Development of a Method for Measuring Resource Efficiency for Product Lifecycle

Abstract

In recent years, increasing the efficient use of material resources by circulating them (through reuse, refurbishment, remanufacturing, and recycling) has become an important global goal. However, quantitative methods of measuring resource efficiency during the product life cycle have not previously been established. In this study, we built a framework for a measurement method with two features. The first feature concerns the change in a product’s value due to the reuse, refurbishing, and remanufacturing of products. The second feature is the difference in environmental impact based on the type of material used. As a case study, we formulated five scenarios for refrigerated showcases. In our presentation, we review existing methods for measuring the resource efficiency of products and present our proposed method. Then, we introduce the refrigerated showcase product business of Panasonic Corporation. Next, we describe the baseline and four alternative scenarios developed for our analysis, and we present the results as calculated using different methods. Finally, we discuss the effectiveness of the various measurement methods.