Mitigating the Environmental Impact of Smartphones with Device Reuse

2012 ◽  
pp. 252-282 ◽  
Author(s):  
Xun Li ◽  
Pablo Ortiz ◽  
Brandon Kuczenski ◽  
Diana Franklin ◽  
Frederic T. Chong
Keyword(s):  
Information Technology ◽  
Life Cycle ◽  
Quantitative Analysis ◽  
Environmental Impact ◽  
Energy Materials ◽  
Societal Benefit ◽  
Life Cycle Stages ◽  
Elementary School Education ◽  
Manufacturing Stage

The rapid growth of information technology has not only brought substantial economic and societal benefit but also led to an unsustainable disposable model in which mobile devices are replaced in a matter of months. The environmental impact of this stream of handsets in terms of manufacturing energy, materials, and disposal costs is alarming. This chapter aims at raising today’s environmental issues of the increasing smartphone market, as well as providing a quantitative analysis on the environmental impact of different life-cycle stages of the smartphones, including the manufacturing stage, using stage, and recycling. To achieve sustainable computing and best utilize the energy consumed during manufacturing the large number of devices, this chapter demonstrates the methodology and techniques towards reusing smartphones by presenting a case study on reusing smartphones for elementary school education.

scholarly journals Product Design Evaluation Using Life Cycle Assessment and Design for Assembly: A Case Study of a Water Leakage Alarm

2018 ◽  
Vol 10 (8) ◽  
pp. 2821 ◽  
Author(s):  
Tatbita Suhariyanto ◽  
Dzuraidah Wahab ◽  
Mohd Rahman
Keyword(s):  
Life Cycle ◽  
Environmental Impact ◽  
Design Evaluation ◽  
Design For Assembly ◽  
Water Leakage ◽  
Design Efficiency ◽  
Use Stage ◽  
Assembly Principles ◽  
Manufacturing Stage

This study proposed the use of an LCA supported by a design efficiency evaluation based on Design for Assembly principles to reduce the environmental impact of a product. To illustrate the methodology, a water leakage alarm (WLA) was selected as the object for a case study. Based on the identification and evaluation of the LCA results, it was inferred that the stage with the highest environmental impact was the manufacturing stage (75.35%), followed by the use stage (23.88%), the disposal of the WLA (0.64%), and finally, the disposal of the batteries (0.14%). For the manufacturing stage, the most interrelated categories were the hazardous waste and human toxicity, while the use stage was the main contributor to ozone depletion and acidification. Moreover, the disposal of the WLA and batteries contributed to the bulk waste. Furthermore, from the assembly evaluation, the design efficiency of the product was 14%. Two recommendations for improving the design of the WLA were: (1) to reduce the number of screws from three units to one unit, and (2) to eliminate the use of a cable and to replace it with a wireless component. By implementing both the proposed recommendations, the design efficiency was improved by as much as 34%. From the environmental perspective, there is not much difference between the wired alarm and wireless alarm. The wired alarm was considered to be more environmentally friendly in terms of product manufacturing but the wireless alarm has an advantage in terms of design and energy efficiency. By combining LCA and DFA design evaluation, a more comprehensive perspective of the product life cycle can be achieved.

scholarly journals A framework to assess circularity across product-life cycle stages – A case study

Procedia CIRP ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 98 ◽  
pp. 442-447
Author(s):  
Vimal K.E.K ◽  
Jayakrishna Kandasamy ◽  
Vedant Gite
Keyword(s):  
Life Cycle ◽  
Product Life Cycle ◽  
Product Life ◽  
Life Cycle Stages

scholarly journals Life Cycle Environmental Impact Assessment of Circular Agriculture: A Case Study in Fuqing, China

2018 ◽  
Vol 10 (6) ◽  
pp. 1810 ◽  
Author(s):  
Weiguo Fan ◽  
Peng Zhang ◽  
Zihan Xu ◽  
Hejie Wei ◽  
Nachuan Lu ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Life Cycle ◽  
Environmental Impact ◽  
Impact Assessment ◽  
Environmental Impact Assessment

scholarly journals Life Cycle Assessment of LNG Fueled Vessel in Domestic Services

2019 ◽  
Vol 7 (10) ◽  
pp. 359 ◽  
Author(s):  
Hwang ◽  
Jeong ◽  
Jung ◽  
Kim ◽  
Zhou
Keyword(s):  
Life Cycle Assessment ◽  
Life Cycle ◽  
Environmental Impact ◽  
South Korea ◽  
Point Of View ◽  
Marine Fuel ◽  
Pm 2.5 ◽  
Fuel Supply ◽  
Selection Of

This research was focused on a comparative analysis of using LNG as a marine fuel with a conventional marine gas oil (MGO) from an environmental point of view. A case study was performed using a 50K bulk carrier engaged in domestic services in South Korea. Considering the energy exporting market for South Korea, the fuel supply chain was designed with the two largest suppliers: Middle East (LNG-Qatar/MGO-Saudi Arabia) and U.S. The life cycle of each fuel type was categorized into three stages: Well-to-Tank (WtT), Tank-to-Wake (TtW), and Well-to-Wake (WtW). With the process modelling, the environmental impact of each stage was analyzed based on the five environmental impact categorizes: Global Warming Potential (GWP), Acidification Potential (AP), Photochemical Potential (POCP), Eutrophication Potential (EP) and Particulate Matter (PM). Analysis results reveal that emission levels for the LNG cases are significantly lower than the MGO cases in all potential impact categories. Particularly, Case 1 (LNG import to Korea from Qatar) is identified as the best option as producing the lowest emission levels per 1.0 × 107 MJ of fuel consumption: 977 tonnages of CO2 equivalent (for GWP), 1.76 tonnages of SO2 equivalent (for AP), 1.18 tonnages of N equivalent (for EP), 4.28 tonnages of NMVOC equivalent (for POCP) and 26 kg of PM 2.5 equivalent (for PM). On the other hand, the results also point out that the selection of the fuel supply routes could be an important factor contributing to emission levels since longer distances for freight transportation result in more emissions. It is worth noting that the life cycle assessment can offer us better understanding of holistic emission levels contributed by marine fuels from the cradle to the grave, which are highly believed to remedy the shortcomings of current marine emission indicators.

A Study on Energy Consumption and CO2 Emissions in End-Life Cycle of Residential Buildings

2013 ◽  
Vol 689 ◽  
pp. 226-229
Author(s):  
Gi Wook Cha ◽  
Won Hwa Hong ◽  
Sung Woo Shin
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
Life Cycle ◽  
Energy Consumption ◽  
Quantitative Analysis ◽  
Environmental Impact ◽  
Residential Buildings ◽  
Inventory Analysis ◽  
Intergovernmental Panel ◽  
Ipcc Guidelines

In recent years, demolition work in Korea has been rapidly increasing, and accordingly, its environmental impact has become significant, thus requiring quantitative analysis on energy consumption and CO2 emissions generated during demolition work. This study aims to examine energy consumption and CO2 emissions in the end-life cycle of buildings. In this study, inventory analysis was conducted and basic units of energy consumption and CO2 emissions were calculated in accordance with Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) guidelines published in 1996. Major findings show that 64% of energy consumption and CO2 emissions in buildings’ end-life cycle is generated in the demolition phase, and 36% in the transportation phase.

The Implementation of Genetic Algorithm in the Manufacturing Process of a Product for Reduced Environmental Impact: A Case Study of a Pulley Crankshaft

2015 ◽  
Vol 761 ◽  
pp. 651-655
Author(s):  
Hazwan Syafiq ◽  
Zahari Taha ◽  
Razali Muhamad
Keyword(s):  
Genetic Algorithm ◽  
Life Cycle ◽  
Environmental Impact ◽  
Manufacturing Process ◽  
Assessment Tool ◽  
Specific Product ◽  
Cad System ◽  
Use Of Resources ◽  
Minimal Environmental Impact

Life Cycle Assessment or LCA method is believed to be a good solution to improve sustainability in a manufacturing process. This method allows designers to identify opportunities to improve the environmental aspects of products at various points in their life cycle. In this paper, the implementation of LCA through the development of an Environmental Impact Assessment Tool (EIAT) is demonstrated via a case study of Volkswagen pulley crankshaft. EIAT is a tool that aids designers to improve the environmental impact in a manufacturing process by designing or producing products with minimal environmental impact and minimal use of resources, such as the material and energy. EIAT also offers the optimization of design solutions to reduce potential environmental impact of a specific product according to its design features. A pulley crankshaft was modelled in a CAD system where the form is fixed to maintain its function. Pulley crankshaft features, such as the type of material, diameter of pocket, stock thickness and diameter are the parameters that were optimized through the Genetic Algorithm encoded in EIAT. EIAT was validated with Eco-It (an established LCA tool) and with actual experiments. Results show a difference of less than 9% error between EIAT with the results produced by Eco-It and the actual experiments.

Eco-Audit and Environmental Impacts of Products

2016 ◽  
Vol 834 ◽  
pp. 34-39
Author(s):  
Cătălin Gheorghiță ◽  
Vlad Gheorghiță
Keyword(s):  
Supply Chain ◽  
Life Cycle ◽  
Environmental Impact ◽  
Life Cycle Analysis ◽  
Raw Materials ◽  
Embodied Energy ◽  
Water Usage ◽  
Design Decisions ◽  
Sustainability Criteria ◽  
Life Cycle Stages

Eco-audit is a tool to find the environmental impact of the product across all life cycle stages and for identify the problems in all aspects of a supply chain, from extraction of raw materials to manufacturing, distribution, use and disposal. The purpose of an analysis of a product is to establish the embodied energy, water usage, annual CO2 to atmosphere, carbon foot print, recycle fraction in current supply, toxicity, approximate processing energy and sustainability criteria. Knowledges to guide design decisions are needed to minimize or eliminate adverse eco-impacts. In eco-audit analysis, will be created material charts, processes selection and life cycle analysis allowing alternative design choices to meet the engineering requirements and reduce the environmental impact. The application presented in this paper uses only environmentally friendly properties of Ashby's database.

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