The implications of activity based environmental impact allocation

This paper presents the motivation for allocation of effluents and wastes to the electronic product and process design responsible for them. The environmental impact allocations are based on the relationships between the process flow inputs and outputs and their activity levels. The method is demonstrated on two generic printed wiring assembly designs. The demonstration presents the allocation of the costs and effluent generation for various operations ranging from kitting to shipping. This activity based flow allocation approach is helpful in implementing inventory surveys for life cycle analysis and quantitative modeling of environmental impacts.