Applications of life cycle assessment in the electronics industry for product design and marketing claims

The author describes the LCA (life cycle assessment) process in detail, and discusses some of the important applications of LCA internationally in the electronics and power products industry. LCA provides a timely analytical framework and methodology for conducting systems analyses to determine the most productive, least costly steps for improvement. LCA involves the cradle-to-grave examination of a product, from raw material extraction and manufacturing through distribution, use, and final disposal. This methodology is used to quantify and calculate the resources and energy used, and emissions and wastes generated, by the system. Internationally, LCA has gained recognition as the most comprehensive methodology of its kind for assessing environmental burdens. LCA studies are proving extremely useful to companies seeking to optimize product and packaging design decisions from an environmental perspective. In addition, an increasing number of companies are discovering the potential market value of presenting the findings of such studies to the public.<>