Entwicklung eines ökologischen Bewertungsmodells zur Beurteilung elektronischer Systeme

In this work, a method for the environmental evaluation of electronic systems is presented. The proposed method is not intended to replace existing assessment systems, such as the Life Cycle Assessment methodology, but rather to enhance the practical usability through a modular approach. The main weak point of life cycle assessments and similar systems is the immense amount of data needed to model all processes along the life cycle of a complex electronic product. Additionally, the format of results as equivalence values for environmental impacts (e.g. CO2 equivalents for the Global Warming Potential GWP) are often not very suitable for direct use in product optimisation. The primary aims are consequently to achieve evaluation results, which are better suited for engineers and designers, and to define new assessment modules, which can be used to answer relevant environmental questions during the product design cycle with a reduced need for detailed data. The most prominent environmental questions, asked by industry and science alike, concern the potential environmental impact of substances used in electronics and the high energy consumption of electronics companies and their products. Another concern is the recyclability of electronics or more general the environmentally correct disposal with maximum overall resource conservation. The material composition of electronic products is a logical starting point to give first answers to these questions. The thesis focuses on evaluation modules building on this data level, keeping in mind that the identification and quantification of these materials is a research field in itself. Currently, most electronics companies will have only rudimentary knowledge of the substances contained in their products or in the many externally supplied components therein. Nonetheless, they have to bear the product responsibility towards their customers and towards the various regulatory bodies. A new evaluation module for the estimation of the environmental relevance of product constituents has been developed. The so-called Toxic Potential Indicator (TPI) summarises various data entries from material safety data sheets into one number. Based on the broad availability of those data sheets TPI values can be generated efficiently for most materials used in electronic products. Around and based on this fast screening module, more complex evaluation parts are shown, which additionally to the product material list take structural information (e.g. for disassembly investigations) and partial process flows from production, product use and disposal into account. Where sufficient data for all phases of the life cycle are available, a continuous transition to life cycle analysis is envisioned. The first steps of the modular evaluation system – definition of comparison units and their