2016 Life-Cycle Assessment for Mobile Phones

Life Cycle Assessment for Mobile Products
Background
Samsung has developed strong technical experience in assessing the life cycle environmental impacts of its smart phones. The most recent
life cycle assessment (LCA) has been for the Samsung Galaxy S6; Note5; Tab E model. The assessment considers potential environmental
impacts across the whole life cycle including; pre-manufacturing; product manufacturing; distribution; product use; and disposal phase.
To ensure technical quality; the analysis methodology has been completed according to international standard ISO 14040 series. Samsung
has used Simapro7 software and a dedicated LCA S/W database to measure environmental impacts using a wide range of data categories
including; Product bill of material (BOM), parts and components logistics, energy consumption in product use and end-of-life scenario data in
order to attain the highest level of accuracy. The outcome of the LCA confirmed and quantified 12 potential environment impact categories
including; global warming; abiotic depletion; ocean acidification; eutrophication; and ozone layer depletion; where each impact category has
been assessed for each life cycle stage. These LCA results will continue to be considered during product development phase as we aspire to
improve the environmental specifications of our products.
Calculation basis
Standard
ISO 14040:2006 and 14044:2006
Database
Ecoinvent 2.2
Method for
impact
assessment
LCA software
Life cycle impact assessment classification and
characterization factors according to CML 2001 as
provided in the SimaPro 7.1.5 LCA tool
SimaPro 7.1.5
System boundary of LCA
Premanufacturing
Parts and materials constituting the products and its
transportation (from supplier to Samsung factory)
Manufacturing
Product assembly by Samsung Electronics
(Data collection period : April ~ May, 2015)
Distribution
Usage
Disposal
From China or Vietnam to United States
2 years use
Waste treatment of parts and material
Critical review for Galaxy S6 LCA study was done by an expert from Korean Society for Life Cycle Assessment. ([email protected])
For Note 5 and Tab E model, it was done by internal expert in Global Center of Samsung Electronics. ([email protected])
Product Features
Material Use
Model name
SM-G920V (Galaxy S6)
Processor
Octa-Core 2.1GHz, 1.5GHz
Dimension
143.4 x 70.5 x 6.8 mm
Display
Super AMOLED 5.1”
Memory
32GB
Battery
2550mAh
Camera
Main : 16M pixel / Front : 5M pixel
Wt.(g)
Product : 138g / Packaging 261 g
Corrugated fiber board
5%
6%
Plastic(PC)
6%
32%
Paper
Metal
10%
Battery
12%
LCD module
13%
Printed Circit Board
16%
Others
Characterized Environment Impact
100%
75%
50%
25%
0%
Acidification Eutrophication
Global
Ozone
Warming
Depletion
Human health Freshwater
toxicity
aquatic
Marine aquatic
Terrestrial
Photochemical
Primary
Water
Waste
ecotoxicity
ecotoxicity
Smog
Energy
consumption
generation
Formation
Demand
ecotoxicity
Materials
Manufacture
Distribution
Use
Disposal
Product Features
Material Use
Model name
SM-N920V (Galaxy Note5)
Processor
Octa-Core 2.1GHz, 1.5GHz
Dimension
153.2 x 76.2 x 7.62 mm
3%
6%
Battery
5% 10%
LCD module
8%
Metal
Paper
14%
Display
Super AMOLED 5.7”
Memory
32GB, 4GB RAM
Battery
3000mAh
Plastic(PS)
Camera
Main : 16M pixel / Front : 5M pixel
Printed Circit Board
Wt.(g)
Product : 192g / Packaging 259 g
17%
37%
Plastic(PC)
Others
Characterized Environment Impact
100%
80%
60%
40%
20%
0%
Acidification Eutrophication
Global
Ozone layer
Human
Fresh water
Marine
Terrestrial
warming
depletion
toxicity
aquatic
aquatic
ecotoxicity
ecotoxicity
ecotoxicity
Pre-manufacturing
Manufacturing
Distribution
Photochemical Primay Energy
oxidation
creation
Use
Disposal
Demand
Water
Waste
consumption
Generation
Product Features
Material Use
Model name
3%
SM-T377P (Galaxy TAB E)
Processor
Quad-Core 1.2GHz
Dimension
212.1 x 126.0 x 8.9 mm
5%
15%
TFT 8.0”
Memory
1.5GB RAM
Battery
5000mAh
Camera
Main : 5M pixel / Front : 2M pixel
Wt.(g)
Product : 192g / Packaging 259g
Glass
7%
27%
Display
Battery
LCD module
Paper
18%
Plastic(PC)
Printed Circit Board
25%
Others
Characterized Environment Impact
100%
80%
60%
40%
20%
0%
Acidification Eutrophication
Global
Ozone layer
Human
warming
depletion
toxicity
(GWP100)
(ODP)
Pre-manufacturing
Fresh water Marine aquatic
aquatic
ecotoxicity
Terrestrial
Photochemical
Primary
Water
Waste
ecotoxicity
oxidation
energy
consumption
Generation
ecotox.
Manufacturing
demand
Distribution
Use
Disposal