Meeting data requirements by using the IZM/EE-toolbox for a screening assessment of the environmental impacts of electronic products

The Fraunhofer IZM-Environmental Engineering-Toolbox is a set of assessment methods for the design of environmental friendly electronic products. By using scre ening methods the toolbox assesses the toxicity potential of the product, the recycling potential at the end of life of a product, as well as the cumulative energy content and the toxicity potential of production processes in electronics. In this paper real-life examples are given concerning the use of this tool under the aspect of data requirements in order to meet a helpful assessment. These requirements first of all are the bill of materials of the investigated product and material information of its components. The results from the toolbox depend on the sufficient accuracy of the specific material's and part's data. Required data regarding the material content should be part of the information exchange d between the supplier and the producer in order to serve an optional greener design. Furthermore, the form of information ex-change should meet the requirements of supply chain management (SCM) as well as putting the data into this tool without additional handling. One possible way is the integration of the IZM/EE-Toolbox into the developer and design working environment at the enterprise level, where all information including the ones from suppliers are collected. To analyze the recycling capabilities, there is a substantial need of information abo ut possible today's and tomorrow's recycling paths - technical information about the process properties and economical data which depends on the market. There gular change of production and recycling technologies requires a permanent flow of information, which have to be handled with care. Regularly reviews and close cooperation between producers, recycling and service enterprises, as well as research institutes can guarantee an innovative Information output provided by the EE-Toolbox Recycling Potential Tools. The paper analyzes the needed information and the possible forms of its optimized data management to support design for environment and sustainable supply chain management.