Practical Eco-Design and Eco-Innovation of Consumer Electronics—the Case of Mobile Phones

Andrae, Anders; Xia, Mengjun; Zhang, Jianli; Tang, Xiaoming

doi:10.3390/challe7010003

Cited by 26 publications

(16 citation statements)

References 81 publications

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“…If the operation and conditions of the equipment cannot be recovered, its components and materials are used for repair or to remanufacture other products. To achieve this, a modular eco-design of the parts and components is required for the materials to be recovered; otherwise, they are incinerated or safely disposed of [35][36][37][38].…”

Section: Ce In the Electrical And Electronics Industrymentioning

confidence: 99%

Circular Economy in Mexico’s Electronic and Cell Phone Industry: Recent Evidence of Consumer Behavior

et al. 2020

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Circular Economy (CE) models are increasingly referenced in international fora and on many countries’ climate action agendas. This emphasis is associated with the international environmental and climate crisis. The case of the electronics industry remains particularly relevant, given its background in the use of CE models and its potential to enhance their use. This work focuses on consumer behavior regarding electronics products in Mexico. This is a largely under-researched topic not only in Mexico but also in Latin America. This study demonstrates that, by trying to extend the lifespan of their electronic products, consumers have awareness of product circularity. However, there is a lack of incentives to capitalize on this consumer interest, compounded by the limited participation of manufacturers and distributors. It is concluded that with a well-designed public policy, the electronics industry (including the mobile phone sector) in Mexico can move toward a CE model more rapidly. A stronger initiative for CE by design should be part of these policies, not only in Mexico but also internationally. The role of better eco-labelling in promoting consumers’ environmental awareness is essential. The lessons of this case study might be of interest to other countries as well.

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Section: Ce In the Electrical And Electronics Industrymentioning

confidence: 99%

Circular Economy in Mexico’s Electronic and Cell Phone Industry: Recent Evidence of Consumer Behavior

et al. 2020

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“…Andrae and Vaija [4] suggested that eco-rating LCA methods [25] show similar results as further simplified methods. Andrae et al [3] explained how eco-rating is linked to eco-design and argued that OLCA facilitates a balance between improved material efficiency and linearly increasing GWPI scores.…”

Section: Open Eco Rating Lcamentioning

confidence: 99%

“…As such smartphone sales are currently around 1500 million units and tablets around 350 million [1]. Smartphones usually have a relatively short operating lifetime of 2 to 4 years which negatively influences eco-environmental impacts such as abiotic resource depletion (ARD) and climate change (CC) [3].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Precision of a Streamlined Life Cycle Assessment Approach Used in Eco-Rating of Mobile Phones

Andrae

Vaija

2017

Challenges

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Abstract:There is a lack of prescribed databases and approaches in place for performing comparable Life Cycle Assessments (LCAs) of smartphones and other electronic devices in a coherent manner. Hence there is a need within certain eco-rating initiatives for simplified, yet still precise enough, approaches that are expert independent. Here, five independently published Full LCAs (FLCA) of smartphones-and a metal content declaration of a tablet-are analyzed and compared with the simplified LCA method (Open Eco Rating LCA, OLCA) used by the open eco rating (OER) sustainability assessment. OLCA is described in detail. The comparisons use the same characterization factors that are used for climate change and abiotic resource depletion (ARD) midpoint impact categories. The tablet is only analyzed for the ARD indicator (ARDI). The results show that the difference between the FLCAs and the OLCA is up to 20% for the Global Warming Potential indicator (GWPI). The difference is explained by significantly different emission intensities used in FLCAs and OLCA, especially for integrated circuit and screen production. The life cycle use of metals relevant for ARDI is identified in one of the FLCAs of mobile phones, and used in OLCA and compared with the corresponding FLCA ARDI score. The total FLCA ARDI score is 67% (2.0 vs. 1.2 grams Sb-eq.) and 32% (4.98 vs. 3.76 grams Sb-eq.) higher than OLCA ARDI for the mobile phone and the tablet, respectively. The reason is that OLCA only captures a few of the most relevant metals (gold, silver, tin, indium, and tantalum) for the ARDI. However, cobalt-and to some degree copper and lithium-are significant gaps in the OLCA. The conclusion is that OLCA is an efficient and fair approach for LCAs that are focused on the GWPI of smartphones as the divergence to FLCA can easily be explained. However, the circular footprint formulae, renewable electricity options, and ARD characterization indices for cobalt, copper and lithium should be added to OLCA for further precision. The next step is to compare the Product Environmental Footprint (PEF) FLCA method with OLCA for GWPI and ARDI evaluations of new smartphones. Moreover, the effect of adding more midpoint or single score indicators could be tested in OLCA.

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“…Several companies are implementing sustainable logistics to increase their supply chain competitiveness [19][20][21]. According to Leigh and Li, in order to develop environmental sustainable supply chains, approaches such as ecodesign, recycling, reuse or remanufacturing can be used [22][23][24].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Sustainable Supply Chain Management: The Influence of Disposal Scenarios on the Environmental Impact of a 2400 L Waste Container

et al. 2016

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This paper analyzes the influence of the supply chain management on the environmental impact of a 2400 L waste disposal container used in most cities of Spain. The studied functional unit, a waste disposal container, made up mostly of plastic materials and a metallic structure, and manufactured in Madrid (Spain), is distributed to several cities at an average distance of 392 km. A life cycle assessment of four different scenarios (SC) has been calculated with the software EcoTool v4.0 (version 4.0; i+: Zaragoza, Spain, 2015) and using Ecoinvent v3.0 database (version 3.0; Swiss Centre for Life Cycle Inventories: St. Gallen, Switzerland, 2013). The environmental impact has been characterized with two different methodologies, recipe and carbon footprint. In order to reduce the environmental impact, several end of life scenarios have been performed, analyzing the influence of the supply chain on a closed-looped system that increases recycling. Closed loop management of the waste and reuse of parts allows companies to stop selling products and start selling the service that their products give to the consumers.

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Practical Eco-Design and Eco-Innovation of Consumer Electronics—the Case of Mobile Phones

Cited by 26 publications

References 81 publications

Circular Economy in Mexico’s Electronic and Cell Phone Industry: Recent Evidence of Consumer Behavior

Circular Economy in Mexico’s Electronic and Cell Phone Industry: Recent Evidence of Consumer Behavior

Precision of a Streamlined Life Cycle Assessment Approach Used in Eco-Rating of Mobile Phones

Sustainable Supply Chain Management: The Influence of Disposal Scenarios on the Environmental Impact of a 2400 L Waste Container

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