Cradle-to-Gate Life Cycle Assessment of Pineapple Leaf Fibres

Abstract Life cycle assessment (LCA) provides a comprehensive framework for positioning low energy and global warming potential alternatives regarding Portland cement and concrete. Published LCA work on alkali-activated cements is, however, relatively limited. In this paper, we illustrate how LCA critically supports concrete technological studies in the search for low impact concrete mixes. Previous research on breakwater applications explored replacing a low-clinker Portland cement and natural aggregates with seven different alkali-activated blast furnace slag (bfs) binder systems and with coarse and granulated bfs aggregates. Its outcome suggested a sodium silicate-activated bfs formulation as the best match between concrete properties and environmental regulation compliance. To validate this outcome through LCA, our cradle to gate assessments followed ISO 14044 (INTERNATIONAL…, 2006b) and used Ecoinvent v.2.2 and CML baseline 2001 v.2.05. We adopted the ‘net avoided burden approach’ to handle multifunctionality intrinsic to by-product-based AAC. Whilst sodium silicate-activated mixes rivaled the reference regarding GWP, impacts in several categories were increased. LCA highlighted the implications of driving mix selection by focusing on a single environmental impact category.

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Study and Design of Sustainable Packaging for Household Hoods

Volume 4: 23rd Design for Manufacturing and the Life Cycle Conference; 12th International Conference on Micro- and Nanosystems ◽

10.1115/detc2018-85369 ◽

2018 ◽

Cited By ~ 1

Author(s):

Daniele Landi ◽

Leonardo Postacchini ◽

Paolo Cicconi ◽

Filippo E. Ciarapica ◽

Michele Germani

Keyword(s):

Life Cycle Assessment ◽

Life Cycle ◽

Environmental Impacts ◽

Secondary Data ◽

International Standards ◽

Primary Data ◽

Industrialized Countries ◽

Iso 14040 ◽

Attributional Life Cycle Assessment ◽

Cradle To Gate

In industrialized countries, packaging waste is one of the major issues to deal with, representing around 35% of the total municipal solid waste yearly generated. Therefore, an analysis and an environmental assessment of packaging systems are necessary. This paper aims at analyzing and comparing the environmental performances of two different packaging for domestic hoods. It shows how, through a packaging redesign, it is possible to obtain a reduction of the environmental impacts. This study has been performed in accordance with the international standards ISO 14040/14044, by using attributional Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) from Cradle to Gate. The functional unit has been defined as the packaging of a single household hood. Primary data have been provided by a household hood manufacturer, while secondary data have been obtained from the Ecoinvent database. LCA software SimaPro 8.5 has been used to carry out the life cycle assessment, and ReCiPe method has been chosen for the life cycle impact assessment (LCIA) stage. The results have shown the new packaging model being able to cut down the environmental impacts of approximately 30%. These outcomes may be used by household manufacturers to improve performances and design solutions of their different packaging.

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