Life-cycle assessment development/application

Collectively, these developments have fostered a burgeoning corporate interest in the concepts of life-cycle design (LCD)—the application of life-cycle assessment (LCA) concepts to determine what a product contains, how it was produced, how it... 

Examples of commercial applications are scarce up to now (cf Section 5.3 use of ILs has been considered for a series of specific questions). The scaling-up of IL syntliesis procedures is normally without problems however, the commercialization and/or transport of the ionic liquids raise the question of their registration (EINECS for Europe or equivalents see Section 5.4). Disposal and recycle of ILs are important concerns and have to be considered on a case-by-case basis. And Ionic liquids are not always green - as has been stated by Rogers et al. [42], From the standpoint of life cycle assessment and hazard analysis ILs are clearly not recommendable for industrial use, especially if those with PFg or BF4 as anions are concerned. And it is obviously no wonder that recent new developments such as BMIM octylsulfate have been emphasized as even greener ionic liquids [43],... 

P. H. Fluckiger, The use of life-cycle assessment and product risk assessment unthin application development of chemicals, a case study of perchloroethylene use in dry cleaning, PhD thesis, Swiss Federal Institute of Technology Zurich, 1999. 

The Swedish National Testing and Research Institute has developed a total life-cycle assessment (LCA) model directed at determining the cost of measures taken to attain a high level of fire safety. The first full application of that method was for TV sets that were V-0 or HB rated. The LCA concluded that the loading on the environment was less for the TV containing the brominated FR than for the TV set without FR. The main reason for this is the greater number of fires and the resultant environmental emissions associated with the TVs made from HB material. 

This book on natural rubber presents a summary of the present state-of-the-art in the study of these versatile materials. The two volumes cover all the areas related to natural rubber, from its production to composite preparation, the various characterization techniques and life cycle assessment. Chapters in this book deal with both the science of natural rubber - its chemistry, production, engineering properties, and the wide-ranging applications of natural rubber in the modern world, from the manufacture of car tyres to the construction of earthquake protection systems for large buildings. Although there are a number of research publications in this field, to date, no systematic scientific reference book has been published specifically in the area of natural rubber as the main component in systems. We have developed the two volumes by focusing on the important areas of natural rubber materials, the blends, IPNs of natural rubber and natural rubber based composites and nanocomposites their preparation and characterization techniques. The books have also profoundly reviewed various classes of fillers like macro, micro and nano (ID, 2D and 3D) used in natural rubber industries. The applications and the life cycle analysis of these rubber based materials are also highlighted. 

The application of waste-management practices in the United States has recently moved toward securing a new pollution prevention ethic. The performance of pollution prevention assessments and their subsequent implementation will encourage increased activity into methods that 1 further aid in the reduction of hazardous wastes. One of the most important and propitious consequences of the pollution-prevention movement will be the development of life-cycle design and standardized hfe-cycle cost-accounting procedures. These two consequences are briefly discussed in the two paragraphs that follow. Additional information is provided in a later subsection. 

A checklist analysis (CCPS, 1992) verifies the status of a system. It is versatile, easy and applicable at any life-cycle stage of a process. It is primarily used to show compliance with standards and practices by cost-effectively identifying hazards, chlorine Tar> <- liccklists provide commonality for management K.-, icw of hazard assessments. It may be used for controlling a proces.s from development to decommissioning. Approvals by appropriate authorities Cl i( V each stage of a project. 

One of the consequences of the experiences gained with life cycle-based assessments and of the consequent development of new policy instruments is a shift of the viewpoint from the material to the product There is no ecologically good or bad material, but only more or less appropriate applications of a material. The study LCA of PVC principally competing materials on behalf of the European Commission showed, that this finding is also valid for PVC, which always had a rather bad environmental image [2] (downloadable at http //ec.europa.eu/enterprise/sectors/ chemicals/documents/competitiveness/index en.htm). Chances and Risks of Polymers depend on the specific application of a material and cannot be given on the level of the material itself. In further consequence the product-perspective is widened to the products (and services ) functions and further on to the consumer demand. 

---