Factors behind E-waste
　　A recent study/by the Federal Environment Agency in Germany/tried to uncover the factors/which brought about the present situation. The findings suggest/that the lifespan of household appliances is getting shorter. This is partly because consumers are demanding better products. A third of all replacement purchases for household appliances/were motivated simply by desire for a better unit/while the old one still worked fine. That proportion rose to 60 percent/when it came to televisions. Old ones are replaced as outdated/even if they are still perfectly usable.
　　More importantly,/the study reveals another concerning problem. The results show/that the proportion of large household appliances/that needed to be replaced within five years of purchase/due to a defect/grew from 3.5 percent in 2004 to 8.3 percent in 2012. The agency described that rise as “remarkable.” Although the study has not provided any conclusive proof,/it speculates that manufacturers intentionally shorten the lives of products/to boost sales/—a strategy often referred to as “planned obsolescence.” This simply means/to design a product with an intentionally limited lifespan.