Evaluation of the environmental impacts of the selected household appliances via life cycle assessment approach

With industrialization, products which make human life more comfortable have become widespread and household appliances having adverse environmental impacts on earth's system through their lifecycle are one of those product groups. On behalf of minimizing the adverse impact of human living on the earth system, the current environmental impact of these products should be measured and analyzed. Since environmental impacts cannot be minimized unless it is measured and analyzed regarding their hot spots. The objective measurement of product groups' environmental impacts is figured out through life cycle assessment (LCA) from cradle to grave within the scope of CML 2001 method by using GaBi 8 software in this study for the use phase having the highest environmental impact in some of the impact categories of dishwashers, washing machines, and refrigerators due to their high electricity consumption. The impact categories with the largest environmental impact include CC, ADP-Fossil fuel, FAETP, HTP, and MAETP, according to the normalization result. The goal of this study is to compare the impact of possible scenarios for circular economy approaches including cleaner electricity mix of Türkiye in 2035, product durability, customer choices, and behavior, and to lessen their environmental burden. As a result of this study, the most environmentally friendly scenarios are the combination of Türkiye's 2035 electricity mix, 20 % fewer washing cycles and 20 % more energy-efficient (S8), and renewing the appliances with 20 % more energy-efficient ones (S5) for Türkiye to achieve its net zero emission target instead of extending lifespan up to 2053.