Significance of intermediate production processes in life cycle assessment of electronic products assessed using a generic compact model

• In this paper a generic model for life cycle inventory (LCI) data collection is presented and applied to a product system of a digital system telephone (DST). It is also shown that intermediate unit processes (IUPs) are of global warming importance. Compared to earlier efforts in the field of environmental life-cycle assessment of electronic products, the developed model enables a more partitioned LCA result, with respect to both components and processes. In our model the components are first divided into main groups and then into sub-groups. This division results in process modules for unit processes, some of which are similar for the ingoing components, thus reducing the computational effort. The model is demonstrated for a cradle-to-gate calculation focusing on greenhouse gas emissions. Using scenario analysis for integrated circuits and printed wiring boards, the possible contribution from IUPs was analysed.

Subject headings

TEKNIK OCH TEKNOLOGIER  -- Elektroteknik och elektronik -- Annan elektroteknik och elektronik (hsv//swe)

ENGINEERING AND TECHNOLOGY  -- Electrical Engineering, Electronic Engineering, Information Engineering -- Other Electrical Engineering, Electronic Engineering, Information Engineering (hsv//eng)

Keyword

life cycle inventory

data collection model

electronic products

life cycle assessment

intermediate upstream processes

global warming potential

Publication and Content Type

art (subject category)

ref (subject category)