LCA Methodology and LCA inventory “Ecoinvent”
Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment Generation: A China Perspective

KFPE support: Exchange stay of PhD candidate Duan Huabo, (Tsinghua University, Beijing) at EMPA, St. Gall.
Author: Huabo Duan, 2007

Abstract:
After the technologically and commercially successful breakthrough of electronic telecommunication facilities in China, rapid and globally untrammeled information exchange has become an indispensable service in daily life. The use of ICT appliances functions as an indicator for the increasing use of electrical and electronic equipment (EEE). China is one of world largest manufacturer of EEE.
As a consequence of the increasing use of EEE, the quantity of waste electronic and electric equipments (WEEE), such as TV, refrigerator, PCs, mobile telephones and consumer electronics that are disposed of, is growing rapidly throughout the world. China is no exception. China faces a rapidly increasing amount of WEEE, both from domestic generation and illegal import. In 2006, it was estimated that the total waste volume of 9 kinds of selected e-products, (personal computer (PC), notebook, mobile phone, washing machine, refrigerator, air conditioner, television, liquid crystal panel and plasma monitors), reached 80 million units, about 1.7 million tons. Extrapolation of the future volumes would reach to 220 million units by 2010. In addition, although WEEE was forbidden to import since 2001 in China, the total volume of illegally imported WEEE can reach 1.5 million tons per year.
No formalized WEEE management system has been yet established in China. At the meantime WEEE is treated in informal e-waste recycling clusters where crude methods are applied to recover only materials which have a market value (e.g. copper, lead, precious metals). Applying these methods valuable materials are lost and hazardous substances to the environment and health are emitted. The total quantity of employment involved in this informal recycling and disposal sector are roughly 700,000. However, the statistic data of employment from formal enterprise only accounts for 16,000.
The ongoing study evaluates the sustainability of the EEE in China. The environmental performance of China personal computer industry is investigated by conducting a Life Cycle Assessment (LCA). According to life cycle impact assessment result by LCA tools with SimaPro, Eco-indicator 99 method and Ecoinvent on PCs, some conclusions can be drawn: Manufacturing stage contribute the most damage to the environmental load in supply chain life span. Use stage of e-products also could not be neglected because PCs (especially servers) consumes a lot of electricity, accounting for 10% of the whole life cycle impact. The LCA result also shows that the impact of the end of life treatments depend on the processes applied. Thus, reducing PC energy consumption and Design for Environment should be considered for ecodesign in order to improve the entire environmental performance of PCs.

Contact details:
Mr. Li Jinhui, Professor
Tsinghua University
Department of Environmental Science and Engineering, Tsinghua University, Beijing
Tel: 86 10 62794351;
Fax: 86 10 62772048
jinhui@tsinghua.edu.cn

Martin Streicher-Porte, Project Manager
EMPA - Materials Science & Technology
Sustainable Technology Cooperation (sustec), TSL - Technology & Society Lab
Lerchenfeldstrasse 5, CH-9014 St. Gallen
Phone +41 71 274 78 56
Mobile +41 79 281 09 88
Fax +41 71 274 78 62
martin.streicher@empa.ch
www.e-waste.ch

Duan Huabo, PhD of Candidate
Tsinghua University
Department of Environmental Science and Engineering, Tsinghua University, Beijing
Tel: 86 10 62794351;
Fax: 86 10 62772048
dhb06@mails.tsinghua.edu.cn