Product Lifetime Extension Case Study: Geração Ecotrônicos

This case study presents a successful business strategy to extend products lifetime. The aim with these case study is to inspire and encourage organisations to shift to more circular models, to improve their business models towards prolonging or extending a product’s lifetime.

This study focuses on repair, recovery, and reconditioning done by Geração Ecotrônicos. Geração Ecotrônicos is mainly focused on avoiding the accumulation of electronic waste in landfills and dumps in the city of São Paulo, seeking ways to replace the disposal of materials that may still be useful, transforming them into raw material for manufacturing new products.

This case study is related to The Long View Report in four main aspects:

• Individual Producer Responsibility, due to the Brazilian legislation of reverse logistics that obliges companies to recycle their components.
• Alternative business models, stimulating the sale of refurbished products in face of the lack of consumer acceptance of this type of product.
• Improvement of waste treatment infrastructure, avoiding the accumulation of waste in landfills and dumps and replacing the disposal of materials that may still be useful.
• Recognition of the full potential of the informal sector, by including low-income youngsters in the market, due to the lack of formal jobs because of their education level.