Evolving materials, attributes, and functionality in consumer electronics: Case study of laptop computers

Barbara V. Kasulaitis, Callie W. Babbitt, Ramzy Kahhat, Eric Williams and Erinn G. Ryen

Resources, Conservation & Recycling, 2015, vol. 100, issue C, 1-10

Abstract: There is increasing interest in assessing the environmental impacts of consumer electronics using methods such as life cycle assessment (LCA) and material flow analysis (MFA). Both assessment methods depend on quantifying the materials and parts contained in these products, i.e., the bill of Attributes (BOA). While there has been significant work to develop commercial and public databases detailing material and energy flows in production processes, there have been no comparable efforts to characterize BOA. Further, such assessment is complicated by rapidly evolving production processes and product design and consumption trends. This study was undertaken to assess the degree of change in product attributes commonly used as inputs for LCA for a common consumer electronic product: laptop computers. The analysis includes (1) temporal evolution of BOA for a consistent product type over multiple generations (14.1″ laptops) and (2) variability in a fixed year within a product type (laptops of different sizes). In total, eleven laptop computers were disassembled and characterized based on function, components, and materials. In addition, the study included measurement of silicon die area for all product motherboards and thirty dynamic random access memory (DRAM) cards produced over the period 1999–2011.

Keywords: Life cycle assessment; Consumer electronics; Dematerialization; Technological progress; Bill of attributes (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2015
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (3)

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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:eee:recore:v:100:y:2015:i:c:p:1-10

DOI: 10.1016/j.resconrec.2015.03.014

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