Reducing life cycle impacts of housing and computers in relation with paper

Thollier, Karine; Jansen, Bart

doi:10.1016/j.jclepro.2007.04.003

Cited by 8 publications

(5 citation statements)

References 3 publications

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“…Computers. Comprehensive results on the environmental impact and energy consumption of computers are scarce (Thollier and Jansen 2007, Williams and Sasaki 2005) because information on the environmental footprint of manufacturing, in particular, chip manufacturing, was virtually non‐existent until recently. Obtaining information on the CED of chip manufacturing is crucial because this component accounts for a considerable proportion of the energy consumed during the production phase (Gotthardt et al 2005, Thollier and Jansen 2007, Williams and Sasaki 2005).…”

Section: Environmental Data Used In This Studymentioning

confidence: 99%

An Analysis of the Eco‐Efficiency of Remanufactured Personal Computers and Mobile Phones

Neto¹,

Bloemhof-Ruwaard²

2012

Production and Operations Management

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Remanufacturing, long perceived as an environmentally friendly initiative, is supported by a number of governments. Yet, the assumption that remanufacturing is desirable to society has never been systematically investigated. In this paper, we examine the effectiveness and eco‐efficiency of remanufacturing in the personal computer and mobile phone industries. We investigate whether remanufacturing substantially reduces the environmental impact, as measured by cumulative energy demand (CED), generated over the life cycles (LCs) of these products, and the size of any reduction. We also examine the relative eco‐efficiency of remanufacturing compared with virgin manufacturing for these two products, where eco‐efficiency includes both willingness‐to‐pay (WTP) for the products as well as the energy consumed in producing the products. Our main findings are the following. One, remanufacturing is an effective way to reduce the total energy consumed during the LCs of personal computers and mobile phones, with one notable exception, when the life spans of remanufactured products are substantially shorter than the life spans of their new counterparts. Two, a remanufactured personal computer or mobile phone is not always more eco‐efficient than a corresponding new product. Three, the WTP for remanufactured personal computers and mobile phones, and consequently, their eco‐efficiencies, are a function of the prices of the correspondent new products at launch and years elapsed between launch and remanufacturing. Four, remanufactured units are sold at a discount relative to the price of new personal computers and mobile phones. Five, on the whole, the market for remanufactured mobile phones is more eco‐efficient than the market for new mobile phones. Six, the market for remanufactured computers is more eco‐efficient than the market for new computers. Lastly, because the group of remanufactured products is heterogeneous, not all remanufactured units are more eco‐efficient than the average new computer and mobile phone. We conclude with a discussion of the impact of our findings on European WEEE and WEEE‐like legislation.

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Section: Environmental Data Used In This Studymentioning

confidence: 99%

An Analysis of the Eco‐Efficiency of Remanufactured Personal Computers and Mobile Phones

Neto¹,

Bloemhof-Ruwaard²

2012

Production and Operations Management

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“…Only in the case of computers is the energy consumption in the production phase more important (about 1/3 of total energy consumption over life cycle) [6]. In most cases, the production phase has very few impacts compared to the use phase.…”

Section: Why Focusing On the Use Phase?mentioning

confidence: 99%

Energy-using products as embodying heterogeneous requirements

Wallenborn¹,

Prignot²,

Thollier³

et al. 2007

WIT Transactions on Ecology and the Environment, Vol 105

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This paper presents a newly founded research project that is conceived as an integrated socio-technological study about the manufacturing and use of household energy consuming appliances (often referred to as EuPs). This project will examine how standards and ecodesign could take into account the different kinds of users and their role in the use phase in terms of energy consumption. The paper presents the motives to study the use phase of EuPs. It presents these products as embodying conflicts and trade-offs of constraints pertaining to different categories of requirements: technology, economy, ergonomics, social and cultural aspects, health and safety, ecology, ethics. What do EuPs tell us about a culture of energy that is needed for a sustainable development?

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“…While the regular methods to deal with the waste LCDs are incineration or landfill (Gotze and Rotter, 2012;Thollier and Jansen, 2008), both of them take no consideration of the pollutants and would cause hazardous emission into atmosphere (global warming) as well as water contamination (class П) which results in difficulties in biodegradation (Thollier and Jansen, 2008;. Therefore, proper methods should be taken to remove the component containing hazardous materials of end-of-life LCD electronic devices and to recycle valuable materials efficiently.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%