What Is Tungsten Carbide or Hard Metal? AZoM.com, 2 Aug. 2009, https://www.azom.com/article.aspx?ArticleID=4827. 1. LCA for product sustainability. PurposeIn this study, a life cycle assessment of a bioplastic based diaper was performed. mmw*vA|5v*3n9IUt){e%!HN6@` xcr@pz*Fbiq%1!TJ-CF*1OS|UZU\vQL7M?m'b-,r~S}Y&/{#U6U)S|%q[RB !3j~tj$h>5qtsJ./j?;eosyy*"Z`'wG"M6]O}UKqw[LzY9e B,s&C4++_tI~& Me*lNU"Uigq\u7{:&VNC'rT]FB5jOa.%N%1*stBC]%y&RDs"#&iUX&?8sh:wJo ZjbO|KFmfC{:oX~'b> Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) is a modeling tool for quantifying the environmental impacts of products and processes. Eshwar Shop. In addition, although this life cycle assessment study did not analyze health impacts during use of an LMA, intraoperative exposure to diethylhexyl phthalate (DEHP) is of some concern. A Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) is a methodology to assess the environmental impacts of a product or service throughout its life - from raw material extraction, manufacture and use, to end-of-life disposal, recycling or reuse. 748 0 obj <> endobj There are land, air, and water-based transportation methods. The International Journal of Life Cycle Assessment. The blade is made from a tungsten steel, and carbon alloy. The aim of this paper is to analyse substitutes to disposable plastic tableware using the Life Cycle Assessment methodology. Such an analysis is commonly performed using life cycle assessment. Information on PPO plastics are difficult to find, as most of the data is about how it is made, and the chemical makeup and stability of the plastic, rather than information on the decomposition rate or waste used in the making of it. The cheap price of the razor does not reflect the high cost of its waste and impact on the environment. After the reusable LMA was washed and dried, it was then placed into a heat seal pouch, made of polypropylene film and paper. They are resins that maintain a high dimensional stability, which helps create fast and cheap plastic razor handles (Safety Razor). The disposable LMA consisted largely of polyvinyl chloride (PVC) plastic, and the reusable LMA consisted primarily of silicone. There is uncertainty in several model assumptions. Another advantage is that the process produces a single score (Eco-Indicator Point) for the all the impacts of the product, not just individual ones for each part. A life cycle assessment (LCA) is a tool for analyzing the environmental impacts and resources used throughout a product's life, from raw materials extraction to production, and extending through product use and disposal. Individually autoclaving the reusable LMA (because of stock shortages, for example) increased life cycle GHG emissions by >400%, whereas loading with 10 LMAs per cycle decreased emissions by nearly 25%. All of which provides an easy user experience, but, takes a toll on the planet. After the products make their way to consumers and serve their purpose, the waste must be dealt with. How Long Will It Take That Bag of Trash to Decompose in a Landfill?The Balance Small Business, The Balance Small Business, 22 Oct. 2019, www.thebalancesmb.com/how-long-does-it-take-garbage-to-decompose-2878033#plastic-waste. To create the metal compound, carbon is added to the purified tungsten in a complex chemical process where the materials are heated to over 2,200 degrees celsius. 11 / Piece. disposable paper diaper; material recycling; closed-loop recycling; life cycle assessment (LCA) 1. SimaPro 7.3.2. Features Downloads. It has a low density and is quite flexible and heat resistant, therefore making it an easily moulded and extruded material. A Comparative Life Cycle Assessment of Disposable and Reusable Packaging for the Distribution of Italian Fruit and Vegetables. Growing awareness of the negative impacts from the practice of health care on the environment and public health calls for the routine inclusion of life cycle criteria into the decision-making process of device selection. My next blog post will show some design recommendations using sketches and 3D-printed prototypes. For You for Everyone Registration Document. Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) is a technique for assessing the potential environmental aspects and potential aspects associated with a product (or service), by: compiling an inventory of relevant inputs and outputs, evaluating the potential environmental impacts associated with those inputs and outputs, Waste is not only a problem when a product is disposed of, but also when it is initially manufactured. HUO0NpnaJd@"&u[kj-+8=WU\*w)OMYb_ry> 1F3 nyNnb 0 Park Ridge, IL: American Society of Anesthesiologists, 1999, 15. Therefore, to help designers get started and make informed decisions, a Life cycle Analysis (LCA) can be carried out using the information gathered during the research stage. Gillette's slogan 'Gillette - the best a man can get' is famous the world over. Small components such as inks and labels on the packaging and on the sterilization indicator strips are expected to have negligible impacts and were excluded from the analysis. Anaesthesia 2007;62:3814, 5. van Zundert AAJ, Fonck K, Al-Shaikh B, Mortier E. Comparison of the LMA-Classic with the new disposable soft seal laryngeal mask in spontaneously breathing adult patients. 2002/03 and 2005/06, to include an assessment of the effects of a range of behavioural assumptions on the life cycle environmental impacts of the reusable nappy types, and to compare these with each other and with modern disposable nappies. CASE STUDY ANALYSIS - CLEAN EDGE, NON DISPOSABLE RAZOR Q1. 2 offers from $9.92. When the devices entered use at Yale New Haven Hospital, both the disposable and the reusable LMAs were removed from their original packaging, which was discarded. It is also often not accepted in curbside recycling, and even when it is, it is not separated and recycled when it reaches the dumping station, making it an unsustainable and wasteful material (Polystyrene. Wikipedia.org). It is a thermoplastic that exhibits high heat resistance, dimensional stability, and accuracy and is often combined with other plastics, such as polystyrene, due to various problems in its processing (Poly(p-Phenylene Oxide, Wikipedia.org). Now that we understand the key challenges with the razors, and where the biggest impacts are occurring, we can begin to make informed decisions in the redesign. BIC may be doing as much as possible to lessen the impact of the production of disposable razors, but due to the massive production it will because unsustainable, because of the energy input, material consumptions, and unrecyclable nature of disposable razors. From San Diego, both LMAs were assumed to be transported 4700 km by truck to New Haven, CT (70% of shipments in the US are made by truck).13. The largest difference in environmental impacts is seen in the impact category of carcinogenesis, in which reusable LMAs cause 5% of the impacts of disposable LMAs. In the late 1990s, disposable LMAs became available. To start the process of making the blades, tungsten carbide is melted at high temperatures. If all 2.6 billion of those razors each weight 8.8 grams, then the total amount of waste produced would be around 25,220 tonnes. The 1% of the material that is recycled however, goes through a 5 step recycling process which is collecting, sorting, cleaning, reprocessing, and producing new products. Polystyrene. Wikipedia, Wikimedia Foundation, 2 Dec. 2019, en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Polystyrene. Wages are then spent on food, entertainment, transport, and other economic activities that themselves have environmental impacts. Nash, Nathaniel C. HOW BIC LOST THE EDGE TO GILLETTE. The New York Times, The New York Times, 11 Apr. Biro P. Damage to laryngeal masks during sterilization. Quantifying the Environmental Impacts of Labor. We are proud that it is among the leading professional LCA software . Applying this method of assessment is complex and difficult and translating the theory into a . Anesth Analg 2012;114:105566, 8. : Uses, Benefits, and Safety Facts.ChemicalSafetyFacts.org, 17 June 2019, www.chemicalsafetyfacts.org/polystyrene/. To go from raw materials to final product involves many steps and heavy energy input. The blades and lubricating strip were too light to be measured with our equipment so their weights were rounded to 1g. Dbendorf, Switzerland, 2011, 12. Anyone can send in razors of any kind, and the plastic and cardboard packaging as well. LMA Classic Product Specifications, 2011, 10. Int J Life Cycle Assess 2001;6:7680, 13. The US Environmental Protection Agency's Tool for the Reduction and Assessment of Chemical and other environmental Impacts (TRACI) life cycle impact assessment method was used to model environmental impacts of greenhouse gases and other pollutant emissions. The natural half life of a large stock of reusable laryngeal mask airways at a teaching hospital. Since BICs products do not go to a single location it is impossible to give an exact number for BICs energy usage in transportation. For climate change impacts specifically, the reusable LMA contributes 7.4 kg CO2e of GHGs over its life cycle, and the equivalent 40 disposable LMAs contribute 11.3 kg CO2e, or approximately the equivalent to burning a gallon (4 L) of gasoline. Razor blades dull quickly after repeated use, and are recommended to be used only three to ten times, making them a cheap alternative to reusable cartridges. Overview. The advantage of using this method compared to a more comprehensive LCA method is that its much simpler to carry out and to gather the required information because the data regarding the most common materials and processes has been collected in advance. Previous studies have examined the relative environmental profiles of reusables and disposables with regard to medical textiles7 and anesthetic drug trays.8 The present study uses life cycle assessment to evaluate the life cycle impacts of disposable and reusable LMAs across several categories of environmental and human health impacts. A comparative cradle to grave life cycle assessment (LCA) was conducted to determine and analyze the environmental impacts of using disposable acrylic speculums versus using reusable stainless-steel speculums in a women's university health clinic where around 5,000 pelvic exams are conducted on a yearly basis. Figure: Life Cycle Assessment steps: goal and scope definition, life cycle inventory, life cycle impact assessment and interpretation (Sala et al., 2016) In the goal and scope phase, the aims of the study are defined, namely the intended application, the reasons for carrying out the study and the intended audience. Life cycle impact assessment (LCIA) covers all relevant inputs from the environment (e.g., ores and crude oil, water, land use) as well as emissions into air, water and soil (e.g., carbon dioxide and nitrogen oxides). The unit cost of disposable LMAs is 20% higher at approximately $9.60 per unit. The polypropylene is sorted during recycling using a float test that separates it from other materials based on its ability to float due to its weight, then it is often melted down and reused in other product manufacturing. They have also reduced shipping time, by only sending the blades from Greece to Mexico to optimize the tools and products available in each location, instead of having all the materials shipped to each factory. The metal and plastic components of the cartridges will be assembled, where they will then go to the next station where the blades will be inserted. To aid in solving this issue, I believe consumers should stray away from wasteful disposable razors and be encouraged to go with more sustainable and longer lasting options such as classic safety razors. A combination of transportation methods is used depending on where the product needs to go. U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. The human-health-related impact categories are pertinent to those developing standards for the delivery of health care. The majority of life cycle human health impacts of disposable LMAs are caused by PVC use in packaging and the device itself. Bic USAs 2016 registration document provides information about the waste produced during the manufacturing of the razors. 13, 14 There are few published life cycle assessment studies of medical items (ref. These included alternative routes and modes of transport from San Diego to New Haven, changes in autoclave loading practices and efficiency, and varied amounts of PVC in the disposable LMA. Goal, scope and background The industrial packages sector has great importance for the transport sector in Europe. A Life Cycle Assessment of Disposable Razors. Life Cycle Approach to Plastic Pollution - Life Cycle Initiative Our news to your inbox Click to subscribe to LC Net info@lifecycleinitiative.org About Us Our Activities & Tools Reports & Training News & Events Get Involved Life Cycle Approach to Plastic Pollution Activities Life Cycle Assessment in High-Impact sectors An exact number for the energy use for BIC was not obtained. Available at: http://www.cdc.gov/ncidod/dvrd/cjd/qa_cjd_infection_control.htm. Life cycle assessment, according to ISO 14040/44, is conducted in four steps [29,30,31]: (1) goal and scope definition, (2) life cycle inventory, (3) life cycle impact assessment, and (4) interpretation. Assessing all steps in that life cycle provides insight into individual stresses and burden shifts from one step to another and enables understanding of both the cumulative environmental impacts and related trade-offs in each area, throughout the lifespan of both a facility and its manufactured products. The full life cycle environmental impacts can be challenging to model, because modern production "pathways" can involve numerous interacting technologies, each of which can consume materials and energy that are themselves products of complex production processes. In this case it was very difficult to see what materials the product contained and exactly how it was manufactured (as the big manufacturing companies wouldnt disclose this information), so some of the data had to be assumed. hbbd``b`z$k@D It is used to assist companies, consumers, and policy-makers in greening their practices and decisions. Please try after some time. Zhang TW, Dornfeld DA. Once extracted, the tungsten is then shipped to a desired location for it to be manufactured into the metal compound. (i)What changes occurring in non-disposable Razor category? Premature disposal of reusable LMAs has significant environmental impacts (as well as costs, discussed below). BIC is a French manufacturing company that produces a variety of disposable consumer products like pens, lighters and disposable razors. Their carbon footprint was reported with the highest offender being air travel for the product, and staff transportation coming from France: accounting for 73% of the companys annual greenhouse gas emissions (Bic). Any extra plastic will be discarded, remelted, and reused (Safety Razor, madehow.com). To make the handle and cartridges, these various plastics are heated together and melted together along with optional colorants and various filler materials.
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