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The role of life cycle analysis in considering product change
WASTE MANAGEMENT, Vol. 13, pp. 351-352, 1993 Printed in the U.S.A. All rights reserved.
0956-053X/93 $6.00 + .00 Copyright © 1993 Pergamon Press Ltd.
TECHNICAL NOTES
THE ROLE OF LIFE CYCLE ANALYSIS IN C O N S I D E R I N G P R O D U C T C H A N G E Douglas A. Rethmeyer Franklin Associates, Ltd., 4121 W. 83 St., Suite 108, Prairie Village, K S 66208, U.S.A.
ABSTRACT. Life
cycle analysis is an important tool for determining the environmental impacts of products and packaging. A complete life cycle analysis consists of three phases: life cycle inventory, impact analysis, and improvement analysis. Life cycle inventory examines the energy and resource usage and environmental releases associated with a product system from "cradle to grave," that is, from the extraction of raw materials through raw material processing; manufacture, transportation, and use of the product; and, finally, disposal, reuse, or recycling of the product. Life cycle inventory results can be used to identify areas for improving product and packaging systems in terms of reducing energy usage, resource usage, and environmental releases.
ined in a " c r a d l e - t o - g r a v e " setting. All steps, beginning with the extraction of raw materials from the earth and continuing through processing of the raw materials; manufacture, transportation, and use of the product; and, finally, disposal, reuse, or recycling of the product, are considered in a REPA. An analogy may be drawn to a vehicle that is set into motion. The vehicle cannot move properly unless all wheels can turn. Similarly, the existence of a product requires that many systems be set into motion to produce, use, and dispose, reuse, or recycle the product. REPAs were initially developed to quantify the environmental effects of consumer products, such as beverage containers, children's diapers, and many others. A R E P A could show, for instance, the c o m p a r i s o n between glass and plastic b e v e r a g e c o n t a i n e r s or disposable and reusable diapers. REPAs have also been used for environmental policy and decision making by governments, trade associations, and manufacturers. The results can be used for environmental improvement, commonly called improvement analysis. For example, R E P A s can be used to evaluate the baseline environmental performance of existing products, optimal areas to reduce process pollutants, the effects of a formulation change or product c o m p o n e n t substitution, various packaging options, and waste disposal or recovery options. A REPA is not a risk assessment or impact analysis. Health and toxicological issues relating to the impact of various pollutants on human and animal tissue are not addressed. The primary reason for this is that no scientifically accepted method exists
The realization that the production and use of manufactured products has an effect on the earth's natural resources and environment has been a growing concern since the 1960s. The concept of life cycle analysis, or LCA, was conceived to address this concern. The definition of life cycle analysis currently used by the Society of Environmental Toxicology and Chemistry (SETAC) and the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) was originally developed at a workshop in Vermont in 1990 sponsored by the EPA and others and coordinated by SETAC. By this definition, life cycle analysis is composed of three separate but interrelated components: life cycle inventory, life cycle impact analysis, and life cycle improvement analysis. The life cycle inventory, which is referred to by Franklin Associates as R e s o u r c e and E n v i r o n m e n t a l Profile A n a l y s i s (REPA), is the subject of this article. The life cycle inventory methodology was codeveloped independently by a scientist in Europe and two staff members of Franklin Associates in the early 1970s. This methodology has been continually improved and is generally accepted by the scientific community in both the United States and Europe. A Resource and Environmental Profile Analysis examines the quantifiable direct and indirect effects that occur in the environment due to the existence of manufactured products. The products are exam-
RECEIVED 26 FEBRUARY 1993: ACCEPTED 7 JUNE 1993. T E C H N I C A L N O T E S is a section for concise, peer-revi e w e d papers containing useful, albeit s o m e t i m e s narrowly focused, technical information. 351
352
D . A . RETHMEYER
for weighting the effects of various pollutants. Other issues generally not considered in REPAs are economics, personnel requirements, and the effects of manufacturing capital equipment. Minor materials and additives that contribute less than one percent of the net process inputs are generally considered insignificant and are not included in a REPA study. In essence, a REPA provides an environmental balance sheet. It quantifies the inputs and outputs to the systems necessary for a cradle-to-grave analysis of a product. Inputs examined are raw materials, energy consumption, and water usage. Outputs from the system analyzed are products, coproducts, energy production, and the emissions: solid waste, air pollutants, and water pollutants. When all of the subsystem blocks are linked together with the necessary product use and disposal information, a flow diagram is defined. This type of system is assembled for each product or each product scenario. A computer model is used to process the data and compute results. The process of performing a REPA can be segmented into the following five subtasks: Define the Project, Gather All Data, Create a Computer Model, Tabulate the Results, and Analyze the Results. The scope of the project must first be defined. This involves identifying all of the components in the systems and determining a basis for the study. The basis is a value that allows comparison of products or packaging on an equivalent number of uses provided. For example, various aluminum, glass, and plastic beverage containers could be compared on the basis of 1,000 gallons of beverage delivered. Once the scope is defined, the data for each subsystem are gathered. A private client may provide highly specific information for a confidential study, while data for a nationwide public study must generally be obtained from published sources and are less specific. Sources of REPA data include actual operating data provided by industry, government documents, textbooks, and other literature. The most reliable data are actual operating data from industry, which are usually current and include information on discharge of emissions after treatment. These data fit well into the REPA framework, which is concerned with current discharges after treatment. The data are then statistically reviewed and, where necessary, aggregated. The data are used to construct a material balance which accounts for the raw materials, coproducts, transportation
energy, process energy, and emissions for each subsystem. The many calculations involved in computing the results for a REPA lend themselves nicely to a computer model. The specific production information and the data on use and disposal, reuse, or recycling are assigned to blocks in spreadsheets. The computer model also accounts for emissions from fuel consumption and energy credit from waste incineration. The results are tabulated and prepared in a report format. The results portray an environmental "snapshot" of the energy consumption, solid waste production, and air and waterborne pollutants for each of the systems in the study. For U.S. studies, system energy requirements are generally reported in Btu. Solid waste generation is reported both by weight (pounds) and by volume (cubic feet). Atmospheric and waterborne emissions are reported as pounds of each individual pollutant released to the environment after waste treatment has been performed on outgoing waste streams. While energy and solid waste data can be summed, respectively, to obtain totals for each system, atmospheric and waterborne emissions are not considered additive because of the widely varying natures and effects of individual pollutants. To aid the reader in analyzing results and identifying areas for improvement, REPA results are generally presented in several different formats. For example, system energy requirements can be categorized in a number of ways including (a) energy usage by each component of the product system, (b) energy usage by fuel source (e.g., petroleum, natural gas, etc.) and (c) energy requirements categorized by type of use (e.g., process energy, transportation energy, etc.). These formats allow the reader to identify those areas which consume the most energy or produce the most wastes. For example, if one component of the packaging is seen to consume a disproportionately large percentage of the system energy, material substitution or lightweighting may be considered for that component. The uses of REPAs are varied and many. Before a decision is made to redesign a product, make a chemical substitution, or institute some other product change, the global effect associated with that change should be considered. Once a change is proposed, another REPA may be necessary to study the effects of the change. The REPA methodology incorporates these effects and provides an objective view for the environment.
Open for discussion until 30 November 1993.
0956-053X/93 $6.00 + .00 Copyright © 1993 Pergamon Press Ltd.
TECHNICAL NOTES
THE ROLE OF LIFE CYCLE ANALYSIS IN C O N S I D E R I N G P R O D U C T C H A N G E Douglas A. Rethmeyer Franklin Associates, Ltd., 4121 W. 83 St., Suite 108, Prairie Village, K S 66208, U.S.A.
ABSTRACT. Life
cycle analysis is an important tool for determining the environmental impacts of products and packaging. A complete life cycle analysis consists of three phases: life cycle inventory, impact analysis, and improvement analysis. Life cycle inventory examines the energy and resource usage and environmental releases associated with a product system from "cradle to grave," that is, from the extraction of raw materials through raw material processing; manufacture, transportation, and use of the product; and, finally, disposal, reuse, or recycling of the product. Life cycle inventory results can be used to identify areas for improving product and packaging systems in terms of reducing energy usage, resource usage, and environmental releases.
ined in a " c r a d l e - t o - g r a v e " setting. All steps, beginning with the extraction of raw materials from the earth and continuing through processing of the raw materials; manufacture, transportation, and use of the product; and, finally, disposal, reuse, or recycling of the product, are considered in a REPA. An analogy may be drawn to a vehicle that is set into motion. The vehicle cannot move properly unless all wheels can turn. Similarly, the existence of a product requires that many systems be set into motion to produce, use, and dispose, reuse, or recycle the product. REPAs were initially developed to quantify the environmental effects of consumer products, such as beverage containers, children's diapers, and many others. A R E P A could show, for instance, the c o m p a r i s o n between glass and plastic b e v e r a g e c o n t a i n e r s or disposable and reusable diapers. REPAs have also been used for environmental policy and decision making by governments, trade associations, and manufacturers. The results can be used for environmental improvement, commonly called improvement analysis. For example, R E P A s can be used to evaluate the baseline environmental performance of existing products, optimal areas to reduce process pollutants, the effects of a formulation change or product c o m p o n e n t substitution, various packaging options, and waste disposal or recovery options. A REPA is not a risk assessment or impact analysis. Health and toxicological issues relating to the impact of various pollutants on human and animal tissue are not addressed. The primary reason for this is that no scientifically accepted method exists
The realization that the production and use of manufactured products has an effect on the earth's natural resources and environment has been a growing concern since the 1960s. The concept of life cycle analysis, or LCA, was conceived to address this concern. The definition of life cycle analysis currently used by the Society of Environmental Toxicology and Chemistry (SETAC) and the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) was originally developed at a workshop in Vermont in 1990 sponsored by the EPA and others and coordinated by SETAC. By this definition, life cycle analysis is composed of three separate but interrelated components: life cycle inventory, life cycle impact analysis, and life cycle improvement analysis. The life cycle inventory, which is referred to by Franklin Associates as R e s o u r c e and E n v i r o n m e n t a l Profile A n a l y s i s (REPA), is the subject of this article. The life cycle inventory methodology was codeveloped independently by a scientist in Europe and two staff members of Franklin Associates in the early 1970s. This methodology has been continually improved and is generally accepted by the scientific community in both the United States and Europe. A Resource and Environmental Profile Analysis examines the quantifiable direct and indirect effects that occur in the environment due to the existence of manufactured products. The products are exam-
RECEIVED 26 FEBRUARY 1993: ACCEPTED 7 JUNE 1993. T E C H N I C A L N O T E S is a section for concise, peer-revi e w e d papers containing useful, albeit s o m e t i m e s narrowly focused, technical information. 351
352
D . A . RETHMEYER
for weighting the effects of various pollutants. Other issues generally not considered in REPAs are economics, personnel requirements, and the effects of manufacturing capital equipment. Minor materials and additives that contribute less than one percent of the net process inputs are generally considered insignificant and are not included in a REPA study. In essence, a REPA provides an environmental balance sheet. It quantifies the inputs and outputs to the systems necessary for a cradle-to-grave analysis of a product. Inputs examined are raw materials, energy consumption, and water usage. Outputs from the system analyzed are products, coproducts, energy production, and the emissions: solid waste, air pollutants, and water pollutants. When all of the subsystem blocks are linked together with the necessary product use and disposal information, a flow diagram is defined. This type of system is assembled for each product or each product scenario. A computer model is used to process the data and compute results. The process of performing a REPA can be segmented into the following five subtasks: Define the Project, Gather All Data, Create a Computer Model, Tabulate the Results, and Analyze the Results. The scope of the project must first be defined. This involves identifying all of the components in the systems and determining a basis for the study. The basis is a value that allows comparison of products or packaging on an equivalent number of uses provided. For example, various aluminum, glass, and plastic beverage containers could be compared on the basis of 1,000 gallons of beverage delivered. Once the scope is defined, the data for each subsystem are gathered. A private client may provide highly specific information for a confidential study, while data for a nationwide public study must generally be obtained from published sources and are less specific. Sources of REPA data include actual operating data provided by industry, government documents, textbooks, and other literature. The most reliable data are actual operating data from industry, which are usually current and include information on discharge of emissions after treatment. These data fit well into the REPA framework, which is concerned with current discharges after treatment. The data are then statistically reviewed and, where necessary, aggregated. The data are used to construct a material balance which accounts for the raw materials, coproducts, transportation
energy, process energy, and emissions for each subsystem. The many calculations involved in computing the results for a REPA lend themselves nicely to a computer model. The specific production information and the data on use and disposal, reuse, or recycling are assigned to blocks in spreadsheets. The computer model also accounts for emissions from fuel consumption and energy credit from waste incineration. The results are tabulated and prepared in a report format. The results portray an environmental "snapshot" of the energy consumption, solid waste production, and air and waterborne pollutants for each of the systems in the study. For U.S. studies, system energy requirements are generally reported in Btu. Solid waste generation is reported both by weight (pounds) and by volume (cubic feet). Atmospheric and waterborne emissions are reported as pounds of each individual pollutant released to the environment after waste treatment has been performed on outgoing waste streams. While energy and solid waste data can be summed, respectively, to obtain totals for each system, atmospheric and waterborne emissions are not considered additive because of the widely varying natures and effects of individual pollutants. To aid the reader in analyzing results and identifying areas for improvement, REPA results are generally presented in several different formats. For example, system energy requirements can be categorized in a number of ways including (a) energy usage by each component of the product system, (b) energy usage by fuel source (e.g., petroleum, natural gas, etc.) and (c) energy requirements categorized by type of use (e.g., process energy, transportation energy, etc.). These formats allow the reader to identify those areas which consume the most energy or produce the most wastes. For example, if one component of the packaging is seen to consume a disproportionately large percentage of the system energy, material substitution or lightweighting may be considered for that component. The uses of REPAs are varied and many. Before a decision is made to redesign a product, make a chemical substitution, or institute some other product change, the global effect associated with that change should be considered. Once a change is proposed, another REPA may be necessary to study the effects of the change. The REPA methodology incorporates these effects and provides an objective view for the environment.
Open for discussion until 30 November 1993.