naturalresources.  A product-service system(PSS) is perceived as a pioneering business model (BM) shifting the traditionalownership-based model towards a CE (Spring and Arauja, 2017; de Pádua Pieroniet al., 2018; Yang et al., 2018). In this BM the provider remains the owner ofthe product in return for access to the product and additional services(Tukker, 2004). This offers the possibility to decrease resource and materialconsumption, improve energy efficiency during usage and extend the productslifespan (Bocken et al., 2014; Mont, 2008). Some concerns have been expressedon the pitfalls of a PSS. For example, high investments for the provider andcarelessness by the customer. A PSS does not automatically lead to a reducedenvironmental impact. There are three PSS archetypes: product-oriented,user-oriented and result-oriented (Tukker, 2004). Each archetype creates adifferent environmental potential. The literature shows that in a linear BM theuser phase has the largest environmental impact in the life cycle of a WM. Itis unknown if this also applies to a product lease PSS BM. It is assumed thatin a product lease BM more logistic steps are performed to realise the PSS.  A product-service system (PSS) is perceivedas a pioneering business model (BM) shifting the traditional ownership-basedmodel towards a CE (Spring and Arauja, 2017; de Pádua Pieroni et al., 2018;Yang et al., 2018). In this BM the provider remains the owner of the product inreturn for access to the product and additional services (Tukker, 2004). This offersthe possibility to the products lifespan (Bocken et al., 2014; Mont, 2008). Someconcerns have been expressed on the pitfalls of a PSS. For example, highinvestments for the provider and carelessness by the customer. A PSS does notautomatically lead to a reduced environmental impact. There are three PSSarchetypes: product-oriented, user-oriented and result-oriented (Tukker, 2004).Each archetype creates a different environmental potential. The literatureshows that in a linear BM the user phase has the largest environmental impactin the life cycle of a WM. It is unknown if this also applies to a productlease PSS BM. It is assumed that in a product lease BM more logistic steps areperformed to realise the PSS. A product-service system (PSS) is perceived as apioneering business model (BM) shifting the traditional ownership-based modeltowards a CE (Spring and Arauja, 2017; de Pádua Pieroni et al., 2018; Yang etal., 2018). In this BM the provider remains the owner of the product in return foraccess to the product and additional services (Tukker, 2004). This offers thepossibility to the products lifespan (Bocken et al., 2014; Mont, 2008). Someconcerns have been expressed on the pitfalls of a PSS. For example, highinvestments for the provider and carelessness by the customer. A PSS does notautomatically lead to a reduced environmental impact. There are three PSSarchetypes: product-oriented, user-oriented and result-oriented (Tukker, 2004).Each archetype creates a different environmental potential. The literatureshows that in a linear BM the user phase has the largest environmental impactin the life cycle of a WM. It is unknown if this also applies to a productlease PSS BM. It is assumed that in a product lease BM more logistic steps areperformed to realise the PSS.  Coolblueis an online webshop that operates in consumer electronics and appliances.Since 2018 they offer an product lease subscription where a WM can be leasedagainst a fixed fee. Coolblue is curious to know what the environmental impactof their product lease BM is in comparison to the traditional linear BM and howthey can improve upon this impact. Therefore this thesis aims to answer the followingresearch question: How can Coolblue improve the environmental impact of theircurrent and future washing machine product-service system?