Title: A new comprehensive methodology for the evaluation of product sustainability at the design and development stage of consumer electronic products

Authors: Niranjali De Silva, I.S. Jawahir, Oscar Dillon Jr., Matthew Russell

Addresses: Center for Manufacturing and Department of Mechanical Engineering, University of Kentucky, Lexington, KY 40506, USA. ' Center for Manufacturing and Department of Mechanical Engineering, University of Kentucky, Lexington, KY 40506, USA. ' Center for Manufacturing and Department of Mechanical Engineering, University of Kentucky, Lexington, KY 40506, USA. ' Lexmark International, Lexington, KY, USA

Abstract: This paper presents quantifiable sustainability elements in manufactured consumer electronic products. A |Sustainability Scoring| method is introduced at the design stage. A new product can be evaluated using this method for its integral elemental and the overall sustainability contents impacting the product when it reaches the end-of-life by considering the entire life-cycle, including the effective residual use of recovered materials in the subsequent life-cycles of the same or different products. This procedure can also be used by design engineers for comparison with a similar product, such as a prior or a subsequent model, or one from a competitor.

Keywords: electronic products; product sustainability; product life cycle; environment; society; consumer electronics; sustainable manufacturing; product design; product development; quantifiable sustainability; sustainability scoring.

DOI: 10.1504/IJSM.2009.023973

International Journal of Sustainable Manufacturing, 2009 Vol.1 No.3, pp.251 - 264

Published online: 22 Mar 2009 *

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