Life Cycle Assessment, an analytical tool for designingenvironmentally sound electric and electronic devices

摘要

In Europe, Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) has proven to belong tothat category of tools providing quantitative objective and scientificanalysis on some environmental impacts of industrial systems. The reasonfor this is that an LCA is a detailed and quantitative balance-sheet ofenergetics and material inputs and outputs of a carefully defined systemdescribing a product, an activity, or a set of processes. In the case ofa product Life Cycle Assessment, the system encompasses the entire“life cycle” of the product, from raw material extraction tothe different end of life management alternatives (landfilling,incineration, recycling, reusing, etc.), including the manufacturingstages, transportation, distribution, use and waste collection. One ofthe most important applications of LCAs is that it highlights thispollution displacement which then in turn can be better managed andcontrolled. By providing an unbiased analysis of entire industrialsystems, LCA has shown that the reality behind widely held beliefsregarding “green” issues such as reusable vs. one wayproducts, recycling vs. incineration, “natural” vs.synthetic products were far more complex than expected and not as“green” as assumed