Computers and the Environment: Understanding and Managing their Impacts

by R. Kuehr (Editor), Eric Williams (Editor)

Overview

Personal computers have made life convenient in many ways, but what about their impacts on the environment due to production, use and disposal? Manufacturing computers requires prodigious quantities of fossil fuels, toxic chemicals and water. Rapid improvements in performance mean we often buy a new machine every 1-3 years, which adds up to mountains of waste computers. How should societies respond to manage these environmental impacts?

This volume addresses the environmental impacts and management of computers through a set of analyses on issues ranging from environmental assessment, technologies for recycling, consumer behaviour, strategies of computer manufacturing firms, and government policies. One conclusion is that extending the lifespan of computers (e.g. through reselling) is an environmentally and economically effective strategy that deserves more attention from governments, firms and the general public.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781402016790
Publisher:	Springer Netherlands
Publication date:	10/31/2003
Series:	Eco-Efficiency in Industry and Science , #14
Edition description:	2003
Pages:	285
Product dimensions:	6.10(w) x 9.25(h) x 0.03(d)

Table of Contents

1. Computers and the Environment—An Introduction To Understanding and Managing their Impacts.- 2. Information Technology Products and the Environment.- 3. Environmental Impacts in the Production of Personal Computers.- 4. How the European Union’s WEEE Directive Will Change the Market for Electronic Equipment—Two Scenarios.- 5. IBM’s Environmental Management of Product Aspects.- 6. Environmental Management at Fujitsu Siemens Computers.- 7. Energy Consumption and Personal Computers.- 8. PCs and Consumers—A Look at Green Demand, Use, and Disposal.- 9. Strategizing the End-of-life Handling of Personal Computers: Resell, Upgrade, Recycle.- 10. Today’s Markets for Used PCs—And Ways to Enhance Them.- 11. Recycling Personal Computers.- 12. Operations of a Computer Equipment Resource Recovery Facility.- 13. Managing PCs through Policy: Review and Ways to Extend Lifespan.- Contributors.

Editorial Reviews

The Barnes & Noble Review
Wondering what to do with that outdated computer that you are about to replace? It turns out that the question is much more important than you might have thought. In Computers and the Environment, editors Ruediger Kuehr and Eric Williams have put together an excellent book with contributions from professionals who look seriously at the environmental consequences of the ubiquitous use of personal computers. This book is really an eye-opener. The contributors address a huge range of environmental impacts of computers in your world -- from concerns on manufacturing PCs to issues related to their disposal when the PCs (rapidly!) become obsolete.

The first contribution comes from H. Scott Matthews and Deanna H. Matthews. They begin with a review of the rapid growth in the production and adoption of PCs and also point out that recent years have seen the rise of new and smaller IT products such as the cell phone. Next, Klaus Hieronymi and Axel Schneider compare two future scenarios for electronics recycling centers in the year 2018. Reinhard Hohn and Anne Brinkley follow with an examination of IBM's environmental management strategies, ranging from product design, supply chain management, and manufacturing to sales operations and customer relations management. The environmental management of another global player in the PC industry, Fujitsu Siemens Computers, is reviewed by Harald Podratzky and is largely dedicated to the company's efforts to reduce environmental impacts by focusing on the individual stages in their products' life cycle. Next, Danielle Cole analyzes the implications of the rise of the PC on electricity use. Mohamed Saied and German T. Velasquez examine how consumer behavior relates to the greening of PCs. And finally, Eric Williams and Yukihiro Sasak offer an environmental assessment comparing different end-of-life options for computers.

How often you replace your PC -- and how you dispose of it -- is an important personal decision; but what large organizations such as state and local governments, corporations, and colleges do with the multitude of computers used by employees and students turns out to be environmentally critical. To limit that impact, you need this outstanding book. John R. Vacca

John R. Vacca, the former computer security official (CSO) for NASA's space station program (Freedom), has written nearly 40 books about advanced storage, computer security, and aerospace technology.

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