1,720,967 research outputs found
Contributing to the circular economy by applying behavioural economics for distinct urban mines exploitation: a mobile and smart phone case study among UK university students
No full textIn 2017, 2 billion mobile and smart phones were manufactured but only 15% of this number were collected back, indicating there is clear scope for enhanced collection.To further close the loop for a circular economy, mobile and smart phone collection rates need to increase. A Theory of Endowed Behaviour extends the Theory of Planned Behaviour to shed new light on small electronics end-of-use behaviours among young adults, using mobile and smart phones within the UK Higher Education as a case study. An exploratory mixed method was developed to identify and then confirm relevant end-of-use decision factors for these devices. Using concepts from Behavioural Economics, the Endowment Effect was been measured on owners’ current mobile devices. Students consistently overvalued their phone second-hand monetary value. This overvaluation was in turn correlated to daily screen time. The more time users spent daily using their device, the higher the overvaluation.Screen time was not only a proxy to the Endowment Effect but as also to the quantity of devices stored away. Respondents with higher screen time had more devices in storage. Certain devices were stockpiled for a specific backup purpose, but others were hoarded for a lack of better alternatives. Screen time can be used as proxy to both the Endowment Effect and the quantity of devices stored away.Mobile and smart phones Distinct Urban Mines (DUM) are expressed not only by the quantity of devices and their nature but also the reasons they have been stored away. Mobile and smart phones stored away by stockpilers can be assimilated to a ‘safety stock' that is not exploitable and devices kept by hoarders to an ‘exploitable stock.’ From a DUM of 3.4 million devices in the UK Higher Education system, it was estimated that approximately 1 million are exploitable. Some caution should be made as the extrapolation is made to give a sense of the potential available but the sample is biased towards male and overseas students due to the student cohorts studied.To access this DUM, it is suggested to integrate screen time as a behavioural factor used as a proxy for the Endowment effect and hoarding behaviour. While difficult at this stage to estimate a clear improvement in modelling screen time and the endowment effect, the aim is to provide additional insights into the barriers leading to stockpiling small e-waste. To counter the Endowment Effect, it is proposed to improve existing collection systems using use Choice Architecture and non-monetary incentives
Using Delphi expert knowledge to explore non-recycling behaviour factors for small e-waste
No full textExtending the Theory of Planned Behaviour Using Behavioural Economics to Reduce and Access Small WEEE Anthropogenic Stocks
Get PDFFrom an urban mining perspective stockpiles of Waste of Electronic and Electrical Equipment (WEEE) by individuals represent anthropogenic stocks that could be exploited for precious and critical resources. The current challenge resides in minimising these stocks generation, as well as accessing the resources they represent. Behavioural models such as the Theory of Planned Behaviour (TPB) have been used in waste and resources management studies to understand WEEE end-of-use intentions and behaviours. But the results have been uneven and the very presence of these anthropogenic stocks is the acknowledgement that these models need to be adapted. Based on a review from the waste and resources management literature we found that TPB models incorporating emotions tended to have higher variance explained for intention, but the intention-behaviour gap remained strong. To explain this gap for small WEEE we propose using variables associating emotions with decision-making biases and tendencies that affect individual behaviours. This study is a theoretical elaboration supporting future empirical testing. A TPB extended with behavioural economics could better model small WEEE end-of-use decisions. Improved understanding of small WEEE urban mines generation could, in turn, inform policy and incentives design to transform these anthropogenic stocks into flows of resources within a circular economy
Applying behavioural economics to exploit materials from university distinct urban mines
No full textThe European Union is concerned about potential future scarcity of ferrous and non-ferrous materials. However, it already has potentially rich reserves of secondary materials via high ownership of Electrical and Electronic Equipment (EEE). Young people are particularly high consumers of EEE. Hence university students and campuses may present an opportunity to harness this potential. University Distinct Urban Mines (DUM’s) may be used as an exemplar of a powerful concept to tap into potential reserves of secondary metals, and demonstrate one way in which we could potentially transition from a linear to a circular economy. This study aimed to evaluate a category 2 Waste of Electrical and Electronic Equipment (WEEE) DUM from a UK university. A quantitative survey was undertaken in 2011 to assess students’ ownership and discarding behaviour with respect to small household appliances (SHA). The amounts of ferrous and non-ferrous materials were then estimated and converted to monetary values from the secondary materials market data to estimate the overall value of this DUM. We conclude that a total of 188 tonnes of ferrous and non-ferrous materials were available via discarding or being stockpiled at the University of Southampton in 2011. Extrapolated at UK higher education level, discarded and stockpiled PCA's represent a potential worth 9 million Euros approximately and a majority of broken personal care appliances (PCA’s) were discarded in the general refuse. To divert broken PCA's from landfill we suggest improving users’ choice architecture by proposing collection methods specific to broken WEEE
Unlocking the Value of Stockpiled Mobile Handsets: a Delphi Evaluation of Factors Influencing End of Use
Get PDFMeeting consumers’ demands for electrical and electronic equipment (EEE) products in the face of diminishing natural resources necessitate a shift from take-make-dispose to circular economy approaches. Mobile handsets are ubiquitous but only a fraction are returned into the economy at the end; many are locked in consumers' households. These small EEE hold residual value as well as critical resources, such as Rare Earth Elements. Incentives for destockpiling exist but are insufficient to alter long-term end-of-use behaviour. Household recycling behaviour tends to be used as a template for EEE end-of-use. But established explanatory factors for household recycling might not be fully relevant for small electronic devices: their size permits stockpiling, whilst their continued utility can encourage retention as back-up or “safety” devices. This study aimed to elucidate the relevance of factors specific to the nature of small EEE, notably their physical characteristics and working order. A panel of academics and professionals from the global waste and resource management sector was consulted using Delphi methods. The results show that factors commonly applied to foster recycling, such as altruism or pro-environmental behaviour, do not necessarily apply to small EEE. On the other hand, the device’s features and working order are critical factors in the end-of-use decision-making process. This study concludes that practical and situational factors should be used to favourably alter decisions for small EEE, including devices’ characteristics. In effect, updated situational factors could unlock a global “destockpile lifestyle” to realise full value from the reuse and recycling of small EEE
The potential for developing urban mines from household stockpiled small WEEE
No full textThe Ellen Mac Arthur Foundation (2014) estimated that Cat. 3 Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment (WEEE) / Internet and Communication Technology (ICT) devices such as mobile phones and tablets have reached a 15% collection rate in the European Union (EU). Ongondo and Williams (2011) have calculated that 36.7 million mobile phones were stockpiled by higher education students in the UK, USA, Germany and Australia, representing 1,200 tonnes of strategic and critical materials. More than a billion handsets are shipped each year (Gartner, 2015) and research shows that a large majority is not collected when these devices become WEEE. This uncollected WEEE is rich of strategic and critical materials that could be used to sustain urban mines within a circular economy; yielding supply security and growth in the EU (European Commission, 2014). Also with the recent European Commission withdrawal from the Circular Economy package and the thin margins the waste management industry operates on, significant economic incentives to develop urban-mines are unlikely. A new approach looking at alternate incentive methods need to be implemented in addition to the factors already identified by current behavioural models applied to household recycling
Using choice architecture to exploit a university Distinct Urban Mine
Get PDFThere are widespread concerns regarding the potential future scarcity of ferrous and non-ferrous materials. However, there are already potentially rich reserves of secondary materials via high ownership of Electrical and Electronic Equipment (EEE) in economically-developed nations. Young people are particularly high consumers of EEE, thus university students and campuses may present an opportunity to harness this potential. University Distinct Urban Mines (DUM) may be used to exemplify how potential reserves of secondary metals may be exploited, and could contribute to the transition from a linear to a circular economy. This study aimed to evaluate small household appliances (SHA) DUM from a UK university, with the objectives to identify and quantify student households’ SHA ownership, WEEE recycling, stockpiling and discarding habits amongst student households, assess and evaluate the monetary potential of SHA DUM at UK level, and propose methods to exploit DUM for universities in the UK. To this purpose, a quantitative survey was undertaken to measure students’ ownership and discarding behaviour with respect to SHA. The amounts of ferrous and non-ferrous materials were then estimated and converted to monetary values from secondary materials market data to appraise the SHA DUM overall value. Thirty-five per cent of SHA are discarded in the general refuse. Broken personal care appliances (PCA) tend to be discarded due to hygiene and small size factors. When in working order, SHA tend to be equally reused, recycled or stockpiled. We conclude that a total of 189 tonnes of ferrous and non-ferrous materials were available via discarding or being stockpiled at the University of Southampton. Extrapolated to UK higher education level, discarded and stockpiled SHA represent a potential worth _USD 11 million. To initiate DUM exploitation within Higher Education campuses, we suggest improving users’ choice architecture by providing collection methods specific to broken SHA
Going Beyond Counting First Authors in Author Co-citation Analysis
Get PDFThe present study examines one of the fundamental aspects of author co-citation analysis (ACA) - the way co-citation
counts are defined. Co-citation counting provides the data on which all subsequent statistical analyses and mappings
are based, and we compare ACA results based on two different types of co-citation counting - the traditional type that
only counts the first one among a cited work's authors on the one hand and a non-traditional type that takes into
account the first 5 authors of a cited work on the other hand. Results indicate that the picture produced through this non-traditional author co-citation counting contains more coherent author groups and is therefore considerably clearer. However, this picture represents fewer specialties in the research field being studied than that produced through the traditional first-author co-citation counting when the same number of top-ranked authors is selected and analyzed. Reasons for these effects are discussed
Variations on the Author
Get PDF“Variations on the Author” discusses two of Eduardo Coutinho’s recent films (Um Dia na Vida, from 2010, and Últimas Conversas, posthumously released in 2015) and their contribution to the general question of documentary authorship. The director’s filmography is characterized by a consistent yet self-effacing form of authorial self-inscription: Coutinho often features as an interviewer that rather than express opinions propels discourses; an interviewer that is good at listening. This mode of self-inscription characterizes him as an author who is not expressive but who is nonetheless markedly present on the screen. In Um Dia na Vida, however, Coutinho is completely absent form the image, while Últimas Conversas, on the contrary, includes a confessional prologue that moves the director from the margins to the center of his films. This article examines the ways in which these works stand out in the filmography of a director who offers new insights into the notion of cinematic authorship
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