Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) : PET-bottles

Résumé du document

A life cycle assessment is the investigation and valuation of the environmental impacts of a given product or service caused or necessitated by its existence. It is a variant of input-output analysis focusing on physical rather than monetary flows. The procedures of life cycle assessment (LCA) are part of the ISO 14000 environmental management standards: in ISO 14040:2006 and 14044:2006. The goal of LCA is to compare the full range of environmental damages assignable to products and services, so that we are able to choose the least burdensome solution. The term 'life cycle' refers to the notion that a fair, holistic assessment requires the assessment of raw material production, manufacture, distribution, use and disposal including all intervening transportation steps necessary or caused by the product's existence. The sum of all those steps is the life cycle of the product. The concept can also be used to optimize the environmental performance of a single product or to optimize the environmental performance of a company.

Extraits

[...] Homopolymers and copolymers are both used in PET resins. A homopolymer is PET containing only ethylene glycol and terephthalic acid repeat units which results in the highest melt point and the best strength properties possible. A copolymer is PET containing additional monomers, such as isophthalic acid, to disrupt the polymer chains, resulting in a lower melting point, slower crystallisation and improved clarity particularly in heavy wall applications. Next tables are found from the research done for the Association of Plastic Manufacturers (PlasticsEurope). [...]

[...] There are four main phases of life cycle assessment. Those are goal definition, inventory analysis, impact analysis and valuation or interpretation. In the first phase, the LCA-practitioner formulates and specifies the goal and scope of study in relation to the intended application. The second phase, inventory, involves modelling of the product system, data collection, as well as description and verification of data. This implies data for inputs and outputs for all affected unit processes that compose the product system. The inputs and outputs include inputs of materials, energy, chemicals and so on, and outputs are included in the form of air emissions, water emissions or solid waste. [...]

[...] Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) : PET-bottles Contents 1. Introduction 2. Life Cycle Assessment 1. PET-bottles 3. Goal Definition 4. Inventory Analysis 5. Impact Analysis 6. Valuation 7. References 1. Introduction 1.1 Life Cycle Assessment A life cycle assessment is the investigation and valuation of the environmental impacts of a given product or service caused or necessitated by its existence. It is a variant of input-output analysis focusing on physical rather than monetary flows. [...]

[...] Firstly, plastics production requires significant quantities of resources, primarily fossil fuels, both as a raw material and to deliver energy for the manufacturing process. It is estimated that of the world's annual oil production is used as a feedstock for plastics production and an additional during manufacture. The plastic manufacturing requires also other resources such as water and land. It also produces wastes and emissions like any other production unit. The amount of wastes and emissions is dependent on the type of plastic produced. [...]

[...] The ethylene glycol is recycled in production. The majority of the world's PET production is for synthetic fibers (in excess of with bottle production accounting for around 30% of global demand. In discussing textile applications, PET is generally referred to as simply "polyester" while "PET" is used most often to refer to packaging applications. PET is fully recyclable where facilities exist. It is given the recycling code 1. Post-consumer recycled PET (PCR PET) can be used for clothing and carpet fibre, and fibrefill for stuffing articles such as pillows. [...]