Life cycle assessment studies

Gunther A, Langowski HC (1997) Life cycle assessment study on resilient floor coverings. Int... 

Life cycle assessment studies, 14 826-827 phases of, 14 806-824 Life cycle cost (LCC), reliability and,... 

Life cycle assessment studies demonstrate the potentialities of vehicles powered by fuel cells in terms of both total emission and energy consumption reduction [40-42]. 

A life cycle assessment study, carried out by Sombekke et al. (1997), compared conventional filtration and GAC with NF. The NF performed better in health and quality aspects and worse in environmental impact, due to concentrate treatment and energy requirements. NF could outperform conventional treatment if green energy could be used. 

Consumers may learn about environmental impacts from eco-labels, self-declaration, and life cycle assessment studies. Industrial engineers may learn about clean manufacturing as universities integrate industrial ecology concepts into business and engineering programs (Santi 1997 Stuart 2000). Important clean manufacturing concepts are defined in the next section. 

Henry, B.K., 2011. Understanding the Environmental Impacts of Wool A Review of Life Cycle Assessment Studies. http //www.iwto.org/uploaded/publications/Understanding Wool LCA2 20120513.pdf. 

Domburg, V., Lewandowski, I., Patel, M., 2004. An analysis and system extension of life cycle assessment studies. Comparing the land requirements, energy savings, and greenhouse gas emissions reduction of biobased polymers and bioenergy. Journal of Industrial Ecology 7 (3-4), 93-116. 

Kim S., Dale B E. Life cycle assessment study of biopolymers (polyhydroxyalkanoates) derived from no-tilled corn. The International Journal of Life Cycle Assessment 10 (2005) 200. 

KaUiala, E., The Ecology of Textiles and Textile Services - A Life Cycle Assessment Study on Best Available Technologies for Hotel Textile Production and Services, Doctoral Thesis, Tampere University of Technology, Publications 214, Tampere 1997, 122 pp. 

Green chemistry is pushed forward by concerns about depleting crude oil resources, which will have an impact also on TPE. Unfortunately, no life cycle assessment studies are available in the open literature on this topic. Such information would be, however, most helpful to select/forecast future R D activities. 

Within the framework of Horizontal Initiative on PVC , the European Commission suggested that PVC and its additive industry examine the end-of-life management options for PVC products. Life cycle assessment studies attempt to evaluate the benefits and negative effects taking place from the cradle to grave of PVC. 

Life cycle assessment is defined by ISO 14040 as compilation and evalu ation of inputs, outputs and the potential environmental impacts of a product system throughout its life cycle. The ISO standards regulate the procedural aspects of LCA. They do not, however, provide all the information required for carrying out an LCA study. The main phases of LCA are goal and scope definition, inventory, impact assessment, and interpretation. The various applications of LCA are not regulated by the standard (Fig. 15.1). 

Geisler, G., Hellweg, S., Hungerbuhler, K. (2005) Uncertainty Analysis in Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) Case Study on Plant-Protection Products and Implications for Decision Making. International Journal of Life Cycle Assessment, 10, 184-192. 

Jungbluth, N., Bauer, C., Dones, R., Frischknecht, R. (2005) Life Cycle Assessment for Emerging Technologies Case Studies for Photovoltaic and Wind Power. International Journal of Life Cycle Assessment, 10(1), 24-34. 

During the life cycle assessment, the study authors are very often confronted with the fact that the product system has at its end more than one output. In these cases, we use the allocation. Allocation means the assignment of the share of total environmental burden to particular outputs [32]. The Standard recommends to avoid the allocation whenever possible, e.g. by extending systems or sub-division processes [36]. 

Schau EM, Fet AM. LCA Studies of Food Products as Background for Environmental Product Declarations - Literature Review. International Journal of Life Cycle Assessment. 2008 13(3) 255-264. DOI 10.1065/lca2007.12.372... 

On the other hand, in part II of this volume, a set of case studies are introduced. The application of the selected methodologies inside each one of the foresaid disciplines (e.g., risk assessment, life cycle assessment) to specific cases and countries is presented here. The results of such application are discussed as well as their reliability. Toxicological studies in Italy, risk assessment of electronic waste in China, or disposal of bearing lamps in India are some examples of selected scenarios. 

Abstract Life cycle assessment (LCA) is a useful tool to assess impacts of cradle-to-grave chains of products/services. In the Riskcycle framework, the focus is on additives. Additives are usually minor constituents of products, but depending on their specific properties they can be important in the total scope of impacts of such products. In the LCA literature, additives are hardly visible. Most case studies of products containing additives do not mention them. The reasons for this are unclear, but are at least partly due to the fact that information on additives is not included in standard LCA databases. This is true for both life cycle inventory (LCI) and life cycle impact assessment (LCIA) databases. Therefore, it is difficult to conclude whether or not additives indeed are important contributors to environmental impacts over the life cycle. 

Additives form a part of the life cycle of many materials and therefore many products, wherein the materials are applied. Additives sometimes pose a risk to human and environmental health. Therefore, it may be expected that in life cycle assessment (LCA) studies this will show. 

Jonsson, A., A. M. Tillman, and T. Svensson (1997) Life cycle assessment of flooring materials Case study. Building and Environment vol. 32, no. 3, p. 245-255... 

This study deals with life cycle assessment of emissions related to the use of additives in a plastic application. This means that environmental impacts are estimated for the total of emissions, not restricted to toxic effects and/or one substance (like DEHP). Furthermore emissions relate to the cradle-to-grave chain of the additive application in cushion vinyl floor covering. 

In the first part of this book, different models related to the assessment of the potential risk posed by the chemical additives are presented. These models come from different fields of expertise toxicology, risk assessment, chemicals fate and exposure, life cycle assessment, economics, etc. The potential benefits of the different models as well as their drawbacks are analyzed in order to select some of them for the application to particular case studies. 

An EC study has found that cadmium pigments present no significant threat to human health or the environment, says the International Cadmium Association. In view of the positive life cycle assessment, EC Member States voted earlier this year that there should be no further restrictions on the marketing and use of cadmium pigments in plastics. INTERNATIONAL CADMIUM ASSOCIATION... 

Many site-specific characteristics have an impact on vitrification technologies. One critical aspect of any thermal technology is the water content of the waste. Water dilutes feed material, requires energy to drive off, and physically limits the feed rate of waste. Feed preparation is another variable, which differs with the technology and with site-specific characteristics. Many estimates do not take into account site preparation and waste disposal costs. Only complete treatment life-cycle assessments can provide reliable comparison data, and such studies are, by definition, highly site and waste specific (D18248T, p. 55). 

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