Plastics cradle to grave

ISO-14000 certification The first international standard for environmental-quality management. It is not a compliance standard but consists of voluntary guidehnes for constructing a management system from start to finish to ensure that objectives for environmental compliance are set and met. Plant certification wiU provide evidence of proactive environmental management and wiU reduce their exposure to lawsuits and regulatory problems. See plastics cradle-to-grave. 

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. 

As mentioned earlier, this Australian study was done in 2012 (Nolan-ITU Pty Ltd, 2002) and its main aim was to evaluate the environmental impacts of plastic bags and their potential alternatives by a detailed LCA study. This study evaluated 11 shopping bag alternatives from cradle-to-grave stages, including the following major... 

Cradle-to-grave end of lifecycle is disposal of postconsumer plastic waste. 

The savings in primary energy and avoided CO emissions in using bio-based feedstock compared to conventional petroleum feedstock are significant. For instance, the GHG emission for conventional PET in a cradle-to-grave LCA estimate was 3.36 (kg equiv. CO /kg plastic). The corresponding number for bio-based PET was 2.34-2.67 (kg equiv. CO /kg plastic), depending on feedstock used (Shen et al., 2012). 

WPC does not outperform wood in most environmental attributes. For instance, a recent (Bohn and Smith, 2011) cradle-to-grave LCA was carried out on the environmental merits of WPC based on recycled plastics and those of treated wood, for deck con-stmction (Clanons, 2002). In every category, the treated wood (with copper oxide and dodecyl dimethyl ammonium chloride) outperformed WPC material. The energy cost of WPC was >8.5 times that of treated wood. But when compared to plastic building materials, WPC nearly always turns out to be better from an enviromnental standpoint, based on in several LCA studies (Corbiere-NicoUier et al., 2001 Wotzel et al., 1999). 

When the impact of process scale is viewed from the planetary boundaries perspective, the inherent multicriteria nature of any sustainability assessment is indispensable. Even when only environmental LCA impacts are accounted for, studies have shown that certain boundaries have been crossed or are very close to the limit (i.e., with respect to climate change, biodiversity loss, and nitrogen and phosphorous cycles), while others are stiU reasonably well safeguarded (i.e., stratospheric ozone depletion, ocean acidification, and freshwater use) [64]. It is therefore possible that different production sectors may have an impact on different planetary boundaries some of which may be within or already outside their safe operating space. For instance, studies have indicated the severe impacts of plastic debris on marine organisms [65]. Thus, from a cradle-to-grave LCA perspective, fossil-based plastics production may have a more direct or at least a different kind of effect in terms of biodiversity compared to fossil-based fuel production, which is certainly in higher production scales. 

Additional LCAs will be calculated for PET, PP, PS, and other plastic products in Chapter 7. The LCA of plastic products can be used based on the information in Table 3.1 to calculate the cradle to grave of plastic products made. 

The second LCA study, from the paper industry in Hong Kong, compares the environmental effects of single-use paper and plastic bags. The cradle-to-grave analysis includes the environmental impacts of plastic and paper bags over the life cycle of the product. 

The third LCA study, from Hyder Consulting Pty Ltd of Victoria, Australia, is a cradle-to-grave analysis that includes EOL and transportation impacts. It compares the LCA of single-use plastic and paper bags with reusable plastic and cotton bags. 

Cradle-to-Grave Process Steps for Plastic Bags... 

The cradle-to-grave analysis can illustrate the environmental benefits of reusing the plastic bag and the benefits of using recycled plastic. 

Tung Sava gi Life cycle (cradle-to grave) assessment shows that the use of plastics, including recycling, is less energy consumung than other materials. Let us rather pass this message. 

With regards to biodegradable polyester production, the use of renewable monomers can be of particular interest as not only can the final products be biodegraded, hence avoiding plastic accumulation in landfills, but also the biodegradation products (usually CO2 and water) are used by plants to produce the renewable monomers. As can be deduced, this cradle-to-grave cycle can significantly reduce the carbon footprint due to plastic production. 

Type of plastic Functional nnit Cradle-to-grave non-renewable energy use (MJ/functional unit) Type of waste treatment assumed for calculation of emissions GHG emissions (kg CO2 eq./ functional unit) Ozone precursors (g ethylene eq.) Acidification (gS02 eq.) Eutrophication (g PO4 eq.) Refs. 

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