Circularity of consumer electronics within Life Cycle (GAP) Analysis

Life cycle gap analysis is a specific technique to interpret product LCA results with circular economy principles in order to identify potentials for further improvement. The basic idea of the LCGA methodology is to determine a life cycle gap, which results from the difference between the impacts to manufacture a product, including the extraction of raw materials and production, and the environmental credits after recycling. This contribution analyses and compares the LCA results of a phone and a notebook. Based on the identified life cycle gaps of at least > 80 %, the study highlights the need to focus not only on potentials for improvement in manufacturing and use of consumer electronics, but also to shed light on end-of-life management and effective closure of consumer electronics material and energy flows to foster circular economy and sustainability.