Mobile software innovations significantly drive sustainability. As consumer electronics become ever more ubiquitous, original equipment manufacturers and operating system vendors have a growing responsibility to ensure that the manufacturing, distribution, and maintenance of those devices do not negatively impact the environment. Increasingly, software innovations aimed at making devices more durable have picked up steam due to their ease of implementation at scale.
For software and hardware developers, designing new devices with durability and longevity in mind necessitates incorporating features such as modularity, long-term OS support, and diagnostic application programming interfaces (APIs). These features have numerous benefits, resulting in a longer-lasting product and a reduced environmental footprint.
State of E-Waste
Given ever-increasing electronics costs over the past several years, customers expect their devices to last longer. Consumers are increasingly reluctant to replace phones at the first sign of trouble. But it’s more than a cost issue—there’s also an environmental element. The e-waste problem is spiraling out of control, with a record 62 billion kilograms (kg) of e-waste generated in 2022. The UN’s Global E-waste Monitor predicts that number will grow by almost a third to 82 billion kilograms by the end of this decade. Only 22.3 percent of the generated waste was properly collected and recycled in 2022. Nearly one-third (20.4 billion kg of the 62 billion kg) of e-waste is small devices, of which only 12 percent was formally recycled.
More troubling insights continue with the GEM’s projection that the percentage of recycled e-waste will drop another 10 percent by 2030 (from 22.3 percent to 20 percent overall) as the amount of waste generated outweighs the efforts made to recycle it. The ideal outcome is to bring the total amount of e-waste recycled to 100 percent, but even an increase to 60 percent would generate benefits that exceed costs by more than $38 billion annually.
Designing More Durable Devices
The first step toward the development of sustainable technology is making developers aware that the problem exists. Increased knowledge about environmental impact will underscore the need for professionals and organizations to focus on developing new ways to write longer-lasting software and build durable devices. Developers can employ numerous software and hardware development practices to improve and enhance the longevity of mobile devices:
- Longer OS support and backward compatibility. It is essential for OEMs to adopt longer OS support cycles for their devices, reducing the need for users to upgrade devices to access the latest software features and security updates.
- Modularization of independent components. By modularizing independent components such as Bluetooth and camera, users can update the individual components on their devices without affecting other features or updating the entire OS. In addition to improving device longevity, modularization enables more frequent and precise security updates, further reducing the need for device replacement.
- Diagnostic APIs. Similarly to modularity, APIs that expose system health updates enable targeted re-use, repair, or replacement of components. For example, a device with sub-optimal battery health should no longer necessitate a new phone—the repair can address a single component with no impact to the device.
- Multiple user profiles on a single device. User profiles allow users to interact with one device with different personas. For example, people often maintain two separate phones for work and personal use. Many smartphones now allow users to create work profiles that separate their personal data from work data, allowing them to use the same device. Similarly, multiple profiles on tablets allow family members to share a single device in a household.
- Power and energy profiling. Profiling refers to the measurement of energy and power consumed while the software is running on a device. A device’s energy and power usage can be profiled. Two popular methods for profiling are: 1) energy delay product (EDT), which measures an operation’s energy consumption by aggregating the energy consumed and the time required to complete the operation; and 2) greenup, powerup, and speedup (GPS-UP) addresses a shortcoming of EDT by considering a broader range of factors for system improvement, not just energy and delay.
- Appropriate response to thermal events. As devices get smaller, components of the device become thermally coupled. The heat generated from one component may affect other thermally sensitive components on the device. To prevent damage, applications must take appropriate steps upon receiving thermal event notifications from the system. For example, a video streaming app can reduce power consumption by lowering the video resolution upon receiving a thermal stress notification. Such measures reduce the likelihood of long-term thermal damage.
Increasing Utility of Devices
Today’s mobile devices serve as general-purpose computers capable of far more than simply making phone calls or texting. Hardware additions such as high-quality camera sensors, microphones, accelerometers, and flashlights enhance their utility, which reduces the demand for specialized peripherals, which in turn reduces e-waste. Some examples of increased utility include:
- Mobile phones as webcams. Improved camera quality, now comparable to many DSLR cameras, enables many smartphones to act as webcams out of the box. In addition to built-in solutions, third-party applications can also provide webcam capability for devices that don’t natively support the feature.
- Edge computing nodes. Edge computing refers to the paradigm of running user workloads on one or more user devices. This is the antithesis of cloud computing, where end-user devices are simply lightweight portals to centralized cloud servers, which handle the vast majority of the user workload. Edge computing is preferred when security, privacy, and latency are paramount. A device’s SoC typically has the longest lifetime (by design), so older, out-of-service devices are perfect candidates to be used as nodes on edge computing clusters.
Legislation
Legislation and regulation are the keys to further incentivizing organizations and developers to design products with durability in mind. In April 2024, the European Parliament voted almost unanimously to adopt a directive on the “right to repair.” This mandates manufacturers to repair devices and goods while encouraging customers to extend each product’s life. Manufacturers will be required to inform customers of their repair rights and offer timely, cost-effective repair services. Additionally, goods repaired under warranty will receive a year’s extension beyond the legal requirement.
Even after the legal guarantee expires, manufacturers still have an obligation to repair everyday household products, including smartphones. While the device is under repair, consumers can borrow a functioning replacement. If the repair is unsuccessful, the consumer may opt for a similar refurbished product.
Challenges Of Increasing Durability
Challenges for the immediate future include a focus on short-term versus long-term profitability. Investment in resources for sustainability typically presents upfront costs, but as outlined and emphasized in the GEM report, those costs are more than negated by the medium- and long-term savings available with an accompanying increase in waste recycling. Additionally, the popularization of artificial intelligence (AI) will necessitate an increase in memory and processing power of devices. This will force users to purchase new devices to take advantage of the newest AI features. As a result, engineers’ cognizance of this growing impact will allow the industry to adapt accordingly.
The lack of focus on sustainability and e-waste reduction is reaching alarming levels. As the number of devices increases, the percentage of materials recycled declines proportionally. In the meantime, the onus shifts to software and hardware developers to independently increase their focus on building sustainable products. While technical challenges persist, the task is far from impossible—the technology exists and can be pushed further by engineers seeking and receiving the proper education. Organizations and regulatory agencies are essential in changing the emphasis from short-term gains to a requirement for longer-lasting sustainable products. Together, the industry and consumers must work together to reduce the environmental impact of electronic devices.
About the Authors
Natnael Belay is a technical program manager for a leading smartphone manufacturer and is responsible for a critical open-source project. He creates, designs, and deploys technical and process-oriented solutions to increase the productivity of the project’s ecosystem and has experience in end-to-end management of software development lifecycles. For more information, contact natnaelabe13@gmail.com.
Jayant Chowdhary is a senior software engineer at a leading smartphone manufacturer with experience in operating systems and camera frameworks. He is passionate about open-source development and building for all. Jayant holds a master’s degree in electronic and computer engineering from Carnegie Mellon University. For more information, contact jayantc11@gmail.com.
Avichal Rakesh is a software engineer who is working on the camera team for a leading smartphone manufacturer. He focuses on building camera APIs that allow apps to leverage the latest hardware and software. For more information, contact avichal.rakesh@gmail.com.
Disclaimer: The author is completely responsible for the content of this article. The opinions expressed are their own and do not represent IEEE’s position nor that of the Computer Society nor its Leadership.
