Afterconsumption

Afterconsumption refers to the stage of a product's life cycle that occurs after the primary use by the consumer. This encompasses the entire period from the product's disposal or end-of-life to its potential reintegration into the economy or environment. It is a critical phase in understanding the broader impact of production and consumption patterns.

Key aspects of afterconsumption include waste management, recycling, upcycling, composting, and landfilling. The methods employed in this stage significantly influence resource depletion, pollution, and greenhouse gas emissions. Sustainable practices aim to minimize the negative environmental consequences by diverting materials from landfills and transforming them into new products or energy.

The concept of afterconsumption highlights the linear "take-make-dispose" model that has dominated industrial economies. Increasingly, there is a push towards circular economy principles, which emphasize designing products for longevity, repairability, and eventual re-use or recycling, effectively minimizing the "afterconsumption" phase and its associated waste. Understanding and optimizing afterconsumption is therefore vital for developing more sustainable consumption and production systems.