Environmental Impacts of Digital Technology in Europe: A Life Cycle Assessment Approach

This study was carried out using a multi-criteria life cycle assessment, in accordance with ISO 14040:2006 and ISO 14044:2006 standards, with normalization to allow comparison with planetary boundaries.

1. Manufacturing phase: from raw material extraction to the final factory gate.
2. Transport phase: from the final factory gate to the user.
3. Use phase: impacts related to use, primarily electricity consumption.
4. End-of-life phase: treatment, recycling, incineration, and/or landfilling of recycling-related waste.

• “Resource use, minerals and metals” is by far the most significant environmental indicator concerning the environmental impacts of digital technology, ahead of “climate change” and “fossil resource use.” Multi-criteria assessments are therefore essential to provide a systemic overview of environmental impacts and avoid impact transfers.
• The manufacturing phase has the greatest impact on “resource use, minerals and metals,” as well as on raw material production and waste indicators. The use phase has the greatest impact on other indicators at the European level.
• User terminals have the greatest impact, accounting for between 90% and 54% of impacts, depending on the indicator. This is due to the large number of devices across all categories.
• The “television” category alone accounts for a large portion of environmental impacts across all evaluated indicators, notably “resource use, minerals and metals” (20%) for environmental indicators and waste production (21.5%) for flow indicators.
• Data centers contribute between 5% and 23% to the environmental impacts of digital technology, depending on the indicators; and account for between 13% and 28% of flows.