PLANNED OBSOLESCENCE: A HIDDEN THREAT TO ENVIRONMENTAL SECURITY AND THE RECENT EU POLICY

Abstract

Through the fast-paced global economy, our planet witnesses worsening records on global warming, ecological deterioration, and biodiversity losses each year. While ‘over’ or even ‘hyper’ consumption is experienced in various, especially in the developed parts of the world, resources are being depleted to meet infinite desires rather than basic needs. The growth in population and consumption is expected to further deplete natural resources and aggravate excessive waste generation. Behind the scenes, as one of the triggering strategies of this excessive and continuous consumption, planned obsolescence, which has been widely employed since the 1929 Great Depression, remains a prevalent strategy in practice. With the aim to draw attention to this hidden and well-established strategy, this study examines the planned obsolescence issue and its practices, seeks to answer why planned obsolescence poses a threat to environmental security, whilst evaluates the effectiveness of the recent EU policies and actions to tackle this issue.