United States
Environmental Protection
Agency
Pollution Prevention
and Toxics
(7406)
EPA744-F-98-005
June 1998
&EPA
Design for the Environment
Computer Display Project
U.S.EPA
What Is Design for the
Environment?
EPA's Design for the Environment
(DfE) Program is a voluntary initia-
tive that forms partnerships with
a variety of stakeholder groups in
an effort to:
• Encourage businesses to incor-
porate environmental concerns,
in addition to the traditional cri-
teria of cost and performance,
into their decisions.
• Effect behavior change to facili-
tate continuous environmental
improvement.
To accomplish these goals, the
program uses EPA's expertise and
leadership to evaluate the human
health and environmental risks,
performance, and cost of tradi-
tional and alternative
technologies, materials, and
processes. DfE disseminates infor-
mation on its work to all
interested parties and helps busi-
nesses implement cleaner
technologies identified through the
program.
The program has formed coopera-
tive partnerships with the
following industries:
• Printed wiring board
• Computer display
• Printing
• Garment and textile care
• Auto refinishing
• Industrial/institutional laundry
Assessing Life-Cycle
Impacts
Why Is EPA Working
With Ithe Electronics
Industry?
Each year, millions of
desktop computer moni-
tors are manufactured and sold worldwide.
Monitors that use cathode ray tubes (CRTs)
currently dominate the global marketplace, as
CRTs provide rich, high-resolution displays well-suited to a range of
applications.
Flat panel displays (FPDs) have emerged on the electronics market as a
replacement for CRTs in certain applications, primarily because FPDs
are lighter, smaller, and more portable, and they consume less energy
during operation. One type of FPD, liquid crystal displays (LCDs), are
used primarily in notebook computers, but are beginning to move into
the desktop market. The potential life-cycle environmental impacts of
both CRTs and LCDs have not yet been adequately assessed.
EPA's Design for the Environment (DfE) Program has entered into a vol-
untary partnership with the electronics industry to evaluate the
life-cycle environmental impacts, performance, and cost of CRT and
FPD technologies used for desktop computers (LCDs). The project will
generate data to assist original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) and
suppliers in the electronics field to incorporate environmental consider-
ations into their decision-making processes and identify areas for
improvement.
What Are the
Project's Goals?
The primary purpose of the DfE Computer
Display Project is to evaluate the life-cycle envi-
ronmental impacta of EPDs. and CRTs by
combining Cleaner Technologies Substitutes
Assessment (CTSA) and life-cycle assessment (LCA) approaches.
Developed under the DfE program, CTSAs evaluate and compare substi-
tute processes, products, or technologies, and generate data that allow
businesses to make environmentally informed choices. Human and eco-
logical risk, energy and resource use, performance, and costs are
evaluated in a CTSA.
LCAs examine the full life cycle of a product, from materials acquisi-
tion to manufacturing, use, and disposition. LCAs are comprehensive
methods for evaluating the full environmental impacts of a product
system.
In this project, these two methodologies will be used to study display
technologies that perform standard applications on 15- to 17-inch
T:§\Printed on paper that contains at least 20 percent postconsumer fiber.
-------
^________________________^_______________________________l____________________________!
th§t====JJIh£ project team^wiU summarize performance and
J ~~~ .CQStjiifQrmatiQnJrQm existing industry data. In
nd
ustry and summarized.
technical data as possible from existing research.
JJhe__fQlk)wing studies are possible sources for project
team consideration:
.esf materials, and
tt&nd the envixdnment
tassessmentoispy
eir components.
obal demands for "extended
guct_resppnsiDiJLity.
MCC's 1994 Electronics Industry Environmental
wHch_gualitative]y identified general
^SIssues and priority needs for reducing
impacts from display screens, but was not quantita-
tive and did not address, all dispky life-cycle issues.
casestud of the enron-
performance of an active matrix LCD,
includes some preliminary life-cycle inventory data.
JeraeyJbistitute of Technology life-cycle
pit on the Visions of_
' '
'reject participants
"elude"display manu-
- - - - facturers, OEMs, trade
such as the U.S.
tnnessee jyTJand the
and with te assistance of
Center for Clean Products and Clea
^
ectronic DisT^ay~SadJastty'to the Year '2000,
--- EIAJ (Electronic Industries Association of Japan).
Research on personal computers (including dis-
plays) conducted at the NEC Resources and
=. Environment Protection Labs and National
_Jns£il3J£ejQr_BfiSfBjrces.and Environment.
The results from new studies as well as any analysis
___,__.. existing data wm"ge disseminated to
industry OEMs, display manufacturers, and other
interested parties.
|gjf£t participants are
'jn^gmngntgl impacts of .display tech-_
" IriiJI^gycle^^
Ipp estimates of enyironmental impacts from
EQSeSiSSL
i |ife-gyclg stageg p£ thg dis-
ganisms in the environment.
How Can I
Get More
Information?
To learn more about EPA's DfE Program or DfE
Computer Display Project, contact:
Pollution Prevention Information Clearinghouse
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency
401 M Street, SW. (7409)
Washington, DC 20460
Telephone: 202 260-1023
Fax: 202 260-4659
E-mail: ppic@epa.gov
You may also visit the DfE web site at
.
------- |