Transforming Consumption Practices: A Social Practice Theory Analysis of Repairability and Lifetime Extension of Smartphones

Sammanfattning: The lifetime extension of smartphones is seen as a prominent way to reduce the environmental impacts caused during the production of the devices. Smartphones may be small devices, but their impact is no longer small as for the past years e-waste has been the largest growing waste generated globally. This research aimed to learn what perspectives Swedish smartphone users had towards repairability and durability of their devices, to study what practices these users had in terms of repairing and additionally what conclusions could be drawn from their practices to enable access to repair options and lifetime extension practices for smartphones. Qualitative semi-structured interviews were conducted with 13 participants from Sweden who were smartphone users. Social practice theory was deemed best suited for this research as we were interested in finding out what practices consumers conduct currently for repair on smartphones. Analysis was done combining practice theory and degrowth perspective, as practice changes and smartphone lifetime extension can be seen as a strategy towards degrowth. When taken together, our results reveal that non-material aspects, such as meaning and perceived obsolescence play a critical role in the evaluation of whether to repair or replace a smartphone. This suggests that a focus on the durability of the devices over time as well as easier access to repair choices should rather be highlighted. Financial incentives would also be favoured through policy making, but overall policy makers need to have a larger guiding hand towards sustainable consumption of smartphones, they need to be influencers in the socio-material setting where currently consumers are locked in through barriers placed by manufacturers.