Life-cycle environmental impacts of CRT and LCD desktop monitors

The US Environmental Protection Agency's Design for the Environment Program is conducting an industry-wide environmental life-cycle assessment of cathode ray tube (CRT) and liquid crystal display (LCD) computer monitors. Preliminary results are presented for 16 environmental impact categories that show the relative difference in life-cycle impacts for the CRT and LCD. Considering the entire life cycle of each monitor, global warming and water eutrophication impacts were greater for the LCD while all other impact categories (e.g., resource use, energy, ozone depletion, landfill space use, etc.) were greater for the CRT. Energy inputs for CRT glass manufacturing data, for which there was relatively low confidence in the data, drive many of the CRT impacts. When comparing the manufacturing stages of each monitor type, the LCD has more relative burdens on the environment than does the CRT. Using these study results can allow industry to begin focusing on where environmental improvements can be made.