{"title":"Hibernation of off-grid solar e-waste in Kenya: An unintended response to an emerging waste issue","authors":"","doi":"10.1016/j.eist.2024.100926","DOIUrl":null,"url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Off-grid solar devices enables a transition to green energy. With this transition however, there is generation of electronic waste and concerns about its management. Currently most solar e-waste ends up 'hibernating' or stored at home, while only a minor share is recycled. Through a mixed method approach, this paper addresses underlying causes of hibernation. It develops a new framework to shed light on elements at the interplay between economic, emotional and symbolic reasoning explaining off grid solar e-waste hibernation in rural homes in Kenya. It finds that 72 % of waste hibernates and that the hibernation potential increases with decreasing economic value and with increasing symbolic and emotional meanings. Hibernation period is anticipated to increase with an ageing stock of devices. Thus, while better products, repair and recycling are long-term solutions, hibernation offers an 'unintended' intermediate solution to the problem of broken devices, which might otherwise be disposed of.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":54294,"journal":{"name":"Environmental Innovation and Societal Transitions","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":5.7000,"publicationDate":"2024-10-31","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":"0","resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":null,"PeriodicalName":"Environmental Innovation and Societal Transitions","FirstCategoryId":"93","ListUrlMain":"https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2210422424001163","RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"经济学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":null,"EPubDate":"","PubModel":"","JCR":"Q1","JCRName":"ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES","Score":null,"Total":0}
引用次数: 0
Abstract
Off-grid solar devices enables a transition to green energy. With this transition however, there is generation of electronic waste and concerns about its management. Currently most solar e-waste ends up 'hibernating' or stored at home, while only a minor share is recycled. Through a mixed method approach, this paper addresses underlying causes of hibernation. It develops a new framework to shed light on elements at the interplay between economic, emotional and symbolic reasoning explaining off grid solar e-waste hibernation in rural homes in Kenya. It finds that 72 % of waste hibernates and that the hibernation potential increases with decreasing economic value and with increasing symbolic and emotional meanings. Hibernation period is anticipated to increase with an ageing stock of devices. Thus, while better products, repair and recycling are long-term solutions, hibernation offers an 'unintended' intermediate solution to the problem of broken devices, which might otherwise be disposed of.
期刊介绍：
Environmental Innovation and Societal Transitions serves as a platform for reporting studies on innovations and socio-economic transitions aimed at fostering an environmentally sustainable economy, thereby addressing structural resource scarcity and environmental challenges, particularly those associated with fossil energy use and climate change. The journal focuses on various forms of innovation, including technological, organizational, economic, institutional, and political, as well as economy-wide and sectoral changes in areas such as energy, transport, agriculture, and water management. It endeavors to tackle complex questions concerning social, economic, behavioral-psychological, and political barriers and opportunities, along with their intricate interactions. With a multidisciplinary approach and methodological openness, the journal welcomes contributions from a wide array of disciplines within the social, environmental, and innovation sciences.
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