SÖF Junior Research Group "Obsolescence as a challenge for sustainability - causes and alternatives (OHA)"

• Funded by: BMBF - SÖF junior research groups
• Duration: July 2016 - June 2022
• Funding recipient: TU Berlin, Fraunhofer IZM
• Head: Melanie Jaeger-Erben
• Staff Member: Florian Hofmann, Luisa Stuhr

Many products of the 21st century cause significant environmental impacts both during production and disposal. In Germany alone, around 1.9 million tons of electronic waste are generated every year. Fast-moving products and short useful lives are an important driver of this development. In public discourse, the term "obsolescence" is often cited as the reason for the short service lives. It is assumed that, compared to a technically possible ideal state, a product becomes obsolete prematurely and is no longer fit for use or is no longer considered functional and usable. The aim of the junior research group is to investigate the reasons for obsolete electronic products and shortened useful lives and to develop and evaluate strategies for more sustainable product consumption on a technical, social, socio-political and economic level. Obsolescence is seen as a generic term for a range of different socio-technical phenomena, each of which must be reconstructed taking into account the logics of action and practices of actors in different areas of society - business, production, trade, consumption, politics - and their interactions. The junior research group is being funded as part of the BMBF's Social-Ecological Research program (FONA) from 2016 to 2022. As part of the project, the Lang lebe Technik! platform was developed, which is being further developed at BTU Cottbus.