Analysis of material efficiency aspects of personal computers product group

This report has been developed within the project ‘Technical support for environmental footprinting, material efficiency in product policy and the European Platform on Life Cycle Assessment’ (LCA) (2013-2017) funded by the Directorate-General for Environment. report summarises the findings of the analysis of material-efficiency aspects of the personal-computer (PC) product group, namely durability, reusability, reparability and recyclability. It also aims to identify material-efficiency aspects which can be relevant for the current revision of the Ecodesign Regulation (EU) No 617/2013. Special focus was given to the content of EU critical raw materials (CRMs) ( ) in computers and computer components, and how to increase the efficient use of these materials, including material savings thanks to reuse and repair and recovery of the products at end of life. The analysis has been based mainly on the REAPro method ( ) developed by the Joint Research Centre for the material-efficiency assessment of products. work has been carried out in the period June 2016-September 2017, in parallel with the development of The preparatory study on the review of Regulation 617/2013 (Lot 3) — computers and computer servers led by Viegand Maagøe and Vlaamse Instelling voor Technologisch Onderzoek NV (VITO) (2017) ( ). During this period, close communication was maintained with the authors of the preparatory study. This allowed ensuring consistency between input data and assumptions of the two studies. Moreover, outcomes of the present research were used as scientific basis for the preparatory study for the analysis of material-efficiency aspects for computers. The research has been differentiated as far as possible for different types of computers (i.e. tablet, notebooks and desktop computers). report starts with the analysis of the technical and scientific background relevant for material-efficiency aspects of computers, such as market sales, expected lifetime, bill of materials, and a focus on the content of CRMs (especially cobalt in batteries, rare earths including neodymium in hard disk drives and palladium in printed circuit boards). Successively the report analyses the current practices for repair, reuse and recycling of computers. on results available from the literature, material efficiency of the product group has the potential to be improved, in particular the lifetime extension. The residence time ( ) of IT equipment put on the market in 2000 versus 2010 generally declined by approximately 10 % (Huisman et al., 2012), while consumers expressed their preference for durable goods, lasting considerably longer than they are typically used (Wieser and Tröger, 2016). Design barriers (such as difficulties for the disassembly of certain components or for their processing for data sanitisation) can hinder the repair and the reuse of products. Malfunction and accident rates are not negligible (IDC, 2016, 2010; SquareTrade, 2009) and difficulties in repair may bring damaged products to be discarded even if still functioning. a computer reaches the end of its useful life, it is addressed to ‘waste of electrical and electronic equipment’ (WEEE) recycling plants. Recycling of computers is usually based on a combination of manual dismantling of certain components (mainly components containing hazardous substances or valuable materials, e.g. batteries, printed circuit boards, display panels, data-storage components), followed by mechanical processing including shredding. The recycling of traditional desktop computers is perceived as non-problematic by recyclers, with the exception of some miniaturised new models (i.e. mini desktop computers), which still are not found in recycling plants and which could present some difficulties for the extraction of printed circuit boards and batteries (if present). The design of notebooks and tablets can originate some difficulties for the dismantling of batteries, especially for computers with compact design. of plastics from computers of all types is generally challenging due to the large use of different plastics with additives, such as flame retardants. According to all the interviewed recyclers, recycling of WEEE plastics with flame retardant is very poor or null with current technologies. on this analysis, the report then focuses on possible actions to improve material efficiency in computers, namely measures to improve (a) waste prevention, (b) repair and reuse and (c) design for recycling. The possible actions identified are listed hereinafter.(a) Waste prevention.1 Implementation of dedicated functionality ( ) for the optimisation of the lifetime of batteries in notebooks: the lifetime of batteries could be extended by systematically implementing a preinstalled functionality on notebooks, which makes it possible to optimise the state of charge (SoC) of the battery when the device is used in grid operation (stationary). By preventing the battery remaining at full load when the notebook is in grid operation, the lifetime of batteries can be potentially extended by up to 50 %. Users could be informed about the existence and characteristics of such a functionality and the potential benefits related to its use..2 Decoupling external power supplies (EPS) from personal computers: the provision of information on the EPS specifications and the presence/absence of the EPS in the packaging of notebooks and tablets could facilitate the reuse by the consumer of already-available EPS with suitable characteristics. Such a measure could promote the use of common EPS across different devices, as well as the reuse of already-owned EPS. This would result in a reduction in material consumption for the production of unnecessary power supplies (and related packaging and transport) and overall a reduction of treatment of electronic waste. The International Electrotechnical Commission (IEC) technical specification (TS) 62700, the Standard Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) 1823 and Recommendation ITU-T L.1002 can be used to develop standards for the correct definition of connectors and power specifications..3 Provision of information about the durability of batteries: the analysis identified the existence of endurance tests suitable for the assessment of the durability of batteries in computers according to existing standards (e.g. EN 61960). The availability of information about these endurance tests could help users to get an indication on the residual capacity of the battery after a predefined number of charge/discharge cycles. Moreover, such information would allow for comparison between different products and potentially push the market towards longer-lasting batteries..4 Provision of information about the ‘liquid ingress protection (IP) class’ for personal computers: this can be assessed for a notebook or tablet by performing specific tests, developed according to existing standards (e.g. IEC 60529). Users can be informed about the level of protection of the computer against the ingress of liquids (e.g. dripping water or spraying water or water jets) and in this way prevent one of the most common causes of computer failure. yearly rate of estimated material saving if dedicated functionality for the optimisation of the lifetime of batteries (a.1) were used ranges from around 2 360 to 5 400 tonnes (t) of different materials per year. About 450 t of cobalt, 100 t of lithium, 210 t of nickel and 730 t of copper could be saved every year. estimated potential savings of materials when EPS are decoupled from notebooks and tablets (a.2) are in the range 2 300-4 600 t/year (80 % related to the notebook category, and 20 % to tablets). These values can be obtained when 10-20 % of notebooks and tablets are sold without an EPS, as users can reuse already-owned and compatible EPS. Under these conditions, for example, about 190-370 t of copper can be saved every year. This estimate may increase when the same EPS can be used for both notebooks and tablets (at the moment the assessment is based on the assumption that the two product types were kept separated). work is needed to assess the potential improvements thanks to the provision of information about the durability of batteries (a.3), and about the ‘liquid-IP class’ (a.4). The former option (a.3) has the potential to boost competition among battery manufacturers, resulting in more durable products. The latter option (a.4) has the potential to reduce computer damage due to liquid spillage, ranked among the most recurrent failure modes.(b) Repair/reuse.1 and b.2 Provision of information to facilitate computer disassembly: the disassembly of relevant components (such as the display panel, keyboard, data storage, batteries, memory and internal power-supply units) plays a key role to enhance repair and reuse of personal computers. Some actions have therefore been discussed (b.1) to provide professional repair operators with documentation about the sequence of disassembly, extraction, replacement and reassembly operations needed for each relevant component of personal computers, and (b.2) to provide end-users with specific information about the disassembly and replacement of batteries in notebooks and tablets..3 Secure data deletion for personal computers: this is the process of deliberately, permanently and irreversibly erasing all traces of existing data from storage media, overwriting the data completely in such a way that access to the original data, or parts of them, becomes infeasible for a given level of effort. Secure data deletion is essential for the security of personal data and to allow the reuse of computers by a different user. Secure data deletion for personal computers can be ensured by means of built-in functionality. A number of existing national standards (HMG IS Standard No 5 (the United Kingdom), DIN 66399 (Germany), NIST 800-88r1 (the United