Title :
Applying the grEEEn method: initial results from an ecodesign case study
Author :
Lichtenvort, Kerstin ; Alonso, Juan Carlos ; Johansson, Glenn ; Barruetabena
Author_Institution :
Tech. Univ. of Berlin, Germany
Abstract :
The European Commission has identified waste of electrical and electronic equipment as one major waste stream and aims at the reduction of the environmental impacts. The result has been the WEEE and RoHS directives, which have come into force in February 2003. The grEEEn project (running from 1. January 2001 to 31. December 2003) has already anticipated the requirements of these directives and developed the method presented in this paper; covering environmental, economic and legal assessment at the same time. The results from the first application of the grEEEn method on an electronic device for the automotive sector are presented. Subsequently, the assessment of the method in the case study regarding the possibility to achieve a combined analysis of environmental and economic impact as well as fulfillment of the directives and essential features for the design methods are performed. Potentials for future research are summarised in the concluding remarks.
Keywords :
design for environment; electrical products; electronic products; life cycle costing; product design; product development; recycling; European commission; automotive sector; ecodesign; economic assessment; electronic device; environmental assessment; environmental impact reduction; grEEEn method; greening electrical and electronic equipment; legal assessment; restriction of hazardous substances directive; waste from electrical and electronic equipment; Environmental factors; Product development;
Conference_Titel :
Environmentally Conscious Design and Inverse Manufacturing, 2003. EcoDesign '03. 2003 3rd International Symposium on
Conference_Location :
Tokyo, Japan
Print_ISBN :
0-7803-8590-x
DOI :
10.1109/ECODIM.2003.1322747