Influence of the Material Composition SMD Diodes on Their Environmental Impact

Abstract

The influence of the material composition of surface-mount device (SMD) diodes on the environment has been analysed in this research. This impact assessment has been performed by means of an environmental impact calculation through a life cycle assessment (LCA), in which the EcoInvent dataset has been updated and customised, generating a more precise environmental impact analysis by considering the exact material composition provided by several suppliers of diodes and also recycling during the production stage. Considering the EcoInvent diode dataset as a reference, variations from nearly 1640% to only 8.5% of the environmental impact have been achieved. For example, the impact per 1 g of SMD diodes can change the global warming potential from 292 g CO2 eq up to 354 g CO2 eq, whereas for abiotic depletion, values can change from 9.9 × 10−7 up to 1.9 × 10−4 kg Sb eq. The presence of critical raw materials such as antimony, cobalt, or magnesium, together with precious metals as gold or silver, highly influences the environmental impact values obtained, demonstrating the considerable influence on the environmental impact of the material composition of the SMD diodes analysed.