The display industry in a green world

Since the late 1990s, the display industry, and the electronics sector in general, has been subject to a constant stream of new legislation aimed at reducing its environmental impact and greening its products. This green technology revolution began in the Far East and the European Union, but now there is unlikely to be a manufacturer anywhere in the world who is not affected. Its results have been overwhelmingly positive, serving not only to regulate the use of hazardous substances and the recycling and disposal of waste devices but also as a driver for innovation as companies capitalize on the exposure afforded by new green products.

The life cycle of a display can be categorized into five stages: materials extraction, materials processing, manufacture, product use, and end of life (EPA 2001). Their environmental impact can be reduced across all five phases; however, the most significant gains can be manufacturers reducing the impact of their operations and designing greener products, by improving the recovery and recycling rates for waste devices and by reducing the volume of waste devices shipped to the developing world. This chapter begins with the end of the life cycle and presents the key milestones that have driven the greening of the display industry, and the electronics in general, before discussing the role of the display industry in a greener, more sustainable, world.