EcoDesign

Scope

Introduction & Abstract
The electronics industry constitutes a major portion of the Hong Kong and Guangdong economies. Products designed and manufactured here are subjected to fines, taxes and reduction or obstruction of sales in the West due to eco-design issues. Compliance to sustainability requirements will be the key to future product sales in the Europe. After the legislation of EuP, WEEE and RoHs Directive, manufacturers started to realize that they have to consider the environmental aspects of their products as early as product design stage. For this project, products will be chosen from electronic toys, electronic communication device (e.g. PDA), Electronic driven household appliances and professional electronic equipment (e.g. electronic blood analyzer) to study their environmental performance. Tailor-made Product life cycle chart with decision-making points will be developed. Life Cycle Assessment will be used to assess the environmental aspects in different stages of the product life cycle. Subsequently, Eco-profiles will be obtained. Manufacturers may design product based on these Eco-profiles in compliance to the EuP Directive. Seminar on the methods and suggested guidelines for Eco-design and corresponding manufacture of electronics product will be conducted. Case studies will be distributed and discussed and will be made available on websites.

What's impact of EuP to HK industry
According to Directive 2005/32/EC, Eco-Design means the integration of environmental aspects into product design with the aim of improving the environmental performance (parameters) of the Energy-Using Product (EuP) throughout its whole life cycle. The Eco-Design requirements apply to EuPs, which once placed in the market and / or put into service, is dependent on energy input (electricity, fossil fuels and renewable energy source) to work as intended, or a product for the generation, transfer, and measurement of such energy. However, the awareness of the requirements of EuP Directive is still comparatively low for most manufacturers. Moreover, knowledge on adopting tools and techniques for the requirements of EuP Directive are not well established in the local region. Most importance of all, there is no showcase available for the implementation of EuP Directive. As as result, there are needs for this project to address the problem mentioned above.

Objective & Purpose for Eco-design
This project will:
1.	Allow the team to work on four case studies of Eco-design selected electronics products,, which will act as show-cases to guide manufacturers practically to meet EU directives / legislations such as EuP Directive (2005/32/EC);
2.	Provide a working model, which address EuP Directive (2005/32/EC), such as Product life cycle charts with decision making points for eco-design product analysis;
3.	Help the local industries and SMEs understand the impact of EuP / WEEE / RoHS Directives made to their respective industries;
4.	Address product Eco-design issues as laid down in the generic requirements of EuP Directive 2005/32/EC;
5.	Establish the Pearl River Delta as savvy in the area of eco-design.

Dissemination plan
The dissemination and promotion of the deliverables will be through seminars, websites, exhibition, consultancy services, feasibility and case studies, publication, Press Media and a technical report / monograph.