PRISMA Webinar: “How Economic Incentives and Behavioural Drivers Shape Consumers’ Engagement in Repairing Energy-Using Consumer Goods and their Environmental Impacts”, September 16, 2025

  • on September 10, 2025

PRISMA project is pleased to invite you to the upcoming PRISMA Webinar, on Sept. 16th, 2025, 2:00 – 3:00 pm CEST. Save the date, spread the word, and be sure to join us! (Link)

  • Title: “How Economic Incentives and Behavioural Drivers Shape Consumers’ Engagement in Repairing Energy-Using Consumer Goods and their Environmental Impacts”
  • Speakers: Darius Corbier (CMCC Foundation) and Hazel Pettifor (Oxford University)
  • Abstract: Under the Sound Material-Cycle Society, Japan’s Reduce-Reuse-Recycle framework reduced municipal waste. Since 2010 progress has slowed while primary resource use remains high. In this seminar we assess the environmental impacts of consumer-orientated ‘R’ strategies in Japan. We explore how economic incentives and lifestyle changes influence consumers’ adoption of repairing energy-using goods, comparing across different income groups. We apply a dynamic equilibrium model combining material flow analysis with a lifestyle model to two alternative policy scenarios (1) a repair bonus funded by EPR fees and (2) EPR fees as a standalone policy with redistribution. Each scenario is considered under low and high repair barriers and heterogenous repair behaviour drivers. When we equip high income groups with strong low-carbon cognitions we find that with low barriers, reduced repair costs could double repair rates at the expense of sharing, resulting in a 12 Mt/year decrease in waste by 2050. High barriers to repair reduce these gains by over two-thirds. Low-income groups, who need to save money, tend to respond more to price signals. The use of less-efficient repaired goods reduces the positive impact of lower CO 2 emissions associated with the manufacturing and incineration sectors, implying a trade-off between circular economy and climate mitigation goals. Increasing replacement costs through higher EPR fees encourages sharing and refuse more than repair behaviors, yielding smaller waste reductions but lower CO 2 emissions. Our findings highlight the importance of aligning price signals with measures that reduce barriers, address potential trade-offs and implement targeted awareness campaigns to achieve a sustainable circular economy.

The webinar will conclude with a 15-minute question and answer (Q&A) session.