| Title |
Opportunities for reducing the supply chain water footprint of metals used in consumer electronics |
| ID_Doc |
25883 |
| Authors |
Madaka, H; Babbitt, CW; Ryen, EG |
| Title |
Opportunities for reducing the supply chain water footprint of metals used in consumer electronics |
| Year |
2022 |
| Published |
|
| DOI |
10.1016/j.resconrec.2021.105926 |
| Abstract |
Consumer electronics contain a broad spectrum of materials whose production requires water and potentially discharges contaminants into the water supply, exacerbating freshwater scarcity and pollution. These water impacts have not yet been fully studied, as much of the literature on consumer electronics focuses on supply chain energy or carbon footprint. This study evaluates life cycle water consumption and degradation impacts associated with extracting and producing base, precious, hazardous, and critical metals that are typically found in electronic products. Water impacts were analyzed for individual metals and for the representative material profile of smartphones and laptop computers to identify "hotspots" for future improvement. Results indicate that, at the level of individual materials, precious metals have the highest impacts, due to water consumed directly for mining operations and indirectly for energy production, and water degradation attributed to metal emissions during mine tailings management. At the product level, precious metals also have the highest contribution per smartphone, whereas aluminum has a higher contribution per laptop, accounting for about 40% of the total water scarcity footprint. On the other hand, for water quality impacts, precious metals are responsible for the highest contributions for both products. Scenarios are evaluated to assess improvement potential associated with product design changes, including alternate supply chains, material substitution, and use of recycled content. The greatest potential opportunities for reducing water impacts were sourcing metals from lower water scarcity regions (19% reduction over the baseline water scarcity footprint) and increasing recycled content to the maximum theoretical potential (20% reduction). |
| Author Keywords |
Electronics; Water footprint; Metals; Circular economy; Life cycle assessment; Product design |
| Index Keywords |
Index Keywords |
| Document Type |
Other |
| Open Access |
Open Access |
| Source |
Science Citation Index Expanded (SCI-EXPANDED) |
| EID |
WOS:000708339400006 |
| WoS Category |
Engineering, Environmental; Environmental Sciences |
| Research Area |
Engineering; Environmental Sciences & Ecology |
| PDF |
http://manuscript.elsevier.com/S0921344921005358/pdf/S0921344921005358.pdf
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