Definition of life cycle assessment
Life cycle assessment (LCA) is a method to evaluate the environment and the impacts of industrial products on the environment. The assessment covered the goal and scope, inventory analysis from the early stage of the extraction of raw material, manufacturing of the wireless mouse, product use by consumers, and the impact of the product on the environment.
|
Function unit
The function unit of the item is a wireless mouse, which compromises a receiver and AAA batteries which are designed and used by the common computer user. It communicates with the computer by receiving data and operates on power consumption of 0.067 watts. The AAA batteries hold the important component to provide supply the wireless mouse. On daily usage, the lifespan of the AAA battery cell is about 6 months or 4000hours [1], and the wireless mouse lifespan of 6 years or an equivalent life span of 52, 560 hours [2]. This requires at least 52 times of AAA batteries used on the wireless mouse.
The purpose of this study, wireless desktop mouse and lithium battery are chosen as part a computer accessories life cycle. It is significantly popular for users to switch to wireless electronic applications because it is an affordable, lightweight, and simple design. However, this product becomes part of the electronic-waste at the end life cycle. The wireless desktop mouse and lithium battery are manufactured on resource material phases, process phases, production phases, consumer phase, and product end of life shown in Figure 1.
