Resource and environmental profile analysis

US EPA (1974) Resource and Environmental Profile Analysis of Nine Beverage Container Alternatives. US EPA (US Environmental Protection Agency) Report No. EPA/530/SW-91c. 

Problem adapted from D.T. Allen, N. Bakshani.and K. Rosselot, Pollution Preiention Homework arid Design Problems for Engineering Curricula, American Institute for Pollution Prevention. New York. 1992. The emissions and energy consumption data are from Franklin Associates, Ltd., Resource and Environmental Profile Analysis of Polyethylene and Unbleached Paper Grocery Sacks. Report prepared for the Council for Solid Waste Solutions, Prairie Village, KS, June 1990. 

Franklin Associates, Ltd., Resource and Environmental Profile Analysis of Foamed Polystyrene and Bleached Paperboard Container. Franklin Assoc., Prairie Village, KS, 1990a. 

Hunt, R. G., and Franklin, W. E., Resource and Environmental Profile Analysis of Beer Containers. Chemtech, American Chemical Soc., Washington, DC, 1975. 

MRI, Resource and environmental profile analysis of plastics and competitive materials. Prepared for the Society of the Plastic Industries, Kansas City, MO, 1974. 

Pranklin Associates. Resource and Environmental Profile Analysis of Polyethylene Milk Bottles and Polyethylene-coated Paperboard Milk Cartons. Prairie Village Franklin Associates 2008. 

Resource and environmental profile analysis (REPA), the forerunner to the current practice of life cycle assessment, focused on quantifying the energy requirements and emissions of a product or process but not the impacts on human health or the ecosystem. Ideally, according to the originators of REPA, the analysis would be linked to a risk assessment of emissions related to a process or product [91,92]. It is worth noting, with respect to the theme of this book, that REPA originated in 1969. Environmental life cycle considerations did not formally enter into product development or modification before that time. 

Life cycle approaches emerged in the late 1960s and early 1970s from concerns about limited and nonrenewable natural resources, particularly oil. They came initially in the form of global modelling studies and energy audits, and were referred to as Resource and Environmental Profile Analysis and Net Energy Analysis. 

Life-cycle assessment (LCA) is a three-step design evaluation methodology composed of inventory profile, environmental impact assessment, and improvement analysis (Keoleian and Menerey 1994). The purpose of the inventory step is to examine the resources consumed and wastes generated at all stages of the product life cycle, including raw materials acquisition, manufacturing, distribution, use, repair, reclamation, and waste disposal. 

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