Nowadays, promising sustainability is almost considered de rigueur. Actually being able to deliver on this promise in all areas, however, is another matter that entails wide-ranging facets. Our environmental objectives are just as much part of this process as our social and economic goals. Some of our milestones from 2017 can be found here.
Social life cycle analysis
Raw materials are extracted primarily in emerging economies and developing countries. Often this has a negative impact not only on the environment, but on a social level too. Nowadays it is possible to calculate and compare ecological footprints as well as social impact. With this in mind, the SENS Foundation has tasked Carbotech AG with carrying out a social life cycle analysis (S-LCA). In this, the social benefit of recycling SENS electronic household appliances is compared to a scenario without SENS for the year 2016.
Recognised S-LCA methods use 37 social indicators broken down into four stakeholder groups: workers, the local community, the company and society. In order to summarise the conclusions of these indicators, Carbotech AG has accumulated and calculated these as social impact points (SBP).
The SENS recycling system resulted in a saving of 9,720 social impact points in 2016, with most of the social benefits associated with copper, aluminium and iron recycling. Most of the social benefit is achieved not in Switzerland but scattered all over the world. Approximately half of the social benefit of the SENS recycling system is generated by factors such as reducing child labour, discrimination and forced labour. Anti-competitive behaviour, monopolies and unemployment are among some of the other social problems countered by the SENS recycling programme. The negative social impacts avoided by the SENS recycling programme are equivalent to the manufacture of:
- 4.2 million T-shirts
- or 18,000 laptops (2 per cent of the annual sales volume in Switzerland)
- or 17,000 tonnes of non-fair-trade bananas (22 per cent of bananas consumed in Switzerland annually)
- or 5,500 tonnes of coffee (9 per cent of coffee consumed in Switzerland annually)
The indicators used in the S-LCA are based on international studies and thus have a relatively high degree of acceptance. They are nevertheless subject to ongoing development and critical discussion. For instance, one could ask whether child labour is negative if it enables children to go to school. The S-LCA also fails to answer the fundamental dilemma of which is more problematic: work in poor conditions (e.g. child labour) or no work at all.
Despite their relevance, some of the positive social impacts of the SENS system in Switzerland were not able to be factored into social benefit calculations for reasons of methodology. These include the over 400 people that sort and disassemble old SENS appliances in social institutions. This gives people living in personal difficulty for various reasons the opportunity to undertake worthwhile employment and get a second chance at life.
An efficient way to protect the environment
With its recycling of raw materials found in electrical and electronic waste, SENS eRecycling makes an important contribution to ensuring the reuse of recyclable materials.
In 2017 alone,
- 1,700 tonnes of aluminium were collected, enough to build 10 Airbus A380s;
- 47,000 tonnes of iron and steel were collected, enough to build 49 ICE long-distance trains;
- 11 kilograms of gold were collected, enough to produce around 210 wedding rings.
The environmental benefits of the electrical and electronic equipment recycling performed by SENS and its partners in 2017 were determined on the basis of a life cycle assessment. The calculated environmental benefits score of 2,760 billion environmental impact points (UBP) roughly equates to the annual environmental impact of the city of Bern (140,000 people). Some 92 per cent of the environmental benefits are generated through the prevention of pollutant emissions. The recycling of materials only accounts for 8 per cent.
SENS eRecycling thus practices environmental protection in a very efficient manner.