Application of 6R Principles in Sustainable Supply Chain Design of Western Australian White Goods

Abstract

The 6 R's of sustainability are implemented to the life cycle of a washing machine, refrigerator and air-conditioner in a Western Australian scenario. A detailed life cycle assessment of each white good was carried out and new scenarios 1, 2 and 3, increasing the combined reuse and remanufacturing rate to 80%, 50% and 30% were implemented. Scenarios 1, 2 and 3 will save 2487.1, 2057.5 and 1772.2tonnes of material from washing machines and 1594.5, 1044.7 and 739.9tonnes from refrigerators respectively. The mass saved implementing 100% recycle rate to air-conditioners is 450.1tonnes. GHG emissions saved from remanufacturing a washing machine and refrigerator instead of producing a new model are 956.2 and 1636.3 kg CO2-e respectively. The embodied energy saved from remanufacturing and recycling washing machines for scenarios 1, 2 and 3 are 482.7x10^6, 254.0x10^6 and 101.5x10^6 MJ and for refrigerators are 566.3x10^6, 250.8x10^6 and 42.29x10^6 MJ respectively. Although remanufacturing white goods significantly decreases the environmental impacts, selling the refurbished products can be a challenge due to fashionable obsolesce, technology advancement and the stigma of remanufactured goods.