Process based Greenhouse gas inventory of representative flame

To understand the points of leverage for greening electronics industry supply chains this paper undertakes an analysis of two representative flame retardant chemicals that are one component of printed circuit boards. The two chemicals, which are representative of Bromine and Phosphorus based flame retardants, are 9,10-Dihydro-9-oxa-10-phosphaphenanthrene 10-oxide (DOPO) and tetrabromobisphenol-A (TBBPA). The TBBPA requires between 29,900 and 39,200 MJ primary energy MJ/tonne and has between 1,900 and 2400 CO₂e/tonne emissions, depending on the manufacturing process and the source of bromine. DOPO requires 30,700 to 38,600 MJ/tonne of primary energy to manufacture, and the total emissions of CO₂ are between 2,400 and 2880 kg CO₂e/tonne depending on the way the Phosphorus manufacturing is allocated over the by-products of this process. The energy use for making DOPO or TBBPA are similar if a mass allocation of energy to products is used in the supply chain. The overall CO₂ emissions of making DOPO are higher than those of TBBPA because of the process emissions from making hydrogen required in the organic component of DOPO.