Breathe
By Sonia Garza González
The linear economy, also known as the take-make-waste economy, has caused a number of harms; it does not take into account care for the environment or the harm it can cause to people. The extraction and consumption of natural resources, such as minerals, fossil fuels and water, is leading to their depletion. This causes damage to ecosystems, loss of biodiversity, degradation of habitats and encourages an irresponsible conscience of consumption.
With the strategy of "planned obsolescence", which consists of designing products to intentionally deteriorate or become obsolete in the short or medium term, the goal is to get consumers to buy new products or upgrades. And this, without detriment, is a trigger for negative consequences for the environment and for consumers.
Clear examples of these are cell phones, computers, tablets, printers, washing machines, hair dryers, microwaves, refrigerators and screens, almost indispensable appliances for daily life that frequently fail in the medium term and for no apparent reason. Sometimes they are too expensive to repair, sometimes it is impossible to find a replacement part or they were designed not to be disassembled. And, therefore, they must be purchased.
Some overwhelming data that account for irrational consumption - forced and at the same time unconscious - are cited below: According to the Circularity Gap Report 2022, in just 50 years, the global use of materials has almost quadrupled, outpacing population growth. In 1972, when the Club of Rome's Limits to Growth report was published, the world consumed 28.6 billion tons; by 2000, this had risen to 54.9 billion and, as of 2019, exceeded 100 billion. Rising waste levels accompany rapidly accelerating consumption: ultimately, more than 90 % of all materials extracted and used are discarded; or, on the other hand, only 8.6 % are reintegrated into the economy. And all these situations are getting worse.
In countries such as France, programmed obsolescence is a crime, so manufacturers are subject to durability criteria, for which they must establish measurement, testing and verification standards. An emblematic case was when at the end of 2017, the French organization Halte à l' Obsolescence Programmée (HOP for its French acronym) took the manufacturers HP, Canon, Brother and in particular Epson to French courts for limiting the useful life of printers.
In Mexico, as of 2021, we already have the General Law of Circular Economy, which aims to reduce the environmental impact derived from economic activities, minimize the waste of materials and reduce the consumption of virgin materials through reuse, recycling and redesign. One of the main antecedents to the Law was the National Agreement for the New Plastics Economy in Mexico, drafted in 2020 by industrial companies with the main objective of identifying actions to eliminate unnecessary containers and packaging that harm the environment and, therefore, humanity.
The opinions expressed are the responsibility of the authors and are absolutely independent of the position and editorial line of the company. Opinion 51.
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