The Eco-design and Green Manufacturing of a Refrigerator

• DOI: 10.1016/j.proenv.2012.10.072
• Publication Date: 2012-12-19T20:14:13Z
• Authors: Jian Ma; Fengfu Yin; Zhenyu Liu; Xiaodong Zhou
• Keywords: Environmental impact; Eco-design; Refrigerator; 13. Climate action; ErP(EuP); 0202 electrical engineering, electronic engineering, information engineering; 02 engineering and technology; 7. Clean energy; 12. Responsible consumption

AbstractThe paper introduces the Energy-related Products(ErP)directive and its late evolution. Both the general and the particular eco-design requirements of a refrigerator are presented. The criteria of standby/off are listed as well. The assumptions made for the modeling of the product and source of the database are put forward. There are 11 factors of environmental impacts used in the evaluation software EIME. The environmental impact of manufacturing, distribution, use and the end of life is analyzed according to a certain refrigerator. The results show that three factors are significant, which are electricity consumed by the refrigerator in the use stage, the raw materials of metal and plastics in the manufacturing. The solution to these problems is provided. The introduction of eco-design to development phase of a product is urgent nowadays.