Environmental impact of a mobile phone charger containing recycled plastic was quantified using LCA and the environmental benefits from the use of recycled and virgin plastic were compared. The assessment considers potential environmental impacts across the whole life cycle of the charger including; pre-manufacturing; manufacturing; distribution; product use; and end-of-life stages and quantified six environmental impact categories; Abiotic depletion; Acidification; Eutrophication; Global warming; Ozone layer depletion; and Photochemical oxidants creation. The study showed that the environmental impacts of the use stage accounted for 94.4% and 70% in the resource depletion and global warming impact categories, respectively, and the environmental impacts of the pre-manufacturing stage accounted for more than 98% in the other impact categories. The main cause of the environmental impacts in the use stage was electricity consumed by the charger. The main cause in the pre-manufacturing stage was PBA (Printed Board Assembly) and external case manufacturing. In order to quantify the environmental benefits of recycled PC (Polycarbonate) in the exterior case, the environmental impacts of 1 kg production of recycled PC and virgin PC were evaluated. The environmental impact on the abiotic depletion of the recycled PC is estimated to be 30% compared to the virgin PC, and the impacts on the other impact categories of the recycled PC were less than 5% of the virgin plastic. Sensitivity analysis was performed for 12 items including site data and assumptions made. The sensitivity of each item was less than 10%. The results of this study confirm that designing compact and light PBA, improving charging efficiency, and use of recycled plastic are important design factors to reduce the environmental impact of a charger.
Environmental concern about smart phone is growing because it has short product life span while having intensive production technology and cost. In this study environmental impact of the smart phone is quantified using the LCA methodology based on the ISO 14040 series standards. The assessment considers potential environmental impacts across the whole life cycle of the smart phone including; pre-manufacturing; manufacturing; distribution; product use; and end-of-life stages. The pre-manufacturing stage is the most dominant life cycle stage causing the highest environmental impacts among all 10 impact categories assessed. The global warming impacts of the smart phone in the pre-manufacturing, distribution, use, manufacturing, and end-of-life stages were 52.6% 23.9%, 15.7%, 7.0%, and 0.8%, respectively. Sensitivity of the life cycle impact assessment results to the system boundary definition and assumptions made were quite high. Three components of the smart phone, PCB, battery, and display module were identified as the key components causing majority of the potential environmental impact in the pre-manufacturing stage. As such the slim and lightweight design and the use of environmental friendly materials are important design factors for reducing the environmental impact of the smart phone.
In a global context, where several international and national policies attempt to define strategic energy plans that address environmental sustainability, it is necessary to adopt a holistic perspective. In this session, we want to stimulate inputs on how Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) models can capture the complex management challenges in the whole energy sector. In that sense, the various sectors related to energy (namely heat, power, etc.) will become more interrelated, which will be challenging to deal with in Life Cycle Management (LCM). The next decades, LCM modelling of energy systems will have to be quite innovative in order to create realistic models. Furthermore, if LCA wants to do real LCM, the methodology should be widened to e.g. include long-term environmental implications.
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