Fighting planned obsolescence or 'the lightbulb conspiracy' as an unfair commercial practice:For a circular economy

Abstract

The French environmental group Halte à l’Obsolescence Programmée (HOP) reported several producers of printers and Apple for deliberately shortening the lifespan of their products, for the first time enforcing the new legislation on ‘planned obsolescence’. Deliberate shortening product lifespan is not only detrimental to the environment and the consumer who is being economically disadvantaged; it is also contrary to the commonly shared opinion that our current level of consumption and production are depleting the earth and its resources. On a European level, course is therefore set to shift from the linear model of production and consumption towards a sustainable, circular economy. The question we address in this article, is whether the Directive on Unfair Commercial Practices could provide for a legal basis to tackle planned obsolescence as an environmental and consumer issue