Mobiltelefon utformad med EcoDesign

Sammanfattning

The environmental demands are increasing when it comes to product development. EcoDesign is

about minimizing the environmental impact of a product, considering the entire life cycle of it,

without compromising other qualities like function or cost. In this master of science thesis a

mobile phone has been analysed with Ten Golden Rules in EcoDesign regarding production, use

and End of Life. Also a functional and an environmental profile were made. The goal was to

make a new concept phone, based on the previous analysis, which communicates userfriendliness

and sustainable development. A cursory investigation was made for choosing a

mobile phone to study. The model W890i from Sony Ericsson was chosen partly because it was

expecting to sell a lot during 2008.

Based on the environmental analysis it was clear that Sony Ericsson has a good chemical policy

comparing to their concurrent. A lot of metals are required for the electronics and the mining has

a big environmental impact. W890i is manufactured in China. There are problems moving the

manufacturing to development countries; the control of the processes is made more difficult and

there can often be a lack of resources and knowledge for dealing with the chemicals in a proper

way. The transportation from China could be more effective. The energy consumption in the user

phase is strongly dependent on the way the mobile phone is used. When it comes to energy

efficiency Sony Ericsson has been focusing on the chargers. A mobile phone is used

approximately for 18 months by the first user and the total life time is about 3.5 years. Only 18%

of the users change their phone because the old one is broken. The recycling of mobile phones

varies a lot both nationally and internationally, but the trend is going towards the industrial way.

The collecting of the phones is a big recycling issue today. W890 is not designed in a good way

for recycling.

Three different concepts were made, all based on different golden rules. They had focus on long

life, recycling and housekeeping. The concepts were presented to a panel of five people with

different expertises. Based on the workshop a final concept was chosen with focus on recycling

and energy efficiency.

A physical model was made in corporation with the company

Ergonomidesign. The model will

be used by Magnus Holmes in his master of science thesis to examine the customer value of

EcoDesign.