Sustainable Electronics Challenges and Opportunities
Transcript of Sustainable Electronics Challenges and Opportunities
Sustainable ElectronicsChallenges and Opportunities
E. Sahle-Demessie, Ph.D.
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency
Office of Research and Development
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US EPA - Disclaimer
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The findings and conclusions in this presentation have not been formally disseminated by the U.S. EPA and should not be construed to represent any agency determination or policy.
Electronic Waste Still a Challenge in U.S.
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• Information and communication technologies are growing, while the average use life of products is decreasing → Generating E-waste
• Americans discard 130,000 item/day→ 4 x108 lb/yr of electronic items. → Fastest growing waste stream
• Old and used-electronics are cluttering homes-
• End-of-life differs a lot - recycling, export, disposed of in landfills or incinerated.
Sa
les o
f P
rod
uct (u
nit)
Sa
les o
f P
rod
uct (w
eig
ht)
Domestic management
Treatment depends on
state regulations Export to developing countries
E-waste
Producer responsibility law
Consumer law
Manufacture education law
Landfilling
Recycling
Open burning
Land disposalAcid extraction
Incineration
Source:www.flickr.com/photos/cogdog/9090732482www.documentscotland.com/portfolio/e-wasteland/www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-108, http://www.epa.ohio.gov/dmwm/Home/Incinerators.aspx, www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-108
45x107 ton/yr world
≈29 %
??
Affected Source,
state
E-waste as Resources
Primary mining• ~ 5 g/t Au in ore
• ~ similar to other PGMs
“Urban” mining• 300-350 g/t AU in cell phones
• 200-250 g/t AU in PC circuit
boards
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E-waste contains:
▪ Precious metals (Ag, Au, Pd)
▪ Critical materials (e.g., rear earth elements)
▪ Base and special metals (Cu, Al, Zn, In)
▪ Recycling reduces green house gas compared to
processing ores
Sources: UNEP, 2011; USDOR, 2011; Hageluken & Corti, 2010
E-Waste is Hazardous❖ Improperly disposed E-waste
is a threat to environment
and public health
❖ E-Waste contains
• Lead (Pb),Cadmium (Cd),
• Mercury (Hg),
• Brominated flame
retardants
Health hazards:
• Chronic exposure to
hazardous air
pollutants
• Toxic leachates to
environment
Environmental hazards:
acute & chronic aquatic toxicity,
bioaccumulation potential
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Sources: Lim & Schoenung, 2010; USEPA, 2009
E-Waste Exported and Disposed Around the World
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➢ Improper export, disposal and poor recycling techniques of e-waste
damage local ecology and impact human health in developing countries.
Environmental Justice
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- Fire accident of warehouses storing e-waste release highly toxic HAP.
- Blew a wide plume of pollutants over nearby residential areas and a shopping center.
- Fire created very toxic and carcinogenic smoke and fumes containing brominated dioxins, and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons
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Sustainable ElectronicsVision Statement
“ Sustainable ICT will enable us to protect and enhance human health and well-being and the environment over generations while minimizing the adverse life-cycle impacts of devices, infrastructure and services.”
Sustainable Electronic Forum Summary,
Racine, WI, October 15-18, 2012
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Sustainable Electronics Themes
Sustainable
Products
Sustainable Electronics
Zero-waste Zero-Impact
Energy, water,
Biodiversity
Resource
Optimization
Eco-Design
Sustainable
Processes across
Life-Cycle
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Enriching Communities
1
1
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4
6
5SustainableBusiness Model
Safe and Fair working
condition
The Three Spheres of Sustainability
Environmental
EconomicSocial
I. Materials and Process
cause no harm
III. Protect natural
resource
II. Close-loop,
resource
optimization, eco-
design
VI. Business
model
Embraces
sustainabilityV. Enriching
communities
IV. Safe and Fair
working condition
Theme 1: Materials and Processes Cause No
harm
Objective
➢ Complete inventory and hazards of chemicals in production and electronic products,
➢ Elimination of hazardous toxics from electronic products and processes
➢ Design tools fully populated with materials and product hazard problems
➢ Virgin and recycled materials sources from certified facilities
➢ Alternative assessment should be made prior to selection of materials and chemical
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Goal
Limit the harm posed by all ICTs materials and process
Theme 1 - Research Questions: Electronic Products
I. Chemicals in Electronic Products➢Develop practical and multipurpose tools / methods to assess chemical found in electronic products, ➢Develop a method for hazardous materials that need to be replaced. “White” and “black” list, ranked by
risk, ➢ Transparency, sharing information
II. Fate and transport of hazardous chemicals in products / processes ➢ Obtain better information on fate and transformation of chemicals through life cycle:➢ Identify nanoscale materials, in electronic waste stream and their fate & transport
III. Search for replacement of hazardous chemicals with safer one➢ Elimination of toxics in products and processes over the life cycle, eg. BFR, PVC, phthalet DEHP, DBP,
BBP➢ Replacement of hazardous and toxic chemicals with safer, biologically benign alternatives
IV Integration of chemical information in electronics with OEDs/OEMs/ recyclers across the supply chain LC➢ Integrate hazardous chemical information in the electronics process and product design.➢ Create an EPA Green Star Program to direct purchasers to product standards that include these ideas in
EPEAT➢ Create a register of preferred chemicals for various processes and make the accessible to stakeholders
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What are the Barriers • Technical:
• Limited chemicals listed IEC 62474 - Material Declaration for Products of and for the Electrotechnical Industry - eco-friendly and climate neutral
• Lack of collaboration to collect chemical and process information• Challenge in handling proprietary information• Lack of transparency in the supply chain and fear of liability
• Infrastructure: Lack of method to bring information on hazards and alternatives to designers
• Economical: Lack of funding for developing effective alternative assessments
• Standards : Lack of agreement on preferred materials
Standards needed• Consensus on harmful / benign chemicals
• Integrate a criterion for a full chemical inventory into Stanards used by EPEAT®
• Integrate a criterion for making information publicly available and verifiable
The Challenge: The good, the bad and the uglyrecovering valuables while taking care of hazards
• E-scrap, a complex mix…– Ag, Au, Pd…(precious metals)– Cu, Al, Ni, Sn, Zn, Fe, Bi, Sb, In (base-and special
metals)– Hg, Be, Pb, Cd, As,…(substances of concern)– Halogens (Br, F, Cl…)– Plastics and Other organics– Glass, Ceramics
• Environmental Risk in case of landfill and inappropriate recycling
• Valuable metal resource
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Complex Life Cycle for Consumer Products- open loop causing high resource losses
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Components
Precursor
Dismantling and pre-processing
User 1Final user
Loss
es/
syst
em o
utf
low
fo
r p
rod
uct
Return point collection
Exchange of components
Losses/system outflows (component/metals)
No removal of metal component
Assembly Product
IC, MLCC etc
Printed wiring board, Battery, display
Mobile phoneLaptop computers
Production scrap, rejects, overstocks
Metal recovery
Multiple change of ownership, low transparency, High product mobility, global material flowHigh exports of EoL products in regions without appropriate recycling infrastructureLow consumer awareness on resource value and missing recycle incentives “Hibernating” good and inefficient
Theme 2: Closing-the-Loop: Eco-Design and Resource Optimization
GoalBetter management of closed-loop
• Better design
• Extended producer responsibility
• Industrial ecology
• Zero waste → Infinite recyclability of all products.
ObjectivesI. Product design for recycling and life extension
• Tracking & tracing of material flows / transparency creation
II. Research on recovery of rare earth elements
• Recycling of Rare Earth elements such as Gallium, Germanium, Tantalum
III. Increase the recycled content of plastics
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Theme 2: Closing-the-Loop: Eco-Design and Resource Optimization
• Proactive eco-design that take into account• Design for disassembly (reuse and refurbishment), Life extension and
recycling
• Design for recovery, avoid incompatible material mix if doesn’t interfere with essential functionality
• Design for tracking and detection
• Design with less materials use
• Transparent material Flow• Commonly accepted standards for scope, quality
• Optimize systems for priority devices• Economic drivers
• Technical – interface and process technology
• Rules / incentive
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Challenges in Metal recycling from complex products
1. Accessibility of relevant components/materials➢ Electronics in cars, REE magnets in electric motors,…
→ “Design for Disassembly”, mechanical processing, pre-shredding-technology
2. Thermodynamic limits for multicomponent mixtures of “trace elements’ – cost effective recovery challenging➢ Rare earth, Gallium/Germanium, Lithium, Tantalum, …
→ “Design for Recycling,” fundamental metallurgical research, pilot plants
3. Severe deficits in closing the loop for consumer goods➢ Electronics, cars, batteries, lamps, …
→ Better collection, tracing and tracking of material flows, transparency, economic incentives
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Complex products require a systemic solution & interdisciplinary approaches: product design, mechanical processing, metallurgy, economics, ecology, social sciences
Theme 3:
Energy, Water and BiodiversityGoal
▪ ICT manufacture and EoL process to realize zero net energy and water use while taking steps to maximize biodiversity
Objective
▪ Maximize the benefits of ICT applications
▪ Decrease manufacturing and supply chain energy use, with the goal of zero net energy and CO2 from manufacturing
▪ Decrease net water use
▪ Increase biodiversity
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Theme 3:
Energy, Water and Biodiversity Research Question
1. Develop method for assessing lifecycle costs and environmental impacts electronics manufacturing and EOL processes▪ Simplified product and process LCA for key product segment▪ Environment, health and safety protection throughout product lifecycle of REE▪ Materials lifecycle optimization and what has highest risk?▪ Demonstration case studies to model efficient water and energy use and
simple cost-efficient measures
2. Energy use for unit of production not known▪ Energy STAR performance indicator takes 2-3 years to develop• Need to measure energy use over time
3. Develop alternative assessment tools▪ Proactive and timely evaluation of ESH impact of new materials ▪ How do can we integrate alternatives assessment into electronic process and
product design tools.
4. Maximize use of renewable energy
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Theme 4 : Enriching Communities
GoalCommunities benefit proportionally from extraction, production and EoL
activities and are able to exercise self-determination in the development.
Needed▪ Better mining practices - Responsible Mining with existing standards
▪ EPEAT optional points for offering redemption value for ICT
▪ Expand U.S. conflict mineral disclosure to more regions
Regulation
▪ Local government issue EoL policies to reduce “shopping” for perks
Barriers▪ OEMs are high in the supply chain – costs are externalized
▪ Ignorance and apathy from consumers, avarice
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Theme 5: Safe and Fair Working Conditions
GoalICT is manufactured in facilities with best-in-class health, safety and environmental standards globally with living wages, no forced labor, no child labor, no discrimination and where workers have freedom of assembly.
ObjectivesResearch• Identify best-in-class health, safety and environmental standards,
• Recommended or Permissible exposure limits (RELs) or (PEL)
Standards needed• Global standards based on the Strategic Approach to International Chemicals
Management (SAICM) recommendation
▪ Adopt ILO labor standards
▪ Regulation needed to implement global standards
▪ Cooperation between expertise – OSHA, NIOSH, WHO
▪ “Standards” for backyard processes
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Health Hazard Evaluations at e-Waste Recycling FacilitiesEPA/NIOSH Collaboration Study, Company A
• E-steward and R2 certified facility
• ~ 80 employees• Processes
– Recycled computers, monitors, TVs, CRTs, printers, batteries, bulbs
– Manually sorted, disassembled, and baled equipment
– Manually dismantled and buffed CRTs
– Mechanically shredded components other than CRTs
– Crushed CRTs individually using automated cutting machine (angel/devil)
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❑ Engineering controlsLocal exhaust ventilation during CRT crushing: Air re-circulated back into production area through pre- (non-HEPA) filters
❑ Administrative controlsNo showers but medical surveillance▪ Blood lead (BLL) and zinc protoporphyrin
levels on CRT breakers and maintenance personnel
▪ BLLs ranged from 8.5 micrograms per deciliter of blood (µg/dL) to 21µg/dL in 2011
▪ Medically cleared and fit tested forrespirators
❑ Personal protective equipment▪ Required for CRT breakers and maintenance▪ Half-mask air purifying respirators with P100
cartridges▪ CRT breakers wore uniforms laundered by
contractor▪ Optional but not used Hearing protection
(plugs)
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❶
❶
❹
❶
❶
❶
❶
❶
❶
❶
❶
❶ ❶
❶
❶
❶
❸
❸❸
❸
❸
❸ ❷
❷
❷
❷
N
N Number of selected facilities per state
Number of completed facilities per state
California:
first state
to legislate
e-waste.
NIOSH telephone survey of e-waste recyclers
EPA sponsored NIOSH Study e-Waste recycling facilities studies
Company A
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Angel Machine
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Shredder Taking yokes out of CRTs
Theme 6: Business Model
GoalDecision throughout the supply chain are aligned with sustainable objective
Issues1. Quarterly earning matrix
How could investments in the electronics industry support requiring companies to report on their long-term strategy and how it makes the business more sustainable.
2. Asses business models for optimization of product lifecycleHow do we incentivize companies to design and build products to be long lasting and upgradeable, easy to repair, and easy to refurbish for a significant reuse phase?
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Theme 6: Sustainable Business Model
3. Determine ways for cost internalization– Develop methods to asses the true costs for each phase of electronics in their
lifecycle.
– Identify categories of externalized costs in each phase of the lifecycle?
– Develop appropriate methodology for itemizing costs in each category.
4. Lack of standards applicable per industry sector that can help companies establish best practices
5. Product longevity and ease of repair and upgrade▪ What is the current rate of product turnover category?
▪ Would we pay more for the “Volvo” of laptops?
▪ Upgrade Vs. replacement – comparison between business and consumer
▪ How can a truly modular design enable upgrading?
Sustainable Electronics Research Topics EPA/ORD
1. Life Cycle Assessment and Alternative Assessment Tools
▪Research to identifying potential environmental trade-offs for reuse and recycle of materials in electronics including rare earth elements and plastics (CSS Research and SBIR grants)▪Develop comprehensive methodology to evaluate the total impact of changes
in products, materials, services ▪Developing a proactive and timely tool for evaluation of ESH impact of new
materials
▪Research to identifying potential environmental trade-offs for reuse and recycle of materials in electronics including rare earth elements and plastics
2. Sustainable Electronic Products and Processes
▪Identify hazardous substances within the life cycle of electronic products.
▪Information on fate, transformation and transport of chemicals used in electronic
▪Create Innovation Challenges: ORD & OSWER challenged industry to develop a system for tracking electronics devices as well as their chemical contents to advance recycling and recovery of valuable products
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Sustainable Electronics Research Topics
3. Green Chemicals and Cleaner Processes Replacement of hazardous chemicals with safer alternative
▪ Search for safer alternative substitutions for top toxic products
▪ Improve Standards and E-waste Tracking: Support EPEAT on developing new standards for environmental preferred products/ Support funding for UN (StEP) E-Waste Tracking Study
4. Develop Best Practice for Protecting Workers and Communities
EPA/NIOSH/OSHA will study to develop a best practice health scorecard/auditing tool that can be used to evaluate current performance worldwide for both manufacturing and recycling
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SR
SE
SC
SI
Sale
Commercial (COM)
Residential (RES)
Institution (INS)
Education(EDU)
End of 1st Use
tR
tE
tI
tc
First use
RES
INS
COM
EDU
tR
tE
tc
Reuse
End of Reuse
Collection
Recycle
Valorization
Processor
Disposal
tI
Sale Use De-manufacturing Recovery
0
0.02
0.04
0 200 400
X1 %
X2 %
X3 %
E-waste Stock – Flow – EoL Supply Chain Model
Weibull distributions to product lifetimes
e-waste (t) = σ𝑖=0𝑡≤𝑇 𝑆𝑎𝑙𝑒𝑠𝑡 ∙ 1 − 𝑒
𝑇−𝑡
𝛽
𝛼
− 1 − 𝑒𝑇−𝑡 −1
𝛽
𝛼
Where: t = Year when the product was soldT = Year when e-waste was generatedSalest = Industry sales for year tβ = Weibull distribution scaling factor
α = Weibull distribution shape factor.
0%
5%
10%
15%
20%
25%
0 10 20 30Per
cen
t R
ead
y fo
r EO
L M
anag
emen
t
Year
Residential Product Life time
0%
5%
10%
15%
20%
25%
30%
35%
40%
45%
50%
0 10 20 30
Per
cen
t R
ead
y fo
r EO
L M
anag
emen
t
Year
Non-Residential Product Life time
PC CRT
Cell phone
Sources: Baldé et al., 2014; U.S. EPA, 2011, and Authors calculations
portable
PC flat panel
Peripherals
Cell phone
PC flat panel
portable
Lifetime depends on the type of product and economic
sector
PC CRT
Desk top
Color projection
E-Waste Tracking Tool for US – Interface Page
Selection• All states or • A single state
Waste by market
Waste generated by product type
Composition of Waste generated
Material breakdown of E-waste
0
2000
4000
6000
8000
10000
12000
14000
16000
19
80
19
82
19
84
19
86
19
88
19
90
19
92
19
94
19
96
19
98
20
00
20
02
20
04
20
06
20
08
20
10
20
12
20
14
20
16
20
18
20
20
20
22
20
24
20
26
20
28
20
30
20
32
20
34
20
36
20
38
20
40
Me
tric
To
ns
Years
Material Breakdown for Landfillfor Products Sold Through 2025
Plastics
PCB Material
Other Metals
Other
Flat Panel Display Module LED
Flat Panel Display Module CCFL
Ferrous Metal
CRT Lead
CRT Glass
Copper
Battery
Aluminum
CRT-glass
Plastics
6/19/2019 38
Washington State
year
2008 2010 2012 2014 2016
Use
d E
lectr
onic
s, m
etr
ic to
n
0
5000
10000
15000
20000
25000
Co
llectio
n e
ffic
iency
0.86
0.88
0.90
0.92
0.94
0.96
0.98
1.00
1.02
1.04Model Estimate
State collection
Washington state E-waste collection state data Vs model prediction
State Law banned most electronics from state landfills and incinerators.
Electronics must be reused or recycled, or managed as hazardous waste
under federal and state hazardous waste laws.
Summary of Health Hazard Evaluation Company A
• Dry sweeping
• Lack of a hearing conservation program
• High lead and cadmium air exposures in employees without required respirator
• Blood lead levels up to 13 mg/dL
• High potential to transport contamination from production to non-production areas and possibly outside of work
– Surface contamination
– Skin contamination
– Uniforms provided only to glass breakers
– No showers
– No separation of clean and dirty change areas
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Theme 4 : Enriching Communities
GoalCommunities benefit proportionally from extraction, production and EoL
activities and are able to exercise self-determination in the development.
Needed▪ Better mining practices - Responsible Mining with existing standards
▪ EPEAT optional points for offering redemption value for ICT
▪ Expand U.S. conflict mineral disclosure to more regions
Regulation
▪ Local government issue EoL policies to reduce “shopping” for perks
Barriers▪ OEMs are high in the supply chain – costs are externalized
▪ Ignorance and apathy from consumers, avarice
40
GoalICT is manufactured in facilities with best-in-class health, safety and environmental standards globally with living wages, no forced labor, no child labor, no discrimination and where workers have freedom of assembly.
ObjectivesResearch• Identify best-in-class health, safety and environmental standards,
• Recommended or Permissible exposure limits (RELs) or (PEL)
Standards needed• Global standards based on the Strategic Approach to International Chemicals
Management (SAICM) recommendation
▪ Adopt ILO labor standards
▪ Regulation needed to implement global standards
▪ Cooperation between expertise – OSHA, NIOSH, WHO
▪ “Standards” for backyard processes41
Theme 5: Safe and Fair Working Conditions
Theme 6: Business Model Goal
Decision throughout the supply chain are aligned with sustainable objective
Issues1. Quarterly earning matrix
How could investments in the electronics industry support requiring companies to report on their long-term strategy and how it makes the business more sustainable.
2. Asses business models for optimization of product lifecycleHow do we incentivize companies to design and build products to be long lasting and upgradeable, easy to repair, and easy to refurbish for a significant reuse phase?
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3. Determine ways for cost internalization– Develop methods to asses the true costs for each phase of electronics in their
lifecycle.
– Identify categories of externalized costs in each phase of the lifecycle?
– Develop appropriate methodology for itemizing costs in each category.
4. Lack of standards applicable per industry sector that can help companies establish best practices
5. Product longevity and ease of repair and upgrade▪ What is the current rate of product turnover category?
▪ Would we pay more for the “Volvo” of laptops?
▪ Upgrade Vs. replacement – comparison between business and consumer
▪ How can a truly modular design enable upgrading?
Theme 6: Sustainable Business Model
Waste Pyramid
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b
c
d
e
f
aPrevention
Minimalization
Reuse
Recycling
Disposal
Energy recovery
We need to invert this pyramid and make waste reduction – the most popular option
Summary – what needs to be done?
1. Holistic impact studies of electronics industry: Develop comprehensive methodology to evaluate the total impact of changes in products, materials, services.
2. Recycling: Collect more, better and ensure smart recycling❖ Holistic optimization of recycling chain, focus on interface management &
product design❖ Prevent dubious / illegal recycling❖ Suitable economic incentives and legislative support for recycling critical metals❖ Pre-shredder technology to remove magnets, circuit boards, batteries
3. Materials and their Replacements and Eco-Design for❖ disassembly & recycling ❖ Detection and automated sorting with added information❖ Safer substitutes – cross industry collaboration efforts
4. Transparency and data for product sale, EoL chemical content❖ Composition, stocks & flows of secondary raw materials
5. New business model to close the loop (leasing, deposit systems…)❖ Consumer behavior, psychological recycling triggers
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Sustainable Electronics Research Topics EPA/ORD
1. Life Cycle Assessment and Alternative Assessment Tools
▪Research to identifying potential environmental trade-offs for reuse and recycle of materials in electronics including rare earth elements and plastics (CSS Research and SBIR grants)▪Develop comprehensive methodology to evaluate the total impact of changes
in products, materials, services ▪Developing a proactive and timely tool for evaluation of ESH impact of new
materials
▪Research to identifying potential environmental trade-offs for reuse and recycle of materials in electronics including rare earth elements and plastics
2. Sustainable Electronic Products and Processes
▪Identify hazardous substances within the life cycle of electronic products.
▪Information on fate, transformation and transport of chemicals used in electronic
▪Create Innovation Challenges: ORD & OSWER challenged industry to develop a system for tracking electronics devices as well as their chemical contents to advance recycling and recovery of valuable products
46
Sustainable Electronics Research Topics
3. Green Chemicals and Cleaner Processes Replacement of hazardous chemicals with safer alternative
▪ Search for safer alternative substitutions for top toxic products
▪ Improve Standards and E-waste Tracking: Support EPEAT on developing new standards for environmental preferred products/ Support funding for UN (StEP) E-Waste Tracking Study
4. Develop Best Practice for Protecting Workers and Communities
EPA/NIOSH/OSHA will study to develop a best practice health scorecard/auditing tool that can be used to evaluate current performance worldwide for both manufacturing and recycling
47
Thank you !48
The Sustainable Electronics Forum
- Identified set of needs and the technologies required to satisfy those needs;
- it provides a mechanism to help forecast technology developments and it provides a framework to help plan and coordinate technology developments.
- iNEMI has incorporated many components in plans
- Final report will be at web sites