Environmental Project, 960 – Environmental Assessment of Product Concept for Electronic Products

Environmental Assessment of Product Concept for Electronic Products

1 Introduction

1.1 Background
1.2 Purpose
1.3 Target group
1.4 Participants

1.1 Background

The developments in the electronics industry have resulted in products that have more and more functions, weigh less and are increasingly smaller, giving users big advantages in the use phase. But as a consequence of the complex composition, an increasing number of new applications, shorter product life, use of hazardous substances and lack of data on the material contents, electronic and electrical equipment (EEE) constitute a threat to both man and the environment.

EEE manufacturers and their suppliers will face a number of important challenges in the near future. These are primarily the new EU directives that deal with the increasing need to design and build products in an environmentally conscious way that at the same time is still profitable, but also a need to cope with the demands and the expectations from customers and society. However it is not enough just to deal with the expectations from the immediate surroundings. You have to focus on the entire lifecycle of the product and the interested parties involved in the success of the product concerned.

Some companies might look upon these challenges as a threat to their well-established business and they might very well be right to do so. The sooner these threats are taken seriously, the greater is the chance of successfully transforming them into something useful.

Environmentally conscious product development should not be considered as a sort of charity but should be seen as a business opportunity.

1.2 Purpose

The purpose of this project is to provide a tool to perform a simple environmental assessment already at the very early stage of product development, when the product concept is being determined. At this stage no decisions have necessarily been taken concerning the physical structure of the product. Product development is often an iterative process. This definitely also applies to the environmental assessment of products. Assessment of the product concept is the first step in this process and aims at establishing the first set of environmentally relevant information about the product category and its life cycle. The life cycle also includes the market to which the product concerned has to adapt.

It is the ambition to get an overview of the environmental issues that bear relevance to the product and to acquire a basic understanding of the environmental aspects of the product and the life the product will lead once it has left the drawing board and the manufacturing facilities. On the basis of this understanding it will also be possible to set up environmental targets and objectives for the specification of the product and the continuation of the product development process.

When the following steps in the product development process have been taken, it is quite likely that new information has been acquired that will enable adjustment of the conclusions reached from the concept phase. Sometimes it is not possible to apply this new knowledge to improve the present product, however this knowledge can be used to develop future product generations or “sister products” with similar characteristics.

1.3 Target group

The results from this project are primarily targeted at companies developing electrical and electronic equipment, and at educational institutions that teach the engineers of the future and other individuals who will be involved in the design and development of future electrical and electronic equipment.

1.4 Participants

This project has been developed by the Institute for Product Development in cooperation with the Danish companies Tellabs Denmark A/S, Sauer-Danfoss ApS and Focon Electronic Systems A/S. Products from these companies have served as cases in the development of the assessment method. An example of a draft report for a product from Focon Electronic Systems A/S has been made available on the website of the Eco-design Guide [1].

The following persons have been involved in the project:

Ole Willum, Institute for Product Development. (Project manager)
Johan C. Gregersen, Institute for Product Development

Carsten E. Thomsen, Tellabs Denmark A/S
Henrik Hangler, Tellabs Denmark A/S

Gert Lumbye Hansen, Sauer-Danfoss ApS
Lars Althof, Sauer-Danfoss ApS
Thorsten Petersen, Sauer-Danfoss ApS

Kim Petersen, Focon Electronic Systems A/S
Lars Bo Kjøng, Focon Electronic Systems A/S