The Environmental Impacts of a Desktop Computer: Influence of Choice of Functional Unit, System Boundary and User Behaviour

The pollution prevention during the design phase of products and processes in environmental policy gains its importance over the other, more historically known principle - pollution reduction in the end-of-pipe. This approach requires prediction of potential environmental impacts to be avoided or reduced and a prioritisation of the most efficient areas for action. Currently the most appropriate method for this purpose is life cycle assessment (LCA)- a method for accounting and attributing all environmental impacts which arise during the life time of a product, starting with the production of raw materials and ending with the disposal, or recycling of the wasted product at the end of life. The LCA, however, can be misleading if the performers of the study disregard gaps of information and the limitations of the chosen methodology.

During the study we researched the environmental impact of desktop computers, using a simplified LCA method - Indicators' 99, and by developing various scenarios (changing service life, user behaviour, energy supply etc).

The study demonstrates that actions for improvements lie in very different areas. The study also concludes that the approach of defining functional unit must be sufficiently flexible in order to avoid discounting areas of potential actions. Therefore, with regard to computers we agree with other authors using the functional unit "one computer" but suggest not to bind this to service life or usage time, but to develop several scenarios varying these parameters.

The study also demonstrates the importance of a systemic approach when assessing complex product systems - as more complex the system is, the more broad the scope for potential actions. We conclude that, regarding computers, which belong to energy using and material- intensive products, the measures to reduce environmental impacts lie not only with the producer and user of the particular product, but also with the whole national energy supply and waste management system. Improvements in the latter areas can significantly reduce the environmental impacts of such products.