Electronic Consumer Goods case report

Electronic Consumer Goods case report 2nd Draft

March 1999

René Kleijn (final editor) Erik Hansen Gjalt Huppes Jake McLaren Hanna Pesonen Ab Steevels Evdokia Vanakari Hans van der Wel

2

CHAINET

Case Study Electronic Consumer Goods, draft March 1998

3

1.

Introduction (1 page)

1.1

Chainet

CHAINET is a Concerted Action in the EU Environment and Climate programme (ENV4-CT97-0477). CHAINET started in December 1997 and has a duration of 2 years. The tasks of this Concerted Action are to set up a network linking environmental stakeholders in three fields of human activity (referred to as “cases”) with experts on different environmental analytical tools, and to interactively write a guidebook on the use of these different tools. The following cases were chosen: • automobiles • electronic consumer goods • domestic cloth washing The subject of this case report is consumer electronic goods. The guidebook will provide a toolbox for chain analysis, linking demand for environmental information with supply of relevant information. In addition it gives information on the application of the toolbox in the three case-studies, indicating specific directions for design and development. These tasks have been achieved through the organisation of meetings (network meetings, preparatory meetings and workshops), the establishment of a homepage on the internet and the production of reports in collaboration with CHAINET members.

1.2

Aim of the Electronic Consumer Goods case study report

Environmental considerations in production and product development are becoming of increasing importance in the consumer electronic industry due to legislative pressure, cost savings and emerging green markets. This is apparent from the widespread integration of eco-design (sometimes also called Design for the Environment, or DfE) into this business. The product developments are taking place in the context of rapidly changing technological surroundings. The present eco-design programmes are limited to step-by-step improvements of the present products (level 1), and sometimes to more radical redesign based on existing concepts (level 2). The design of product alternatives by developing new concepts, or by replacing products with services (level 3) is more difficult to achieve for various reasons. New concepts require close co-operation with other stakeholders in the chain. This co-operation refers not only to standard supply chain management, but also to the supply of new services and creating infrastructures, which contribute to drastically improved environmental performance. Furthermore, one needs to be relatively certain that the new design is significantly better than existing products when drastic changes and large investments are involved. Methods for such an assessment are largely lacking. At the same time, the consumer electronics industry in Europe is confronted with increasing responsibility as to the environmental impact of its products, including the take back of products at the end of their service life. In some countries this responsibility is legally codified, as in Germany in the "Elektronikschrott-Verordnung" and the "Kreislaufwirtschaftsgesetz". Different European countries are tackling the take back issue differently, and in none of these cases has organisation been based on a systematic analysis of the resultant environmental benefits. In the light of the developments mentioned above the aims of this case study are defined as: • to identify the principal environmental impacts and demands for environmental information in the supply, use and waste management of the electronic consumer goods chain: the demand side; • to identify appropriate tools to comprise the “toolbox”for the electronic consumer goods chain, and how they could be used in combination to promote new ways to provide reduced environmental impact: the supply side. The target group for this case study is very broad: all stakeholders involved in the consumer electronics goods chain, including private companies, policy makers, consumers and environmental organisations are part of the target group. However, the case-report is written from a business perspective.

CHAINET


4 PM: • internal communication • workers health / noise / sick-building syndrome

CHAINET


5

2. State-of-the-art (4 pages) (Description of the chain and ongoing projects and platforms)

2.1 Description of the Chain (Kleijn & van der Wel) There are different definitions of the term Electronic Consumer Goods. A very simple one would be: goods which are used by consumers and need electricity for their functioning. However, the environmental aspects of e.g. tv-sets and refrigerators are so far apart that we decided to limit the scope of this study by leaving out kitchen appliances (white goods, micro-waves etc.). Even with this limitations the range of products within the definition is still very broad: from audio-visual equipment to mobile phones and computers. Next to that the companies that produce these products are very different. Some companies only assemble the products and get the components that they need from the market. Other produce most or all of the components themselves. What makes it even more complicated is that a large electronics company often consists of different branches and divisions which act more or less as independent units. Furthermore, it is important to keep in mind that the raw materials used in the production of consumer electronic goods, like metals plastic for housing and glass for Cathode Ray Tubes (CRTs), are produced by companies for which the electronics industry might be just a minor customer. The composition of electronic consumer varies strongly between the different products. Main materials on mass base are iron, copper, glass, ceramics and plastics. Next to those materials that are used in large amounts lots of materials and substances are used in relatively small amounts. This latter category of substances can be important from

extraction raw materials

production materials

recycling / re-use

- energy - emissions - waste


- energy - emissions - production waste

production components


assembly of the end-product


use of the product


waste collection

final disposal

- energy - emissions waste incineration


Figure 1: A general outline of the life cycle stages of electronic consumer goods and the main environmental aspects in these stages.

CHAINET


6

In Figure 1 a very general outline is given of the life cycle stages of electronic consumer goods and the main environmental aspects in these stages. Extraction of raw materials The following raw materials are used for the production of electronic consumer goods: • metal ores (Cu, Fe, Al, Cd, Ni, Pb, Sn, Li, In, Bi) • other ores etc. (Ga, Sb, As, B, P) • other ores e.g. quartzite1. • fossil fuels, both as a source of energy and a source of raw materials for the production of polymers, additives, basic chemical products The raw materials are extracted from the environment, mostly via mining. Mining often implies moving large amounts of materials from one place to another and separating a small amount of useful ore from a large amount of useless material. Therefore the use of energy and the generation of waste are the two most important environmental aspects of mining. The extraction of fossil fuels is similar to mining when coal is concerned but very different when extracting crude oil or natural gas. For the latter two waste production is relatively small. However, here emissions can be important. An aspect which is important for all types of extraction is the degradation of natural ecosystems due to the physical interventions connected to them. The most important stakeholders for the extraction of raw materials are: • (local) governmental organisations • mining companies • local residents • (local) environmental organisations Production of materials Most important materials used in the production of consumer electronic goods are: • metals (Cu, Al, Fe, Cd, Ni, Li, Pb, Sn, In, Bi) • other elements (Ga, Sb, As, B, P) • polysilicon • glass • polymers • basic chemical products • other additives The production of materials will mostly take place in the chemical and metallurgical industry. The purification of the ores and the production of polymers and chemicals can be energy intensive. The chemical processes will generate emissions which can be important from an environmental point of view. Furthermore, the use of bulk-gasses during the production is an important issue. The most important stakeholders in the production of materials are: • (local) governmental organisations • production companies, mainly chemical and metallurgical plants • local residents • (local) environmental organisations Production of components Most important components used in the production of electronic consumer goods are: • electronic components • circuit boards • resistors • capacitors Quartzite is used for the production of trichlorosilane, the starting material for the production of polycrystalline silicon (an amorphous form of silicon with randomly oriented crystals) 1

CHAINET


7 • ICs • batteries • LCD's • LED's • CRT's • trafos • etc. • non-electronic components • casing / housing • wires / cords • etc. The production of the electronic components will mainly take place in the electronic industry. Main environmental aspects are the use of energy during the production, the emissions during the production processes (due to the use of chemicals and other additives) and the generation of waste. The production of the non-electronic components will take place in other production and manufacturing plants. The main environmental aspects of this are the use of energy during the production of the plastic and metal housings, wires and cords etc. Furthermore, the use of bulkgasses during the production is an important issue. The most important stakeholders in the production of components are: • (local) governmental organisations • production companies, mainly electronic industry and some other production and manufacturing plants • local residents • (local) environmental organisations Assembly of the end-product Most important consumer end-products are: • audio-visual equipment (tv, audio sets, cd-players, walkmans etc) • communication devices (telephones, cellular phones, faxes etc.) • information technology (computers, monitors etc) • other devices with electronic components (microwaves, white goods, etc.) Assembling the components into the actual electronic consumer goods is probably the least important step from an environmental point of view. Some energy will be used but emissions and waste generation will probably be negligible. The most important stakeholders in the assembly are: • (local) governmental organisations • international governmental organisations • production companies: electronic industry • local residents • (local) environmental organisations Use of the product During normal use of the electronic consumer goods connected to the power grid emissions and waste production will be negligible and the electricity consumption during use (and during standby) will be the most important environmental aspect. For battery operated products the production of waste batteries will be another important aspect. However, one specific situation should not be disregarded and that is the situation which occurs during accidental fires. The combination of metals, plastics and additives like flame retardants in these products can lead to hazardous emissions during a fire. The most important stakeholders concerned in the use of the products are: • governmental organisations • international governmental organisations (safety standards etc.) • production companies: producers of electronic consumer goods • consumers (organisations) • environmental organisations

CHAINET


8

Waste collection, incineration and landfill In the waste treatment phase three general options should be considered: • de-assembly and re-use or recycling of products, components and materials • incineration • landfilling The first possibility is treated separately below. Incineration of electronic consumer goods will produce both emissions and waste. The metals will largely be accumulated in the slag and fly-ash. The plastics and other chemicals will be degraded into CO2, H2O and some other gases depending on their composition. As already mentioned above, the combination of metals, plastics and additives like flame retardants in these products can lead to the formation of hazardous compounds (like dioxins) during incineration. When flue gas is properly treated most of these compounds will be filtered out and end up in the fly ash which will either be re-used or landfilled. Both re-use and landfilling of fly ash can cause emissions via leaching. By landfilling electronic consumer goods a certain amount of space will be occupied. Emissions of additives might cause problems although very little information is available concerning this subject. The most important stakeholders in this life cycle step are: • (local) governmental organisations (collection of waste etc.) • production companies: producers of electronic consumer goods • waste collectors • waste incineration plants • landfill managers • consumers (organisations) • environmental organisations Recycling / re-use De-assembling electronic consumer goods is at this moment only considered for products that do not fit into the normal garbage cans. Most small items like phones and most audio equipment will end-up in the normal municipal waste and thus be treated as such. Larger products like televisions, microwaves and white goods are often collected separately. Next to this producers of consumer electronic goods are setting up collection systems for their own products. This is partly done on a voluntary basis and partly initiated via take-back legislation. Main environmental concerns of deassembly is the energy used in transport and the de-assembly itself. When a product is de-assembled some of the components might be re-used, although the possibilities seem very limited because the old components are probably technically (and environmentally) inferior. Most of the components will be recycled, incinerated or landfilled. Material-recovery of Cu and precious metals is becoming an important issue. Especially printed circuit board can be regarded as a very rich metal ore in combination a fuel: plastic. Recycling and recovery of plastics and metals is being complicated by the large number of different materials and compounds that are present in these products. Main environmental concerns during recycling are the emissions and the generation of waste. The most important stakeholders for re-use and recycling are: • (local) governmental organisations (collection of waste, take-back policy etc.) • production companies: producers of electronic consumer goods • recycling plants • consumers (organisations) • environmental organisations

2.2 Trends in electronics (McLaren) Electronic functionality within consumer electronics is a dynamic and fast moving field, characterised by advancing technology and price reduction to support increasing demand. General trends in electronics cited in the recent UK government foresight document are; (ITEC 1999) • Continued trend in component and product miniaturisation.

CHAINET


9 • Continued reduction in the use of precious metals within circuit boards and IC chips. • Memory size is forecast to increase dramatically, continuing trend of doubling chip storage ability every 18 months, for the same price. • New battery technology will support longer operating times for mobile products. Lithium Ion technology will become prevalent in small portable electronics, and is likely to be superseded by Lithium Polymer. • Operating time of portable products will improve through use of lower power technologies (e.g. display screens, & logic circuits) and power management. • Disposable electronics will continue to expand for applications such as talking Christmas cards and more sophisticated Tamagotchi-type toys. This is enabled by advances in deeply embedded processing technology. • Cathode Ray tubes will probably remain dominant screen technology for the TV and desktop computer market. Desktop market share is likely to be penetrated by active matrix liquid crystal display technology, and the possibly plasma display panels which will be used primarily for larger TV screens. Liquid crystal displays will largely remain the dominant technology for small screen applications • Applications of image recognition technology is likely to enter domestic products markets. e.g. Full-body video games interface, virtual reality model generation from hand-held video, gesture driven interface for window operating system. • Speech recognition technology requires progress before widespread adoption, however this technology is now being introduced for voice dialling in the cellular phone sector. • Product functions will continue to converge within consumer products following the major convergence trend between IT and communication sectors. For example, continued development of personal digital assistant functionality with mobile phone technology. • trends in consumer thinking

2.3 Quantified Flows in Europe (van der Wel & Kleijn) Some data on the average composition of electronic products for the whole electronic sector is given Table 1. This data was derived from figures of waste from electric and electronic equipment (WEEE) and may give a good impression of the total mass flows in the electronic sector. However, such data gives no information on chemicals, ancillaries and energy needed for and waste generated in the manufacturing of electronic products and components. Such information is different for every component or product. For example, for manufacturing of 1 kg of semiconductor devices, hundreds of kg’s of chemicals are needed, whereas for the production of potted filmcapacitors or wire wound components (trafo’s) only low amounts of chemicals and ancillaries are needed. Information on compositions of electronics and on waste can be found in the Nordic report “Environmental consequences of incineration and landfilling of WEE”, form Taberman et al., 1995. In Table 1 the composition of average WEEE is given. This composition was based on 2 German studies from 1992 and 1993. This composition is similar to the composition in 2 other studies2,3, although the type of products included in the WEEE may slightly differ in these studies. In the Nordic report also the amount of WEEE per person was assessed to be 20 - 25 kg per year for Western Europe in the nineties. Thus 100 million persons will generate 2000 - 2500 kilo tonnes of WEEE. Furthermore, in Denmark WEEE accounts for about 1,3% of the total waste, which will be similar to other Western European countries.

2 3

“Basic results of a TPB survey of electronic waste in Germany, January 1993 L. Rijpkema, L. Mulder, TNO-MEP report 96/414, 1996 (in Dutch).

CHAINET


10 Table 1: Assessment of the material composition of WEEE (waste form electric and electronic equipment; from Taberman et al., 1995)

Material type

Composition (%)

Iron and steel Aluminium Copper Rest metals/non-iron metals Flame retardant plastic: Bromine Sb2O3 other compounds in FR plastic Not flame retardant plastics (PVC: