A Brief History & Update on Life Cycle Environmental Implications of Electronics

An Interesting Problem ICT products and the systems that use them are a “double-edged sword” On one hand, they lead to environmental problems and concerns However using them can allow us to significantly improve our use of resources, energy, etc. Important to find the balance

Sales of Computers ( ) Over 100 million PCs are sold per year now. In 2003, the one-billionth PC was shipped since 1980.

Life-Cycle Assessment (LCA) A concept and methodology to evaluate the environmental effects of a product or activity holistically, by analyzing the whole life cycle of a particular product, process, or activity (U.S. EPA, 1993). –From raw material acquisition through production, use and disposal –What are example impacts at each stage?

End Of Life (EOL) / Disposal Concerns For Electronics Toxic substances such as lead could leach into soil and contaminate groundwater. Technological advances could accelerate the turnover of TVs and computers. Rapid advances could lead to storage, donation, repair, or disposal of working and non-working equipment.

Ristriction of Hazzardous Substances (RoHS)/Waste Electrical & Electronic Equipment (WEEE) Directives RoHS: bans or restricts certain substances of concern (e.g. Lead) WEEE: puts in place systems to require take back and handling of EOL electrical and electronic products (not just PCs!) Passed in last few years at EU level –But each EU country responsible for local definition, legislation, enforcement –Most EU countries have not fully implemented the required legislation yet

TVs and Computer Monitors Electronics (used to) share critical components –Cathode Ray Tube (CRT) –CRT screen contains lead –Protects the user from radiation –Lead weighs from four to eight pounds –Newer LCD screens have less problems but have other concerns (e.g. mercury in bulbs?)

Educating the Public About Recycling (Florida, US) Residents don’t consider the CRT issue urgent and 70% don’t want additional information. Younger residents (18-34) were the most interested in recycling information. Residents rated county/city recycling programs as preferred education method for recycling info. TV and Radio were stated as the best media for receiving information.

CMU Dell Event Context A few hundred people, 50 tons collected –About half from a few large groups (school districts, etc.) –Thus a few hundred individuals brought about 25 tons.

The Evolving Electronics Infrastructure The Evolution –Demanufacturers/Entrepreneurs –Corporate Recovery Programs –Government Regulatory Discussions –Local County Government Pilot Programs –Government Bans or Regulations –Media Coverage –Producer Responsibility

Manufacturer Actions Hewlett-Packard (HP) and IBM have long been industry leaders –Were amongst first companies to develop in-house electronics recycling facilities –Were first to offer publicly available takeback and recycling programs (for a fee) –Unclear what volume of recycled product and revenue streams look like –Unclear whether these programs are profitable

Some Concerns Computer recycling IS NOT FREE –There are many costs associated with logistics, handling, demanufacturing –Actual cost on order of $10-$20 per unit –Free events may send wrong signals to people about costs of recycling –Similar to how artificially low gas prices in US lead to purchase of large vehicles and 15,000 miles driven per car per year?

Beyond End-of-Life Issues In last 5 years, focus of much research has moved from EOL to sustainability of information and communications technology (ICT) systems Expectation is that hardware issues will eventually be solved - but what will happen as ICT systems become more pervasive in the world?

What is sustainability? Sustainability is a concept related to managing growth “Meeting the needs of the present generation without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their needs”

Energy Flow Diagram

System Losses 36.3 GJ Electricity Grid 10% Distribution/ Transmission 32.7 GJ Customer Power Supply 40% 19.6 GJ We lose, on average, 80% of the energy we extract when using it for electronic products

Power Naps Campus initiative to set power management on computers/monitors (10-20,000 computers!) Electricity use of computer equipment: –Desktop Computer: 110 W –CRT Monitor: 80 W –LCD Monitor: 24 W Unlike PCs, monitors can be turned off quickly, easily, painlessly, and temporarily –Turning off monitors saves 72% of desktop energy Could also save cooling energy use in summer

Will E-commerce Improve or Degrade the Environment? Pro - –reduce private and commercial travel - avoid shopping trips, –remove transaction inefficiencies, –reduce logistic and manufacturing inefficiencies, –reduce waste of inventory and remainders, –digital manufacturing service provision

Will E-commerce Improve or Degrade the Environment? Con - –overhead of Internet infrastructure - electricity use increase, computers, switches, etc. –shift to high impact travel modes, –reduce scale economies - smaller shipment sizes, –stimulate growth, –encourage dispersion

Wireless ‘equipment’: 5-10x less electricity than wired While not purely generalizable, an indicator of the potential energy efficiency of wireless Wired or wireless

‘Efficiency’ of wireless (versus wired) communications is irrelevant! For foreseeable future, we will have need for wired networks (if nothing else, to make long-range mobile calls!) This dependency will limit our ability to realize energy savings from wireless –i.e., until we ‘pull the plug’, we are using more total energy to have both to use Final Thoughts