Promoting a Circular Economy in the Mobile Phone Product System in China

Abstract: The concept of the circular economy has been introduced to China and encouraged to be implemented in manufacturing industries by the government in recent years. The implementation of a circular economy in the mobile phone product system can potentially serve as a solution to reducing a significant amount of waste mobile phones. However, the development of a circular economy in China is still at the beginning phase. To help with the promotion of a circular economy, this thesis was proposed. The aim is to explore the possibility to promote a circular economy in the mobile phone product system in China and the main target group is mobile phone producers. The main methodology of this thesis was system dynamics modeling. A system dynamic model was developed to analyze the potential sustainability profits and economic profits. A questionnaire and a literature review were conducted to collect relevant data for the model. The study proposed three strategies (old-for-new, eco-design, and product service system) for producers to promote a circular economy. The profitability of the three scenarios was evaluated and then a sensitivity analysis of the parameters in the model was conducted. According to the model results, the old-for-new strategy was the most profitable and the strategy of the product- service system could not bring additional profit to producers if only economic profits were considered. The general suggestion for producers on maximizing the profitability was propagandizing the significance of mobile phone collection and recycling to increase consumers’ awareness.