nach oben

The International Journal of Life Cycle Assessment

Erschienen in:

01.05.2014 | INPUT-OUTPUT AND HYBRID LCA

Simplifying a life cycle assessment of a mobile phone

verfasst von: Åsa Moberg, Clara Borggren, Christine Ambell, Göran Finnveden, Fredrik Guldbrandsson, Anna Bondesson, Jens Malmodin, Pernilla Bergmark

Erschienen in: The International Journal of Life Cycle Assessment | Ausgabe 5/2014

Einloggen

Aktivieren Sie unsere intelligente Suche, um passende Fachinhalte oder Patente zu finden.

search-config

KI-gestützte Suche

Aus

Abstract

Purpose

The possibilities for full life cycle assessment (LCA) of new Information and Communication Technology (ICT) products are often limited, so simplification approaches are needed. The aim of this paper is to investigate possible simplifications in LCA of a mobile phone and to use the results to discuss the possibilities of LCA simplifications for ICT products in a broader sense. Another aim is to identify processes and data that are sensitive to different methodological choices and assumptions related to the environmental impacts of a mobile phone.

Methods

Different approaches to a reference LCA of a mobile phone was tested: (1) excluding environmental impact categories, (2) excluding life cycle stages/processes, (3) using secondary process data from generic databases, (4) using input-output data and (5) using a simple linear relationship between mass and embodied emissions.

Results and discussion

It was not possible to identify one or a few impact categories representative of all others. If several impact categories would be excluded, information would be lost. A precautionary approach of not excluding impact categories is therefore recommended since impacts from the different life cycle stages vary between impact categories. Regarding use of secondary data for an ICT product similar to that studied here, we recommend prioritising collection of primary (specific) data on energy use during production and use, key component data (primarily integrated circuits) and process-specific data regarding raw material acquisition of specific metals (e.g. gold) and air transport. If secondary data are used for important processes, the scaling is crucial. The use of input-output data can be a considerable simplification and is probably best used to avoid data gaps when more specific data are lacking.

Conclusions

Further studies are needed to provide for simplified LCAs for ICT products. In particular, the end-of-life treatment stage need to be further addressed, as it could not be investigated here for all simplifications due to data gaps.

Nächster Artikel Sea-use impact category in life cycle assessment: state of the art and perspectives

Sie haben noch keine Lizenz? Dann Informieren Sie sich jetzt über unsere Produkte:

Springer Professional "Wirtschaft+Technik"

Online-Abonnement

Mit Springer Professional "Wirtschaft+Technik" erhalten Sie Zugriff auf:

über 102.000 Bücher
über 537 Zeitschriften

aus folgenden Fachgebieten:

Automobil + Motoren
Bauwesen + Immobilien
Business IT + Informatik
Elektrotechnik + Elektronik
Energie + Nachhaltigkeit
Finance + Banking
Management + Führung
Marketing + Vertrieb
Maschinenbau + Werkstoffe
Versicherung + Risiko

Jetzt Wissensvorsprung sichern!

Jetzt informieren

Springer Professional "Technik"

Online-Abonnement

Mit Springer Professional "Technik" erhalten Sie Zugriff auf:

über 67.000 Bücher
über 390 Zeitschriften

aus folgenden Fachgebieten:

Automobil + Motoren
Bauwesen + Immobilien
Business IT + Informatik
Elektrotechnik + Elektronik
Energie + Nachhaltigkeit
Maschinenbau + Werkstoffe

Jetzt Wissensvorsprung sichern!

Jetzt informieren

Carbon footprint is standardised by ISO (ISO 14067, Carbon footprint of products—requirements and guidelines for quantification and communication), which defines it in terms of life cycle impact related to GWP. It should be noted that for ICT products the GWP varies greatly with usage conditions, etc. Thus, a “carbon footprint” value only provides limited information regarding the GWP associated with an ICT product.

Arushanyan Y, Ekener Petersen E, Finnveden G (2014) Lessons learned—review of LCAs for ICT products and services. Comput Ind 65:211–234CrossRef

Bala A, Raugei M, Benveniste G, Gazulla C, Fullana-i-Palmer P (2010) Simplified tools for global warming potential evaluation: when ‘good enough’ is best. Int J Life Cycle Assess 15:489–498CrossRef

Barba-Gutiérrez Y, Adenso-Diaz B, Hopp M (2008) An analysis of some environmental consequences of European electrical and electronic waste regulation. Resour Conserv Recycl 52:481–495CrossRef

Bergelin F (2008) Life cycle assessment of a mobile phone—a model on manufacturing, using and recycling. Master thesis. Uppsala University, Uppsala

Boguski TK (2010) Life cycle carbon footprint of the National Geographic magazine. Int J Life Cycle Assess 15(7):635–643CrossRef

Boyd SB, Horvath A, Dornfeld DA (2010) Life-cycle assessment of computational logic produced from 1995 through 2010. Environ Res Lett 5:014011. doi:10.1088/1748-9326/5/1/014011 CrossRef

Chancerol P, Meskers CEM, Hagelüken C, Rotter VS (2009) Assessment of precious metal flows during preprocessing of waste electrical and electronic equipment. J Ind Ecol 13:791–810CrossRef

Christiansen K, de Beaufort-Langeved A, van den Berg N, Haydock R, ten Houten M, Kotaji S, Oerlemans E, Schmidt W-P, Stranddorf HK, Weidenhaupt A, White PR (1997) Simplifying: just a cut? SETAC Europe LCA, Brussels

Classen M, Althaus H-J, Blaser S, Tuchschmid M, Jungbluth N, Doka G, Faist Emmenegger M, Scharnhorts W (2009) Life cycle inventories of metals. Final report Ecoinvent data v2.1, no. 10. EMPA, Swiss Centre for Life Cycle Inventories, Dübendorf

Deng L, Babbitt CW, Williams ED (2011) Economic-balance hybrid LCA extended with uncertainty analysis: case study of a lap-top computer. J Clean Prod 19:1198–1206CrossRef

Doka G (2009) Life Cycle Inventories of Waste Treatment Services. Ecoinvent report no. 13. Swiss Centre for Life Cycle Inventories, Dübendorf

Duan H, Eugster M, Hischier R, Streciher-Porte M, Li J (2009) Life cycle assessment study of a Chinese desktop personal computer. Sci Total Environ 407:1755–1764CrossRef

Enroth M (2009) Environmental impact of printed and electronic teaching aids, a screening study focusing on fossil carbon dioxide emission. In Advances in printing science and technology, Proceedings of the 36th International Research Conference of iarigai, Vol. 36. IARIGAI, Darmstadt

Eskelsen G, Marcus A, Feeree WK (2009) The digital economy fact book, 10th edn. Progress and Freedom Foundation, Washington

Finkbeiner M (2009) Carbon footprinting—opportunities and threats. Int J Life Cycle Assess 14:91–94CrossRef

Finnveden G (2012) Exergy as a measure of resource use in LCA and other sustainability assessment methods. In: Proceedings of the 4th International Conference on Waste and Biomass Valorisation. September 10–13, Porto

Finnveden G, Lindfors L-G (1998) Data quality of life cycle inventory data—rules of thumb. Letter to the editor. Int J Life Cycle Assess 3:65–66CrossRef

Finnveden G, Albertsson AC, Berendson J, Eriksson E, Höglund LO, Karlsson S, Sundqvist J-O (1995) Solid waste treatment within the framework of life-cycle assessment. J Clean Prod 3:189–199CrossRef

Finnveden G, Hauschild M, Ekvall T, Guinée J, Heijungs R, Hellweg S, Koehler A, Pennington D, Suh S (2009) Recent developments in life cycle assessment. J Environ Manag 91:1–21CrossRef

Fleischer G, Gerner K, Kunst H, Lichtenvort K, Rebitzer G (2001) A semi-quantitative method for the impact assessment of emissions within a simplified life cycle assessment. Int J Life Cycle Assess 6(3):149–156CrossRef

Frischknecht R, Jungbluth N, Althaus H-J, Doka G, Heck T, Hellweg S, Hischier R, Nemecek T, Rebitzer G, Spielmann M, Wernert G (2007a) Overview and Methodology. Ecoinvent report no. 1. Swiss Centre for Life Cycle Inventories, Dübendorf

Frischknecht R, Tuchschmid M, Faist Emmeneger M, Bauer C, Dones R (2007b) Strommix und Stromnetz. In: Dones R (ed) Sachbilanzen von Energiesystemen: Grundlagen für den ökologischen Vergleich von Energiesystement und den Einbezug von Energiesystemen in Ökobilanzen für die Schweiz. Ecoinvent report no. 6, v2.0. Paul Scherrer Institut Villingen, Swiss Centre for Life Cycle Inventories, Dübendorf

Guinée JB, Gorrée M, Heijungs R, Huppes G, Kleijn R, de Koning A, van Oers L, Wegener Sleeswijk A, Suh S, Udo de Haes HA, de Bruijn JA, van Duin R, Huijbregts MAJ (2002) Handbook on life cycle assessment: operational guide to the ISO Standards. Series: eco-efficiency in industry and science. Kluwer, Dordrecht

Guinée JB, Heijungs R, Huppes G, Zamagni A, Masoni P, Buonamici R, Ekvall T, Rydberg T (2011) Life cycle assessment: past, present and future. Environ Sci Technol 45:90–96CrossRef

Hendrickson CT, Horvath A, Joshi S, Klausner M, Lave LB, McMichael FC (1997) Comparing two life cycle assessment approaches: a process model- vs. economic input-output-based assessment. IEEE Int Symp Electron Environ 176–181

Hendrickson C, Horvath A, Joshi S, Lave L (1998) Economic input–output models for environmental life-cycle assessment. Environ Sci Technol 32:184A–191ACrossRef

Hischier R (2007) Life cycle inventories of packagings and graphical papers. Ecoinvent report no. 11. Swiss Centre for Life Cycle Inventories, Dübendorf

Hischier R, Wäger P, Gauglhofer J (2005) Does WEEE recycling make sense from an environmental perspective? The environmental impacts of the Swiss take-back and recycling system for waste electrical and electronic equipment (WEEE). Environ Impact Assess Rev 25:525–539CrossRef

Hischier R, Classen M, Lehmann M, Scharnhorst W (2007) Life cycle inventories of electric and electronic equipment: production, use and disposal. Ecoinvent report no. 18. Empa/Technology & Society Lab, Swiss Centre for Life Cycle Inventories, Dübendorf

Hochschorner E, Finnveden G (2003) Evaluation of two simplified life cycle assessment methods. Int J Life Cycle Assess 8:119–128CrossRef

Hunt RG, Boguski TK, Weitz K, Sharma A (1998) Case studies examining LCA streamlining techniques. Int J Life Cycle Assess 3(1):36–42CrossRef

International Telecommunications Union (2013). The World in 2013: ICT facts and figures. http://www.itu.int/en/ITU-D/Statistics/Documents/facts/ICTFactsFigures2013.pdf. Accessed 15 May 2013

ISO (2006a) ISO 14040. Environmental Management–Life cycle Assessment–Principles and framework

ISO (2006b) ISO 14044. Environmental Management–Life cycle Assessment–Requirements and Guidelines

Joshi S (1999) Product environmental life-cycle assessment using input–output techniques. J Ind Ecol 3(2–3):95–120CrossRef

Laurent A, Olsen SI, Hauschild MZ (2012) Limitations of carbon footprint as indicator of environmental sustainability. Environ Sci Technol 46:4100–4108CrossRef

Lave LB, Cobras-Flores E, Hendrickson C, McMichael F (1995) Using input–output analysis to estimate economy wide discharges. Environ Sci Technol 29:420–426CrossRef

Lenzen M (2000) Errors in conventional and input–output-based life-cycle inventories. J Ind Ecol 4:127–148CrossRef

Lindfors L-G, Christiansen K, Hoffman L, Virtanen Y, Juntilla V, Hanssen OJ, Rönning A, Ekvall T, Finnveden G (1995) Nordic guidelines on life-cycle assessment. Nord 1995:20. Nordic Council of Ministers, Copenhagen

Majeau-Bettez G, Strömman A, Hertwich E (2011) Evaluation of process-and input-output-based life cycle inventory data with regard to truncation and aggregation errors. Environ Sci Technol 45:10170–10177CrossRef

Malmodin J, Moberg Å, Lundén D, Finnveden G, Lövehagen N (2010) Greenhouse gas emissions and operational electricity use in the ICT and entertainment and media sectors. J Ind Ecol 14:770–790CrossRef

Moberg Å, Johansson M, Finnveden G, Jonsson A (2010) Printed and tablet e-paper newspaper from an environmental perspective—a screening life cycle assessment. Environ Impact Assess Rev 30:177–191CrossRef

Park P-J, Lee K-M, Wimmer W (2006) Development of an environmental assessment method for consumer electronics by combining top-down and bottom-up approaches. Int J Life Cycle Assess 11(4):254–264CrossRef

Robinson BH (2009) E-waste: an assessment of global production and environmental impacts. Sci Total Environ 408:183–191CrossRef

Santavaara I, Paronen N (2013) Nokia’s product life cycle assessment over the years, including challenges and key findings. In: Proceedings of the 6th international conference on life cycle management, 39-42, Chalmers University of Technology, Göteborg, Sweden

Singhal P (2005) Integrated product policy pilot on mobile phones stage III final report: evaluation of options to improve the life-cycle environmental performance of mobile phones. Nokia, Espoo

Spielmann M, Bauer C, Dones R, Tuchschmid M (2007) Transport services. Ecoinvent report no. 14. Swiss Centre for Life Cycle Inventories, Dübendorf

Statistics Sweden (2010) Statistics Sweden (2010) Environmental accounts—analysis and simulation. http://www.mirdata.scb.se/MDInfo.aspx. Accessed 10 Nov 2010

Suh S (ed) (2009) Handbook of input output economics in industrial ecology. Springer, Dordrecht

Suh S, Huppes G (2002) Missing inventory estimation tool using extended input-output analysis. Int J Life Cycle Assess 7:134–140CrossRef

Suh S, Lenzen M, Treloar GJ, Hondo H, Horvath A, Huppes G, Jolliet O, Klann U, Krewitt W, Moriguchi Y, Munksgaard J, Norris G (2004) System boundary selection in life-cycle inventories using hybrid approaches. Environ Sci Technol 38:657–664CrossRef

Teehan P, Kandlikar M (2012) Sources of variation in life cycle assessments of desktop computers. J Ind Ecol 16:S182–S194CrossRef

Teehan P, Kandlikar M (2013) Comparing embodied greenhouse gas emissions of modern computing and electronics products. Environ Sci Technol 47:3997–4003CrossRef

Todd JA, Curran MA (eds) (1999) Streamlined life-cycle assessment: a final report from the SETAC North America Streamlined LCA Workgroup. Society of Environmental Toxicology and Chemistry (SETAC) and SETAC Foundation for Environmental Education

Umair S, Björklund A, Ekener Petersen E (2013) Social life cycle inventory and impact assessment of informal recycling of electronic ICT waste in Pakistan. In: Hilty L, Aebischer E, Andersson G, Lohmann W, Proceedings of the First International Conference on Information and Communication Technologies for Sustainability ETH Zurich, February 14-16, 2013, 52-58. ETH Zurich, University of Zurich and Empa, Swiss Federal Laboratories for Materials Science and Technology

Williams E (2004) Energy intensity of computer manufacturing: hybrid assessment combining process and economic input-output methods. Environ Sci Technol 38(22):6166–6174CrossRef

Williams E, Babbitt C, Matthews SH, Weber C (2011) Comment on “comparative assessment of life cycle assessment methods used for personal computers. Environ Sci Technol 45(16):7096–7097CrossRef

Yao MA, Higgs TG, Cullen MJ, Stewart S, Brady TA (2010) Comparative assessment of life cycle assessment methods used for personal computers. Environ Sci Technol 44(19):7335–7346CrossRef

Titel: Simplifying a life cycle assessment of a mobile phone
verfasst von: Åsa Moberg
Clara Borggren
Christine Ambell
Göran Finnveden
Fredrik Guldbrandsson
Anna Bondesson
Jens Malmodin
Pernilla Bergmark
Publikationsdatum: 01.05.2014
Verlag: Springer Berlin Heidelberg
Erschienen in: The International Journal of Life Cycle Assessment / Ausgabe 5/2014
Print ISSN: 0948-3349
Elektronische ISSN: 1614-7502
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11367-014-0721-6

Springer Professional

Abstract

Purpose

Methods

Results and discussion

Conclusions

Bitte loggen Sie sich ein, um Zugang zu Ihrer Lizenz zu erhalten.

Sie haben noch keine Lizenz? Dann Informieren Sie sich jetzt über unsere Produkte:

Springer Professional "Wirtschaft+Technik"

Springer Professional "Technik"

Weitere Artikel der Ausgabe 5/2014

Sea-use impact category in life cycle assessment: state of the art and perspectives

Tackling environmental impacts in simple trigeneration systems operating under variable conditions

Life cycle thinking in small and medium enterprises: the results of research on the implementation of life cycle tools in Polish SMEs—Part 3: LCC-related aspects

When consumer behavior dictates life cycle performance beyond the use phase: case study of inkjet cartridge end-of-life management

Life cycle assessment of the Peruvian industrial anchoveta fleet: boundary setting in life cycle inventory analyses of complex and plural means of production

EcoBalance 2014: creating benefit through life cycle thinking