Environmental Impact Assessment Tool for Electronics

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master_Zhabura_Yana_2024.pdf (1.91 MB)

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Sähkötekniikan korkeakoulu | Master's thesis
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Date

2024-08-19

Department

Major/Subject

Smart Systems Integrated Solutions

Mcode

ELEC3064

Degree programme

Master’s Programme in Smart Systems Integrated Solutions (Erasmus Mundus)

Language

en

Pages

73

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Abstract

Evaluating the environmental impacts of electronic products is important due to the sector’s significance to modern society and its high environmental impacts. General environmental impact assessment software is used for electronics despite the specific challenges faced by the industry, such as complex globalized supply chains, fast-moving technology and low data availability. The goal of this master's thesis is to develop a software tool designed specifically for evaluating the environmental impacts of electronic products. The tool aims to simplify the assessment process and address the data constraints. An environmental impact assessment tool was developed using the Python programming language based on the tiered hybrid method. In the tiered hybrid method, process-based and Economic Input-Output (EIO) data are combined based on component prices to assess the environmental impacts of a product. In the EIO method, already established economic data is extended with environmental data, and the process-based method focuses on the impact of each material and process separately. Exiobase database and scientific literature were used as data sources. The current version of the tool is suitable for evaluating the impact of the manufacturing phase. The hybrid method is utilized to calculate the global warming potential, other impact categories are evaluated using the EIO method. The tool was tested by evaluating the global warming potential of a smartphone manufacturing and comparing it to the value published in the manufacturer’s environmental impact report. The impact estimated using the tool is 75.3 kg CO2eq compared to 70.5 kg CO2eq presented by the manufacturer. Hybrid calculation results depend heavily on financial data, so it is important to correctly calculate the inflation-adjusted basic price of the product. The tool could be further developed by integrating other process-based data, evaluating other life cycle phases and improving the quality of EIO data.

Description

Supervisor

Paulasto-Kröckel, Mervi

Thesis advisor

Radwan, Mostafa

Keywords

sustainability, sustainable electronics, environmental impact assessment, hybrid environmental impact assessment method

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https://urn.fi/URN:NBN:fi:aalto-202408255795

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[dipl] Sähkötekniikan korkeakoulu / ELEC