Design for environment in automotive electronic design

The increasing number of automotive applications is one of the driving forces behind the miniaturization of electronics. Since miniaturization means less use of resources, this trend seems to be inherently benign for the environment. Adverse effects overlay this simple truth. The overall amount of electronics in a car multiplies. The complexity and closeness of nonseparable compounds increase. The decentralization of automotive electronics is a major handicap for recycling at the end of car lifetime. This aspect becomes increasingly important, since car producers are forced by the government (e.g. since April 1st 1998 in Germany) to take back old cars. Similar to the information and communications industry, it can be expected that car producers ask their suppliers about the environmental aspects of their products. In this paper, an overview of international tendencies in design for environment are given.