Life cycle assessment of mobile telephone networks, with focus on the end-of-life phase

Mobile communication, in particular mobile telephony, is a service whose nonexistence nowadays is unimaginable. The ongoing, ever increasing penetration of mobile communication equipment, presently intensified by the transition from second generation1 to third generation2 mobile telephone technology, raises the necessity for environmentally sound production, operation and End-of-Life3 treatment. In order to determine potentials to improve the overall environmental performance of large technical systems, such as mobile phone networks, Life Cycle Assessment4 is increasingly accepted as the state-of-the art tool. Up to now, this tool has been primarily used to determine the environmental effects of the production and the use phase. The environmental consequences related to the EOL treatment of mobile telephone electronic scrap has been addressed only marginally. A reliable assessment of the overall environmental consequences however, requires a comprehensive analysis of all life cycle phases. The focus of the present thesis is directed towards the environmental assessment of the EOL treatment of scrap of mobile phone networks that comply with present and forthcoming mobile phone standards in order to provide in-depth knowledge on the related environmental effects. Additionally, reliable environmental data for future studies shall be generated. After a brief introduction in Chapter 1, the application of LCA for the environmental analysis of mobile phone networks is outlined in general in Chapter 2 (LCA method applied to mobile phone technology). A decomposition5 of the mobile telephone network infrastructure is proposed in order to investigate the network components separately (hierarchical classification of the network components into classes A-D). Technical background knowledge, compiled in parallel, is used in order to assemble a mobile phone network model used for network recomposition later on. Similar to the network decomposition, a dissection of the End-of-Life6 phase is proposed in order to explore and model the processing of the electronic scrap in the EOL phase appropriately. Subsequently, the infrastructure and communication techniques of the presently applied 2G and 3G mobile telephone networks are described in detail in Chapter 3 (Technical characterisation of mobile phone technology). Using the decomposition approach the mobile phone network infrastructure is characterised in detail. Technique related effects are explained. Applying the subdivision approach, the various EOL stages are presented. Chapters 4 and 5 compile the results of LCA studies performed for a separate network component and an entire network. The objects of the studies both comply with the modern Global System for Mobile communication standard7. The Screening LCA of an antenna station rack (Chapter 4) is based on comprehensive inventories of an antenna station rack8 and currently applied EOL treatment. The environmental impacts related to the End-of-Life treatment of