Disassembly analysis, material composition analysis and environmental impact analysis for computer drives

The main objective of this paper is to i) provide the results of disassembly analysis of the computer drives such as hard disk drive of desktop, floppy disk drive and CD-ROM drive of server and floppy disk drive of laptop ii) to identify the components and material and iii) determine the environmental impact of these material and product as a whole. For the disassembly analysis the computer drives were first disassembled to the component level and disassembly time was recorded. The best disassembly sequence is presented in this paper to indicate the least amount of disassembly time for these drives. Material assessment was conducted as another part of this study and the results are presented here in detail for the drives analyzed. Printed circuit boards (PCB's) from the computer drives were analytical tested for determining precious and hazardous metal content. All plastics and few other components are identified by the plastic label or from the available results in the literature. Environmental impact assessment was done by using eco-indicator 99 methodology. Environmental impact caused by components and materials of the drive was calculated and environmental impact of the computer drive as a whole was also calculated. This paper presents the above data with respect to the computer drives and can be used as a base to conduct further advancement in the studies involving the design modification and alternate material selection for making the computer drives less burden some for the environment.