scholarly journals Digital Eco-Design and Life Cycle Assessment—Key Elements in a Circular Economy: A Case Study of a Conventional Desk

2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (21) ◽  
pp. 10439
Author(s):  
Eduardo Martínez-Cámara ◽  
Jacinto Santamaría ◽  
Félix Sanz-Adán ◽  
David Arancón
Keyword(s):  
Life Cycle ◽  
Environmental Impact ◽  
Circular Economy ◽  
Raw Materials ◽  
Extraction Process ◽  
Environmental Criteria ◽  
Final Design ◽  
Useful Life ◽  
Alternative Scenarios

In recent times, there has been an indisputable need to move towards a more sustainable economy, known as a circular economy, which is basically aimed at reducing the consumption of newly extracted raw materials to manufacture products, and thus, reduces waste generation by recycling products beyond their useful life to ultimately close the economic flow of the product. For the economy generated by products to close the circle, it is essential to tackle the problem at the source, that is, the process to achieve the desired product should be conducted by designing the product with environmental criteria (eco-design) and analysing its life cycle from the extraction process to the point when it ends its useful life (LCA). This article presents an ECO + LCA methodology that provides designers with an easy way of visualising the effect of their design decisions on the final environmental impact of the product. This methodology was tested on a case study of a conventional desk, with four alternative scenarios presented and an assessment of their final impact with a cradle-to-grave perspective. The final design obtained reduces the environmental impact by more than 30% and reduces costs by more than 11%.

scholarly journals Is Prolonging the Lifetime of Passive Durable Products a Low-Hanging Fruit of a Circular Economy? A Multiple Case Study

2019 ◽  
Vol 11 (18) ◽  
pp. 4819 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mohamad Kaddoura ◽  
Marianna Lena Kambanou ◽  
Anne-Marie Tillman ◽  
Tomohiko Sakao
Keyword(s):  
Life Cycle ◽  
Environmental Impact ◽  
Circular Economy ◽  
Labor Costs ◽  
Product Service ◽  
Durable Products ◽  
Multiple Case ◽  
The Impact ◽  
Product Service Systems

Extending the lifetime of passive products, i.e., products that do not consume materials or energy during the use phase, by implementing product-service systems (PSS) has a potential to reduce the environmental impact while being an attractive and straightforward measure for companies to implement. This research assesses the viability of introducing PSS for passive products, by documenting five real product cases of prolonging the lifetime through repair or refurbishment and by quantifying, through life cycle assessment (LCA) and life cycle costing (LCC), the change in environmental and economic outcome. The environmental impact (measured as global warming potential over the life cycle) was reduced for all cases because extraction and production dominated the impact. This reduction was 45–72% for most cases and mainly influenced by the number of reuses and the relative environmental burden of the components whose lifetime was prolonged. The costs for the company (measured as LCC from the manufacturer’s perspective) decreased too by 8–37%. The main reason that costs reduced less than the environmental impact is that some costs have no equivalent in LCA, e.g., administration and labor costs for services. The decreases in both LCA and LCC results, as well as the willingness of the companies to implement the changes, demonstrate that this measure can be financially attractive for companies to implement and effectively contribute to a circular economy.

scholarly journals Influence of Biobased Polyol Type On The Properties of Polyurethane Hotmelt Adhesives For Footwear Joints

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
M.P. Carbonell-Blasco ◽  
M.A. Pérez-Limiñana ◽  
C. Ruzafa-Silvestre ◽  
F. Arán-Ais ◽  
E. Orgilés-Calpena
Keyword(s):  
Environmental Impact ◽  
Circular Economy ◽  
Raw Materials ◽  
Bonding Process ◽  
Comprehensive Approach ◽  
Economy Model ◽  
Footwear Industry ◽  
Polyurethane Adhesives ◽  
European Policies ◽  
Useful Life

Abstract The implementation of a Circular Economy model, promoted by the increasingly stricter European policies, demands a comprehensive approach to resource efficiency. In this sense, polyurethanes, one of the most used polymers worldwide, are strongly dependent of non-renewable fossil resources. Thus, boosting the production of new polyurethanes / a new polyurethane based on more sustainable raw materials is crucial to move towards the footwear industry decarbonisation. INESCOP, aware of the footwear industry’s environmental impact, focuses on reducing or removing fossil-based raw materials and opts for eco-friendly ones. These sustainable raw materials provide polyurethane adhesives with additional beneficial non-toxicity and sustainable characteristics, without harming their properties during their useful life. Therefore, the aim of this study is to synthesise and characterise reactive hotmelt polyurethanes from biomass and CO2-based polyols as bioadhesives for the footwear industry. The influence of biobased polyols on the polyurethane structure, and therefore, on their final properties was analysed by different experimental techniques in order to assess their viability for the upper to sole bonding process.

scholarly journals The CirCo (Circular Coffee) Project: A Case Study on Valorization of Coffee Silverskin in the Context of Circular Economy in Italy

2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (16) ◽  
pp. 9069
Author(s):  
Emily Overturf ◽  
Simon Pezzutto ◽  
Martina Boschiero ◽  
Nicoletta Ravasio ◽  
Achille Monegato
Keyword(s):  
Life Cycle ◽  
Circular Economy ◽  
Raw Materials ◽  
National Level ◽  
Ghg Emissions ◽  
Paper Production ◽  
Coffee Silverskin ◽  
Virgin Pulp ◽  
The Impact

Coffee silverskin (CSS) is one of the main byproducts of coffee roasting and poses a potential risk to the environment if disposed of incorrectly. Each year in Italy, over 500,000 tonnes of green coffee are imported for roasting followed by consumption or export. This results in over 7500 tonnes of CSS produced each year which is typically disposed of as solid waste. Silverskin contains lignocellulose and can be used as a substitute for other raw materials to produce paper pulp. Both Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) and Life Cycle Costing (LCC) were performed to compare the impact and cost of CSS paper production to conventional paper production using only virgin pulp. It was shown that the addition of CSS reduces the environmental impact of paper production by 10% and greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions by 13% compared to conventional production with no cost increase (0.01% reduction with addition of CSS) for the producer. The results of this case study show that the utilization of CSS for paper production at the national level in Italy represents a suitable example of circular economy (CE).

scholarly journals Methodology for the quantification of concrete sustainability

2018 ◽  
Vol 174 ◽  
pp. 01006 ◽  
Author(s):  
Břetislav Teplý ◽  
Tomáš Vymazal ◽  
Pavla Rovnaníková
Keyword(s):  
Decision Making ◽  
Life Cycle Assessment ◽  
Life Cycle ◽  
Environmental Impact ◽  
Service Life ◽  
Circular Economy ◽  
Point Of View ◽  
Raw Material ◽  
Load Bearing Capacity ◽  
Sustainability Management

Efficient sustainability management requires the use of tools which allow material, technological and construction variants to be quantified, measured or compared. These tools can be used as a powerful marketing aid and as support for the transition to “circular economy”. Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) procedures are also used, aside from other approaches. LCA is a method that evaluates the life cycle of a structure from the point of view of its impact on the environment. Consideration is given also to energy and raw material costs, as well as to environmental impact throughout the life cycle - e.g. due to emissions. The paper focuses on the quantification of sustainability connected with the use of various types of concrete with regard to their resistance to degradation. Sustainability coefficients are determined using information regarding service life and "eco-costs". The aim is to propose a suitable methodology which can simplify decision-making in the design and choice of concrete mixes from a wider perspective, i.e. not only with regard to load-bearing capacity or durability.

scholarly journals Bacterial fabric: introductory studies on the application of biomimetics in the bacterial fermentation process

2021 ◽  
Vol 7 (2) ◽  
Author(s):  
Dulce Maria Holanda Maciel ◽  
Luísa Córdova Wandscheer ◽  
Daniela Novelli
Keyword(s):  
Environmental Impact ◽  
Consumer Goods ◽  
Fermentation Process ◽  
Raw Materials ◽  
Future Scenario ◽  
Bacterial Fermentation ◽  
Market Chain ◽  
Fabric Production ◽  
The Relationship

Thinking about innovations that reduce environmental impact and offer quality consumer goods is a way of proposing a future scenario governed by eco-efficiency values. Through an exploratory bibliographic and documentary research, which qualitatively analyses Kombucha authors and fermenters, this article seeks to identify the relationship between biomimetics and bacterial fabric production as an eco-efficient product in the fashion market chain. The general objective of this case study is to explain the fermentation process to encourage the search for raw materials inserted in the sustainability proposal.

A Life-Cycle Based Approach to the Remanufacturing Printing Supplies in Shanghai

2014 ◽  
Vol 878 ◽  
pp. 57-65 ◽  
Author(s):  
Yuan Zhou ◽  
Jing Wei Wang ◽  
Jian Feng Bai ◽  
Wen Jie Wu
Keyword(s):  
Life Cycle ◽  
Raw Materials ◽  
External Environment ◽  
Waste Stream ◽  
Environmental Loads ◽  
Pollution Emission ◽  
Great Pressure ◽  
Acidification Potential ◽  
Toner Cartridge

With the fast growing of printing supplies industry in Shanghai, it creates a large waste stream of obsolete printing supplies and causes great pressure on the environment. The information of remanufacturing printing supplies in Shanghai is gathered and waste stream is analyzed. As a case study of original toner cartridge and remanufacturing toner cartridge is compared in the context of life cycle methodology. The results show raw materials, energy consumption and pollution emission of the remanufactured toner cartridge are less than these of original toner cartridge. Environmental loads equitant including global warming potential, acidification potential, photo-oxidant formation potential, solid waste and fume from remanufacturing toner cartridge are cut 3.61%, 3.84%, 15.24% and 22.52% comparing to original toner cartridge. Its significance is that remanufacturing printing supplies can be more profitable and less harmful to the external environment than conventional manufacturing process. It also discusses strategies for lowering the environmental burden to promote the remanufacturing printing supplies in Shanghai.

Comparing Environmental Impacts of Additive Manufacturing vs. Investment Casting for the Production of a Shroud for Gas Turbine

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Angela Serra ◽  
Martina Malarco ◽  
Alessandro Musacchio ◽  
Giulio Buia ◽  
Pietro Bartocci ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Life Cycle ◽  
Additive Manufacturing ◽  
Environmental Impact ◽  
Investment Casting ◽  
Gas Turbines ◽  
Raw Materials ◽  
Base Material ◽  
Small Scale ◽  
Atomization Process ◽  
Traditional Manufacturing

Abstract Additive manufacturing (AM hereinafter) is revolutionizing prototyping production and even small-scale manufacturing. Usually it is assumed that AM has lower environmental impact, compared to traditional manufacturing processes, but there have been no comprehensive environmental life-cycle assessment studies confirming this, especially for the gas turbines (GT hereinafter) and turbomachinery sector. In this study the core processes performed at Baker Hughes site in Florence are considered, together with the powder production via atomization process to describe the overall environmental impact of a GT shroud produced through additive manufacturing and comparing it with traditional investment casting production process. Particular attention is given to materials production and logistics. The full component life cycle starts from the extraction of raw materials during mining, their fusion and, as said, the atomization process, the powders are transported to the gas turbines production site where they are used as base material in additive manufacturing, also machining and finishing processes are analyzed as they differ for a component produced by AM respect to one produced by traditional investment casting. From the analysis of the data obtained, it emerges that the AM process has better performances in terms of sustainability than the Investment casting (IC hereinafter), highlighted above all by a decrease in greenhouse gas emissions (GHG hereinafter) of over 40%.

The Green Browser: An Information Sharing Tool for Product Life Cycle Design

1996 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kei Kurakawa ◽  
Takashi Kiriyama ◽  
Yasunori Baba ◽  
Hideki Kobayashi ◽  
Yasushi Umeda ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Life Cycle ◽  
Information Sharing ◽  
Product Life Cycle ◽  
Raw Materials ◽  
Conceptual Scheme ◽  
Life Cycle Model ◽  
Cycle Model ◽  
Life Cycle Design ◽  
Strategy Model

Abstract This paper presents the concept and implementation of the Green Browser, which enables designers and consumers to share environmental information. We propose the conceptual scheme of the Green Browser called green life cycle model. This model is intended to represent the product’s environmental impacts over the stages of raw materials, use, recycling, and disposal. The Green Browser has been implemented using WWW and MOO to be able to deal with the strategy model, which is the key element of the green life cycle model. A case study on building the strategy model of refrigerator is presented to illustrate the strategy model.

Mitigating the Environmental Impact of Smartphones with Device Reuse

2012 ◽  
pp. 252-282 ◽  
Author(s):  
Xun Li ◽  
Pablo Ortiz ◽  
Brandon Kuczenski ◽  
Diana Franklin ◽  
Frederic T. Chong
Keyword(s):  
Information Technology ◽  
Life Cycle ◽  
Quantitative Analysis ◽  
Environmental Impact ◽  
Energy Materials ◽  
Societal Benefit ◽  
Life Cycle Stages ◽  
Elementary School Education ◽  
Manufacturing Stage

The rapid growth of information technology has not only brought substantial economic and societal benefit but also led to an unsustainable disposable model in which mobile devices are replaced in a matter of months. The environmental impact of this stream of handsets in terms of manufacturing energy, materials, and disposal costs is alarming. This chapter aims at raising today’s environmental issues of the increasing smartphone market, as well as providing a quantitative analysis on the environmental impact of different life-cycle stages of the smartphones, including the manufacturing stage, using stage, and recycling. To achieve sustainable computing and best utilize the energy consumed during manufacturing the large number of devices, this chapter demonstrates the methodology and techniques towards reusing smartphones by presenting a case study on reusing smartphones for elementary school education.

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