The digital revolution affects the environment on several levels. Most directly,
information and communications technology (ICT) has environmental impacts through the
manufacturing, operation and disposal of devices and network equipment.
To evaluate the environmental impact of a product, its life cycle can be divided into
three phases: the production, the use and the end-of-life. At all stages, resources extracted
and emissions are inventoried to get a global picture of the environmental emissions and
therefore the environmental impact of the product or the service. The impacts on the
environment of ICT can be separated in three categories: