Hello and welcome to a new blog post in which we discuss the benefits of incorporating Life Cycle Assessment (also referred to as Life Cycle Analysis; LCA) into your plastic product design.
What is a LCA and why is it important?
LCAs are part of the holistic Life Cycle Engineering (LCE) approach and quantify the environmental impacts of plastic products across all stages of their life cycle, including raw material extraction, manufacturing, transportation, use, and disposal or recycling. One can analyze "cradle-to-cradle", where the end of a lifecycle is taken as the end of the recovery process or focus only on "cradle-to-grave", where the end of lifecycle is the disposal of post-consumer plastic waste. In addition, there is also "cradle-to-gate", where the end of lifecycle is taken to be delivery of the product at your factory gate (Figure 1). Altogether, a LCA provides a comprehensive picture of the overall environmental burden associated with a plastic part, allowing designers to identify areas where improvements can be made.
There are two major standards helping to bring a LCA to reality:
ISO 14040: providing the principles and framework.
ISO 14044: provides the roadmap on how to make the LCA. It provides information on the four steps a LCA should contain in order to systematically be able to quantify the environmental impact.
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| Figure 1: Overview of Polymer Life Cycle Engineering (LCE) and Life Cycle Assessment (LCA). |
What are the four stages of a LCA?
Following is a brief description of the four stages of a Life Cycle Assessment (LCA), which should help you understand the process (Figure 1):
1. Goal and Scope Definition: This initial stage defines the purpose and breadth of the LCA study. It clarifies the product system being assessed, its functions, the intended application of the results, and the audience. This step also outlines the system boundaries, functional unit, and data quality requirements.
2. Life Cycle Inventory (LCI): This stage involves collecting data on all inputs and outputs associated with the product system. This includes raw material acquisition, energy consumption, manufacturing processes, transportation, use phase, and end-of-life treatment. The LCI aims to quantify all relevant environmental exchanges, such as resource use and emissions.
3. Life Cycle Impact Assessment (LCIA): In this stage, the environmental impacts associated with the inventory data are evaluated. The LCIA aims to translate the LCI results into environmental impact categories, such as climate change, ozone depletion, acidification, eutrophication, and resource depletion. Different LCIA methods are available, each with its own set of impact categories and characterization factors.
4. Interpretation: The final and crucial stage involves analyzing the LCI and LCIA results to draw conclusions and make recommendations. This stage assesses the significance of the results, identifies key environmental issues, and evaluates the consistency and completeness of the study. The interpretation should provide clear and transparent conclusions that address the defined goal and scope of the LCA.
The single stages can be supported by software solutions such as GaBi (Sphera) or Echochain.
What are the benefits of incorporating LCA into your plastic product design?
Currently, over 80% of the product's environmental impact is determined at the design stage. Integrating Life Cycle Assessment right from the design phase of plastic products can unlock some really significant advantages. Here are five key benefits for you to keep in mind:
1. Reduced Environmental Impact: LCA allows you to identify environmental hotspots and by considering the entire life cycle – from raw material extraction to end-of-life disposal – during design, you can actively choose materials and processes that minimize environmental burdens. This includes lower greenhouse gas emissions, reduced water and energy consumption, and decreased waste generation. For example, opting for recycled plastics or designing for easier recyclability can significantly lessen the environmental footprint.
2. Enhanced Resource Efficiency: LCA encourages designers to think critically about material usage and optimize product design for longevity and repairability. This can lead to using less material overall, extending the product's lifespan, and facilitating component reuse or remanufacturing. Think about modular designs that allow for easy replacement of worn-out parts rather than discarding the entire product.
3. Cost Optimization: While the initial LCA might involve some investment, it can lead to significant cost savings in the long run. By identifying resource-intensive stages or materials with high price volatility, designers can explore more cost-effective alternatives. This could involve using less expensive but equally functional materials, replacing metal by high performance polymers, streamlining manufacturing processes, or designing for efficient logistics and waste management.
4. Improved Product Performance and Innovation: The insights gained from an LCA can actually spark innovation and lead to better-performing products. Understanding the environmental constraints and material properties throughout the life cycle can drive the development of novel polymeric materials, innovative designs for durability and functionality, and even new business models like product-as-a-service.
5. Stronger Brand Reputation and Stakeholder Engagement: In today's environmentally conscious world, companies that demonstrate a commitment to sustainability through practices like LCA often build stronger brand loyalty and attract environmentally aware consumers. Transparently communicating the environmental performance of products based on LCA findings can also enhance engagement with stakeholders, including investors, regulators, and the wider community.
6. Informed Decision-Making: By providing a quantitative assessment of environmental impacts, LCAs help designers make more informed choices about polymer material selection, design features, and end-of-life strategies. This can lead to the development of more sustainable plastic parts with a reduced environmental footprint.
7. Comparing Alternatives: LCAs can be used to compare the environmental impacts of different plastic types, manufacturing processes, and end-of-life management options, helping designers choose the most sustainable approach. This can lead to the development of plastic parts that are not only functional but also environmentally responsible. As an example, Figure 1 compares the Global Warming Potential (GWP) and density of different plastics.
8. Supporting Circular Economy and Waste Reduction: LCAs are valuable tools for promoting a circular economy for plastics by helping to identify opportunities for reuse, recycling, and remanufacturing. By understanding the full life cycle of a plastic part, designers can create products that are more easily recycled or repurposed, reducing waste and promoting a more circular approach to plastic production.
Example of a LCA: Packaging
A LCA was done on 10,000 units of 12oz packages produced in different materials in the United States [10]. In the stage four, (interpretation), a contribution analysis was done, in order to understand the Global Warming Potential (GWP) of the different packaging materials. This in turn allows for better decision making, when the aim is to reduce the product carbon footprint of the packaging material.
Figure 2 presents the comparison of the GWP of aluminum can, glass bottle and PET bottle. By switching from glass bottle to PET-bottle, a 50% reduction in GWP can be achieved.
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| Figure 2: Comparison of GWP of a 12oz bottle made out of glass, aluminum and PET [10]. |
Conclusion
In conclusion, LCAs are essential tools for promoting sustainable plastic part design by providing a comprehensive and quantitative understanding of the environmental impacts associated with plastic products throughout their life cycle. By using LCAs, designers can identify hotspots, make informed decisions, and develop more sustainable and eco-friendly plastic parts that contribute to a circular economy and a healthier planet.
Often, a full LCA is not needed, it is better to make a simplified one and focus on one or two key outputs, than to have no LCA done at all.
Want to deep-dive into designing a sustainable future with polymers? Check out my talk on this topic:
Curious about how Life Cycle Assessment can revolutionize your plastic product design process? Do you have questions about its implementation or the benefits it can unlock? I'd love to hear from you. Contact me here to start a conversation and discover the possibilities.
Literature:
[1] https://ecochain.com/blog/life-cycle-assessment-lca-guide/
[2] https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0959652623016086
[3] https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0921344921000586
[4] https://www.tunley-environmental.com/en/insights/benefits-of-a-life-cycle-assessment
[5] https://www.findoutaboutplastics.com/2022/03/bio-based-polyamides-part-3.html
[6] https://www.findoutaboutplastics.com/2021/12/eco-profiles-of-polymer-resins-global.html
[7] https://www.findoutaboutplastics.com/2023/01/major-benefits-of-plastics-for.html
[8] https://sphera.com/de/loesungen/product-stewardship/life-cycle-assessment-software-and-data/?utm_source=google&utm_medium=paid&keyword=sphera+gabi+software&matchtype=e&device=c&_bt=725390459715&_bk=sphera+gabi+software&_bm=e&_bn=g&_bg=175012151991&campaignid=22030436293&adgroupid=175012151991&feeditemid=&extensionid=&targetid=kwd-1967135919834&loc_interest_ms=&loc_physical_ms=9042558&network=g&devicemodel=&creative=725390459715&placement=&target=&adposition=&gad_source=1&gad_campaignid=22030436293&gbraid=0AAAAADN8CjVUQ_lzuyqI8QmoKWvydnARt&gclid=Cj0KCQjwxJvBBhDuARIsAGUgNfjTc0rXIEVXHZ2qmjUIZbnzLtopaZXPciNnuhj59XIP24MOSYkEPnwaAgzIEALw_wcB
[9] https://phantomplastics.com/shattering-the-plastics-illusion/#flipbook-16085/22/
[10] Franklin Associates, Ltd: Impact of plastic packaging on life cycle energy consumption & greenhouse gas emissions in the United States, 2014
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