Advancing the State of Life Cycle Assessments for Computers and Laptops Towards a More Sustainable IT Ecosystem

Given increased public and policy attention to sustainability for consumer computers, the requirements for product Life Cycle Assessments (LCAs) have changed in recent years: Product carbon footprint calculations are increasingly meant to guide design decisions and to track progress towards climate policy goals. Purchasing organizations look for better comparability of LCA product data. Policy is about to raise requirements on public claims. Today, disparate standards encourage greenwashing and prevent fair comparison, competition and innovation based on footprint. Therefore, the industry recognizes the need for advancement and harmonization of Life Cycle Assessments. Although a large number of standards and specifications exist, they do not sufficiently address methodological shortcomings for comparability. At the same time various groups and consortia are working on establishing better data collection models for key parts and assemblies of laptops and computers, such as semiconductors and printed circuit boards, but a harmonized approach to leverage the essential aspects of the data models for a broader adoption in the industry is yet missing. With input from these various processes and the individual know-how gained within the OEMs in the last 1 to 2 decades with LCAs, an industry group developed via a series of working sessions, a first draft methodology document. The vision is to turn this draft later into a formal Product Category Rule, to specify an advanced level of LCA practice. The paper summarizes the process of arriving at such a draft, presents the essential novel elements and invites the audience to a consultation and stakeholder discussion.