Page 243 - Design for Environment A Guide to Sustainable Product Development

220 C h apter Ele v e n

Most electronics companies have taken steps to embed DFE prac-
tices such as Design for Disassembly into their new product devel-
opment processes. The next step has been shifting attention to the
practices of their suppliers. Electronic supply chains are complex and
difficult to manage, since many electronic components are manufac-
tured in Asia or Latin America. In 2006, a global coalition of electronic
industry companies entered into an unprecedented international col-
laboration to develop a set of supplier expectations, known as the
Electronic Industry Citizenship Code. The code provides comprehen-
sive principles for management of environmental releases, workplace
health and safety, labor practices, and business ethics, and is sup-
ported by standardized supplier assessment and auditing procedures.
As shown in Figure 11.1, there are many opportunities for apply-
ing DFE practices in the electronic product life cycle. The following
are selected examples of innovative DFE initiatives in the electronics
industry:
• Motorola established a Green Design Project to develop and
implement standards, methods, and tools for environmentally
conscious product design. A customized software tool called
the Green Design Advisor was developed to help Motorola
engineers calculate the life-cycle environmental impact of a
product and compare the environmental performance of dif-
ferent materials and processes used to create a product [2].
The tool includes a parts and connectivity model for analyz-
ing the recyclability of devices, identifying design weak-
nesses and optimizing for end-of-life disassembly.
• Dell’s packaging engineers are saving over 20,000 tons of
packaging material annually thanks to a dematerialization
program that resulted in reduction and elimination of corru-
gated, plastic foam, and wood materials. For example, Dell
implemented slip sheets (three-pound, 0.03-inch thick plastic
sheets) instead of wood pallets (which weighed 40 pounds
and were 5 inches tall) for inbound chassis products.
• Panasonic developed a plasma display technology that cuts
energy consumption in half, while maintaining the same
brightness. The system uses new phosphors and cell design
technology for improved discharge, and new circuit and drive
technology to significantly reduce power loss. This double-
efficiency technology will form the base for next-generation
displays with thinner profiles, larger screens, brighter images,
higher definition, lower power consumption, and lower weight.
• Intel’s Core™ 2 Duo processor uses 40% less energy to do 40%
more work than the previous Pentium processor. The total
energy savings from all the Core 2 Duo products in the mar-
ketplace is equivalent to taking millions of cars off the road.