Analisis Dampak Lingkungan dari Perusahaan Jasa Konstruksi di Surabaya Dengan Software SimaPro

Salah satu produk yang dihasilkan oleh perusahaan jasa konstruksi adalah produk railing, dimana produk railing merupakan produk konstruksi pendukung bangunan yang berfungsi sebagai pembatas bangunan dengan bahan utama berupa material besi. Untuk dapat menghasilkan produk tersebut, diperlukan tahapan proses yang dimana setiap tahapan proses tersebut akan memberikan dampak terhadap lingkungan yang tidak dapat terlihat secara langsung. Dampak lingkungan tersebut dapat berupa pengaruh terhadap kesehatan manusia, ekosistem, dan sumber daya alam. Untuk itu dalam penelitian ini, dilakukan penilaian dampak lingkungan dari produk railing, serta perbaikan produk untuk mengurangi dampak lingkungan yang dihasilkan. Metode yang digunakan dalam penelitian ini adalah Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) dengan menggunakan bantuan software SimaPro, serta Metode Design for Environment (DFE) untuk perbaikan produk. Hasil yang didapatkan dari perbaikan produk railing pada penelitian ini adalah mampu mengurangi dampak lingkungan, dengan rincian 60,2% untuk dampak kesehatan manusia, 65,8% untuk dampak ekosistem, dan 53,2% untuk dampak sumber daya alam.

Green Coalescent Synthesis Based on the Design for Environment (DfE) Principles: Brazilian Experience

Coalescents are compounds with a high potential for generating tropospheric ozone, which causes adverse effects on humans and their surroundings. This study designed a coalescent for decorative paints that reached technical levels equivalent to those obtained by StC, a product on the market, but with better environmental and economic performance. The strategy adopted in creating the green coalescent (GrC) improved film formation and reduced the product’s atmospheric emission rate. Regarding the environmental performance, GrC outperformed StC in terms of water consumption, global warming potential, and human toxicity by 30%, 35%, and 91%, but had a high smog formation potential even with a reduced loss to the air. The redesign of the molecule gave rise to AGrC, which achieved a more homogeneous environmental performance. The results of an economic analysis indicated that the procedures adopted to reduce environmental impacts could also make the coalescent more competitive if the lowest market prices were practiced. On the other hand, if the products are sold at high prices, the paint industry tends to privilege the economic dimension and disregard environmental performance for decision purposes. This research succeeded in reconciling technical functions and aspects related to sustainability to design more competitive products in the Brazilian market.

Achieving sustainability in solving the electronic waste (e-waste) problem

Waste from used electrical and electronic equipment, commonly known as e-waste, is growing at a higher rate than the regular municipal waste streams. Global generation of e-waste in 2019 was 53.6 million tonnes. Rising demand for high technology products and their early obsolescence coupled with lack of proper end-of-life management options have all led to unsustainable management of e-waste in many countries. Recycling, design for environment, extended producer responsibility and public-private partnerships (PPPs) are some of the practices attempted by many countries to achieve sustainability in solving the e-waste problem. This paper provides an overview of the practices mentioned above.