Contributions to eco-design of machine-to-machine product service systems: the example of waste glass collection

Efficient waste management is necessary in order to face up to increasing quantities of waste generated in modern societies. A technical solution using a Machine-to-Machine (M2M) enhanced Product-Service System (PSS) for bring-in waste glass collection is identified. Methodology based on Life Cycle Analysis (LCA) is proposed. The results help understand the mechanisms of M2M PSS. Possible improvements are explored and the study shows how the PSS infrastructure impacts the environment. It examines the influence of major organisational parameters and contributes to eco-design and dimensioning of the M2M PSS. It reveals the interest of mutualisation to reduce environmental impacts and shows the importance of limiting data exchanges. It argues for the use of multi-criteria LCA on the complete system including the telecom infrastructures and employs realistic use scenarios derived from field studies.