LCA initiatives
LCA– Life Cycle Assessment– is an evaluation method for calculating a product's impact on the environment throughout its life cycle, from the mining of raw materials, through manufacture and use, to final waste disposal (and use as a next-generation raw material) once its mission has been accomplished.
LCA calculation results and their utilization
The results of the comparison of environmental impact (CO2-equivalent) over the entire life cycle indicate a reduction in impact for each product of 24% between corresponding 512 Mbit products thanks to process miniaturization. Alternately, the environmental impact is reduced by 52% when one 70 nm process 1 Gbit DRAM is used instead of two 90 nm process 512 Mbit DRAMs when the functional unit (memory capacity) is kept constant. The analysis indicates that the environmental impact throughout the product life cycle has been reduced by more than half thanks to the higher integration and lower power consumption made possible by process miniaturization.
Additionally, Elpida has introduced an environmental efficiency index* using the LCA technique. Going forward, the Company will make use of the index to improve the efficiency with which materials and energy are used and to cut costs.
* Derived by dividing production output or value by the environmental impact of energy and materials used.
Comparison of environmental impact by process generation
