One key strategy which can be used to promote a Circular Economy is ‘reuse’. This is particularly relevant for Electrical and Electronic Equipment due to its often rather short use phase as well as its resource-intensive production phase. The present study aimed to investigate the environmental and economic relevance of promoting the reuse of (waste) electrical and electronic equipment in Switzerland. To do so, a simplified life cycle assessment approach was combined with a calculation of the total cost of ownership of a device. These calculations were made for five different types of device: washing machines, refrigerators, televisions, laptop computers, and smartphones. Results showed that from an environmental perspective, smartphones or laptop computers, whose dominant environmental impact comes in their production phase, should be reused independently of their age, whereas for the three other devices, age is a decisive factor. Adding on the economic factor—that reuse should result in lower costs—led to the conclusion that all older devices except for refrigerators would have to be ‘sold on’ at no cost in order for their reuse to make sense economically. In addition, there should be a consideration of whether buying second-hand equipment replaces a new device or results in an increase in the total stock of devices, as old and new ones are run in parallel, creating a typical rebound situation. Public authorities should thus be more active in sharing information and raising awareness about the possibilities for repair and reuse.

可用于促进循环经济的一项关键策略是“再利用”。这对于电气和电子设备尤为重要，因为其使用阶段通常很短，而且其资源密集型生产阶段也是如此。本研究旨在调查在瑞士促进（废弃）电气和电子设备再利用的环境和经济意义。为此，将简化的生命周期评估方法与设备总体拥有成本的计算相结合。这些计算是针对五种不同类型的设备进行的：洗衣机，冰箱，电视，便携式计算机和智能手机。结果表明，从环境角度来看，智能手机或笔记本电脑在生产阶段对环境具有重大影响，应独立于其使用年限重新使用，而对于其他三个设备，使用年限是决定性因素。再加上经济因素（可重复使用可降低成本），得出的结论是，除冰箱外，所有旧设备都必须免费“出售”，以使其在经济上有意义。此外，应考虑购买二手设备是代替新设备还是增加设备总库存，因为新旧设备并行运行，从而造成典型的反弹情况。因此，公共当局应更积极地共享信息并提高对维修和再利用可能性的认识。再加上经济因素（可重复使用可降低成本），得出的结论是，除冰箱外，所有旧设备都必须免费“出售”，以使其在经济上有意义。此外，应考虑购买二手设备是代替新设备还是增加设备总库存，因为新旧设备并行运行，从而造成典型的反弹情况。因此，公共当局应更积极地共享信息并提高对维修和再利用可能性的认识。再加上经济因素（可重复使用可降低成本），得出的结论是，除冰箱外，所有旧设备都必须免费“出售”，以使其在经济上有意义。此外，应考虑购买二手设备是代替新设备还是增加设备总库存，因为新旧设备并行运行，从而造成典型的反弹情况。因此，公共当局应更积极地共享信息并提高对维修和再利用可能性的认识。应该考虑购买二手设备替代新设备还是增加设备总数，因为新旧设备并行运行，从而形成典型的反弹情况。因此，公共当局应更积极地共享信息并提高对维修和再利用可能性的认识。应该考虑购买二手设备替代新设备还是增加设备总数，因为新旧设备并行运行，从而形成典型的反弹情况。因此，公共当局应更积极地共享信息并提高对维修和再利用可能性的认识。