scholarly journals Total Life Cycle of Polypropylene Products: Reducing Environmental Impacts in the Manufacturing Phase

Polymers ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 12 (9) ◽  
pp. 1901
Author(s):  
Viktoria Mannheim ◽  
Zoltan Simenfalvi
Keyword(s):  
Life Cycle ◽  
Environmental Impact ◽  
End Of Life ◽  
Injection Moulding ◽  
Life Stage ◽  
Raw Material ◽  
Production Phase ◽  
Complete Life Cycle ◽  
Injection Moulding Process ◽  
Total Life

This paper assesses the environmental burdens of a polypropylene product throughout the product’s life cycle, especially focusing on the injection-moulding stage. The complete life cycle model of the polypropylene product has been developed from the raw material extraction and production phase through its usage to the end-of-life stage with the help of the life cycle assessment method. To find the answers to the posed problems, different impacts were analysed by GaBi 8.0 software. The analysis lasted from the cradle to the grave, expanding the analysis of the looping method. The aim of the research was to determine the energy and material resources, emissions, and environmental impact indicators. Basically, the article tried to answer three questions: (1) How can we optimize the production phase for the looping method? (2) Which materials and streams are recyclable in the design of the production process? (3) What is the relationship between life cycle stages and total life cycle of the product? As we inspect the life cycle of the product, the load on the environment was distributed as follows: 91% in the production phase, 3% in the use phase, and 6% in the end-of-life phase. The results of the research can be used to develop technologies, especially the injection-moulding process, with a lower environmental impact.

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 Reuse of Barley Straw for Handmade Paper Production

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Alma Delia Delia Román Gutiérrez ◽  
Juan Hernandez Avila ◽  
Antonia Karina Vargas M. ◽  
Eduardo Cerecedo Saenz ◽  
Eleazar Salinas-Rodríguez
Keyword(s):  
Life Cycle ◽  
Environmental Impact ◽  
Environmental Impacts ◽  
Waste Treatment ◽  
Raw Material ◽  
Barley Straw ◽  
Handmade Paper ◽  
Organic Solid Waste ◽  
Organic Solid ◽  
Spent Grain

Usually in the manufacture of beer by fermentation of barley, in both industrialized and developing countries significant amounts of organic solid waste are produced from barley straw. These possibly have an impact on the carbon footprint with an effect on global warming. According to this, it is important to reduce environmental impact of these solid residues, and an adequate way is the recycling using them as raw material for the elaboration of handmade paper. Therefore, it is required to manage this type of waste by analyzing the environmental impact, and thus be able to identify sustainable practices for the treatment of this food waste, evaluating its life cycle, which is a useful methodology to estimate said environmental impacts. It is because of this work shows the main results obtained using the life cycle analysis (LCA) methodology, to evaluate the possible environmental impacts during the waste treatment of a brewery located in the state of Hidalgo, Mexico. The residues evaluated were barley straw, malt residues and spent grain, and at the end, barley straw was selected to determine in detail its environmental impact and its reuse, the sheets analyzed presented a grammage that varies from 66 g/m2 and 143 g/m2, resistance to burst was 117 to 145 kpa, with a crystallinity of 34.4% to 37.1%.

scholarly journals Comprehensive Assessment for Construction Materials’ Environmental Safety

2016 ◽  
Vol 5 (6) ◽  
pp. 38-47
Author(s):  
Мануйлова ◽  
Natalia Manuylova ◽  
Булычев ◽  
Sergey Bulychev ◽  
Горбачев ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Life Cycle ◽  
Construction Materials ◽  
Environmental Safety ◽  
Comprehensive Assessment ◽  
Raw Material ◽  
Specific Product ◽  
Life Cycle Stages ◽  
Complete Life Cycle ◽  
Environmental Properties ◽  
Proper Material

Problems related to a comprehensive assessment of construction materials’ environmental safety, taking into account stages of products’ complete life cycle have been considered. Approaches to determination of material’s safety and environmental record as environmental characteristics of the material, regardless of its use in a specific product, and without regard to processing technology have been described. It has been proposed to consider material’s safety and environmental record as the sum of three environmental safety factors for material’s life cycle stages: production of raw material and its potential environmental hazard; processing of raw material in the material; proper material from the standpoint of its environmental safety and effects on the human body. This criterion application allows compare the environmental properties both of cognate materials and dissimilar ones.

Eco product development combining eco design and life cycle assessment

2020 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Ana Jamile Damasceno Barbosa ◽  
Vitor Hugo de Paiva Santos ◽  
Priscilla Cavalcante de Araújo ◽  
Felipe Lucas de Medeiros ◽  
Letícia Yasmin da Silva Otaviano
Keyword(s):  
Life Cycle ◽  
Comparative Analysis ◽  
Environmental Impact ◽  
Product Life Cycle ◽  
Raw Material ◽  
Real Problem ◽  
Cotton Swab ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Original Product ◽  
The Impact

PurposeThe paper aims to propose the development of an eco product to replace the traditional cotton swab that meets the expected needs, besides having a bias based on sustainability and economic viability.Design/methodology/approachThe applied nature article opted for an exploratory and descriptive study, with the objective of seeking a solution to a real problem: to reduce the environmental impact in the disposal of cotton swabs. To test this hypothesis, the exploratory stage evaluated the literature on the principles of eco design and environmental marketing to understand market viability and environmental impacts. The descriptive phase presented a comparative analysis between the original product and the proposed one, in terms of production processes and impacts of the product life cycle. Thus, an alternative product was conceived and validated applying the life cycle analysis (LCA).FindingsThe paper provides a comparative analysis between the eco product and the traditional product in order to validate the hypothesis that the new proposal reduces the environmental impact. It was found that both productive processes have similar impacts; however, the raw material of the proposed eco product demonstrated a significant reduction in the impact caused on the environment, considering cradle to cradle analysis.Originality/valueThis paper conceives an eco product as an alternative to traditional cotton swab, presenting an innovative potential in line with worldwide sustainability trends.

Combining Life Cycle Assessment and Linear Regression Analysis to Determine Significant Design Characteristics

2012 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ashley DeVierno ◽  
Brian Thorn ◽  
Andres L. Carrano
Keyword(s):  
Regression Analysis ◽  
Life Cycle Assessment ◽  
Life Cycle ◽  
Linear Regression ◽  
Environmental Impact ◽  
End Of Life ◽  
Significant Relationship ◽  
Linear Regression Analysis ◽  
Cellular Phones ◽  
Design Characteristics

For designers it is difficult to pin-point the design characteristics that could be changed to reduce the environmental impact of their products. This paper describes a method for determining the design characteristics that have a significant relationship with environmental impact that arises at product end-of-life. In this method, Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) and Linear Regression Analysis (LRA) are combined. LCA is used to quantify the environmental impact of products from the extraction of their raw materials to their disposal. LRA is used to determine the design characteristics that have the most significant relationship with environmental impact. Combining LCA and LRA gives the designer the ability to (1) establish a relationship between design characteristics and their environmental impact, (2) determine the most significant design characteristics that influence environmental impact, and (3) validate design changes with their influence on product environmental impact. In the case study described here, the design characteristic, Volume, is shown to have significant relationship with the end-of-life environmental impact of cellular phones. This trend is consistent with the results of the one-phase end-of-life disposition assessments that evaluated disassembled cellular phones. With the results of this method, designers can focus their sustainable design efforts on modifying and improving the design characteristics that have the strongest relationship with environmental impact.

scholarly journals Reuse of bituminous pavements: A mini-review of research, regulations and modelling

2016 ◽  
Vol 35 (4) ◽  
pp. 357-366 ◽  
Author(s):  
Joke Anthonissen ◽  
Wim Van den bergh ◽  
Johan Braet
Keyword(s):  
Life Cycle Assessment ◽  
Life Cycle ◽  
End Of Life ◽  
Asphalt Pavement ◽  
Life Stage ◽  
Life Cycle Stage ◽  
Supplementary Information ◽  
Reclaimed Asphalt Pavement ◽  
Reclaimed Asphalt ◽  
Bituminous Mixtures

Bituminous pavement can be recycled – even multiple times – by reusing it in new bituminous mixtures. If the mechanical properties of the binder get worse, this reclaimed asphalt is often used in the sub-structure of the road. Apparently, up till now, no end-of-life phase exists for the material. Actually, defining the end-of-life and the end-of-waste stage of a material is important for life cycle assessment modelling. Various standards and scientific studies on modelling life cycle assessment are known, but the crucial stages are not yet defined for reclaimed asphalt pavement. Unlike for iron, steel and aluminium scrap, at this moment, no legislative end-of-waste criteria for aggregates are formulated by the European Commission. More research is necessary in order to develop valuable end-of-life criteria for aggregates. This contribution is a mini-review article of the current regulations, standards and studies concerning end-of-life and end-of-waste of reclaimed asphalt pavement. The existing methodology in order to define end-of-waste criteria, a case study on aggregates and the argumentation used in finished legislative criteria are the basis to clarify some modelling issues for reclaimed asphalt material. Hence, this contribution elucidates the assignment of process environmental impacts to a life cycle stage as defined by EN15804, that is, end-of-life stage (C) and the supplementary information Module D with benefits and loads beyond the system boundary.

scholarly journals Environmental Impact of Lumber Production using Life Cycle Assessment: A Case Study of the Production System in South-west Nigeria

2018 ◽  
Vol 3 (2) ◽  
Author(s):  
Femi K Owofadeju ◽  
Omeiza A Agbaje ◽  
Temitayo A Ewemoje
Keyword(s):  
Life Cycle Assessment ◽  
Life Cycle ◽  
Environmental Impact ◽  
Production System ◽  
Decision Support Tool ◽  
Milling Process ◽  
Wood Waste ◽  
Raw Material ◽  
Diesel Generator ◽  
Support Tool

Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) is a decision support tool that can be used to evaluate the potential environmental impact of a product system. Environmental impact associated with the production of (0.0508×0.1524×3.6576) m lumber referred to as “2by6” in the primary wood industry was evaluated. This assessment is a cradle to gate system with boundaries spanning from the point of raw material extraction in Osun state, to transportation of the lumber product to wood market in Ibadan, Oyo state. The study compared four production scenarios by varying haulage distance and energy source during production at two sawmill facilities located in Ife and Ikire in Osun state. Data obtained from the production system were analysed using GaBi6 software to estimate and classify the emissions into five impact categories. Life Cycle Impact Assessment result (LCIA) showed that Acidification Potential (AP), Global Warming Potential (GWP) and Smog Potential (SP) were the most significant impact indicators observed in the four production scenarios. AP (2.883, 3.352, 3.483, 3.951) kg H+ mole-Equiv, GWP (13.25, 14.44, 15.45, 16.65) kg CO2-Equiv and SP (1.86, 2.15, 2.24, 2.53) kg O3-Equiv. Scenario 4 which involved a longer transportation distance and employed a diesel generator for the milling process showed the least environmental performance. Processes that contributed significant impact were wood waste disposal method employed and the secondary transportation processes during logging activities. In order to achieve a better production system, practices that encourage less waste generation and the use of renewable energy were recommended.Keywords— LCA, lumber production, environmental impact, wood waste

Set Point Based Material Selection Method in Case of Recycled Polypropylene Application

2017 ◽  
Vol 885 ◽  
pp. 257-262
Author(s):  
György Czél ◽  
Mate Zattler
Keyword(s):  
Injection Moulding ◽  
Material Selection ◽  
Flow Behavior ◽  
Raw Material ◽  
Strength Parameter ◽  
Production Cycle ◽  
Capillary Rheometry ◽  
Set Point ◽  
Recycled Polypropylene ◽  
Injection Moulding Process

Due to the economic reasons of the injection moulding process, robust technology set point was given in the case of a polypropylene part manufacturing. The part, named lid plate was a relatively humble product not sensitive for small strength parameter changing. K392 coded polypropylene (PP) was given as reference raw material for injection moulding. The technical task was to replace the reference material by using recycled PP. It was necessary to keep the production cycle term. The flow characteristics of the offered recycled polymers were previously unknown. New method and capillary rheometry experimental technique was used to aid the material selection. In the method, the repeatability and the accuracy of rod type capillary rheometry was investigated in order to get more reliable flow behavior data of recycled PP polymer. Relatively low repeatability deviance could be determined in the range of 800-1100 s-1 shear rate range by using rod capillary rheometry. By means of the adequate validated rheometry, the recycled polypropylene could be applied for the given technology set point based forming process.

scholarly journals Predicting the effects of climate change on freshwater cyanobacterial blooms requires consideration of the complete cyanobacterial life cycle

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kathryn L Cottingham ◽  
Kathleen C Weathers ◽  
Holly A Ewing ◽  
Meredith L Greer ◽  
Cayelan C Carey
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
Life Cycle ◽  
Climate Models ◽  
Empirical Studies ◽  
Life Stage ◽  
Cyanobacterial Blooms ◽  
Life Stages ◽  
Ecosystem Models ◽  
Complete Life Cycle ◽  
Integrated Research

Abstract To date, most research on cyanobacterial blooms in freshwater lakes has focused on the pelagic life stage. However, examining the complete cyanobacterial life cycle—including benthic life stages—may be needed to accurately predict future bloom dynamics. The current expectation, derived from the pelagic life stage, is that blooms will continue to increase due to the warmer temperatures and stronger stratification associated with climate change. However, stratification and mixing have contrasting effects on different life stages: while pelagic cyanobacteria benefit from strong stratification and are adversely affected by mixing, benthic stages can benefit from increased mixing. The net effects of these potentially counteracting processes are not yet known, since most aquatic ecosystem models do not incorporate benthic stages and few empirical studies have tracked the complete life cycle over multiple years. Moreover, for many regions, climate models project both stronger stratification and increased storm-induced mixing in the coming decades; the net effects of those physical processes, even on the pelagic life stage, are not yet understood. We therefore recommend an integrated research agenda to study the dual effects of stratification and mixing on the complete cyanobacterial life cycle—both benthic and pelagic stages—using models, field observations and experiments.

scholarly journals A Comparative Life Cycle Assessment of Meat Trays Made of Various Packaging Materials

2019 ◽  
Vol 11 (19) ◽  
pp. 5324 ◽  
Author(s):  
Daniel Maga ◽  
Markus Hiebel ◽  
Venkat Aryan
Keyword(s):  
Life Cycle Assessment ◽  
Life Cycle ◽  
End Of Life ◽  
Environmental Impacts ◽  
Polyethylene Terephthalate ◽  
Environmental Assessment ◽  
Life Stage ◽  
Resource Depletion ◽  
Assessment Method ◽  
Ethylene Vinyl Alcohol

In light of the debate on the circular economy, the EU strategy for plastics, and several national regulations, such as the German Packaging Act, polymeric foam materials as well as hybrid packaging (multilayered plastic) are now in focus. To understand the environmental impacts of various tray solutions for meat packaging, a comparative environmental assessment was conducted. As an environmental assessment method, a life cycle assessment (LCA) was applied following the ISO standards 14040/44. The nine packaging solutions investigated were: PS-based trays (extruded polystyrene and extruded polystyrene with five-layered structure containing ethylene vinyl alcohol), PET-based trays (recycled polyethylene terephthalate, with and without polyethylene layer, and amorphous polyethylene terephthalate), polypropylene (PP) and polylactic acid (PLA). The scope of the LCA study included the production of the tray and the end-of-life stage. The production of meat, the filling of the tray with meat and the tray sealing were not taken into account. The results show that the PS-based trays, especially the mono material solutions made of extruded polystyrene (XPS), show the lowest environmental impact across all 12 impact categories except for resource depletion. Multilayer products exhibit higher environmental impacts. The LCA also shows that the end-of-life stage has an important influence on the environmental performance of trays. However, the production of the trays dominates the overall results. Furthermore, the sensitivity analysis illustrates that, even if higher recycling rates were realised in the future, XPS based solutions would still outperform the rest from an environmental perspective.

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