Sustainability | Free Full-Text | Reducing the Environmental Impact of Life Cycle Assessment explained: an introduction to building LCA LIFE CYCLE ASSESSMENT: PRINCIPLES AND PRACTICE | Science Inventory - US EPA For example, the designer might think that the manufacturing stage would be the most impactful, when in reality for some products its the raw material extraction or its use phase. Once extracted, the tungsten is then shipped to a desired location for it to be manufactured into the metal compound. During a Life Cycle Assessment (LCA), environmental impacts are evaluated throughout the entire life cycle of a product (production, use and disposal or recovery).This also includes the upstream and downstream processes associated with production (e.g., the production of . It is at this stage that very small amounts of other metals such as iron, silicon, and chromium may be added to the carbide to increase its strength and durability. Energy Consumption by Mode of Transportation. Energy Consumption by Mode of Transportation | Bureau of Transportation Statistics, Bureau of Transportation Statistics, www.bts.gov/content/energy-consumption-mode-transportation. Our team of experts has many years of experience in the ecological evaluation of products and services. Municipal Solid Waste Generation, Recycling, and Disposal in the United States: Facts and Figures for 2010. The biggest impact during the cartridge-based razor life-cycle is manufacturing the cartridge as this is the part which is hardest to make. Most of those razors just end up in a landfill because most countries are not recycling them. The most important sources of impacts for the disposable LMA were the production of polymers, packaging, and waste management, whereas for the reusable LMA, washing and sterilization dominated for most impact categories. The specific type or blend of plastic for BIC razors is used is called polystyrene (Europe). In life cycle assessment, the basis of comparison is called the functional unit. For this report, the functional unit of the disposable and reusable LMAs was taken to be maintenance of airway patency by 40 disposable LMAs or 40 uses of 1 reusable LMA. The plastic handle and head of the disposable razor consists of a hybrid of polypropylene, polystyrene, and phenylene oxide, also known as PPO. LCA can be used to compare alternative products, processes or services; compare alternative life cycles for a certain product . Di(2-ethylhexyl) phthalate (DEHP) Hazard Summary. Eckelman, Matthew PhD*; Mosher, Margo; Gonzalez, Andres; Sherman, Jodi MD. Gathering all the data for the LCA is the most difficult part of the task, and normally assumptions have to be made where its impossible to gather all the knowledge required, thus not all the relevant impacts are considered. The body of both razors had similar impact as their weights were also quite similar. The remaining percentage is split up between energy consumption in their three facilities in: Clichy (France), Shelton (U.S.), and Cajamar (Brazil) (For You For Everyone: Registration Document, Bic). Sherman JD, Ryan S. Ecological responsibility in anesthesia practice. 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. Table 2 shows the results of alternate assumption on the overall results. In the case of the disposable razor however, it is fairly simple due to its nature. This points to the need for effective inventory control, which is also critical for the reusable devices because there needs to be a sufficient number clean and on hand while another batch is undergoing cleaning, sterilization, and cooling. The life cycle of plastics Life cycle assessment (LCA) considers the environmental aspects associated with a product over its lifespan. A complete life cycle cost analysis would complement the life cycle assessment results shown here; however, a simple analysis reveals that, assuming full utilization, a $200 reusable LMA costs $5 per use, plus $3 per cleaning for a unit cost of $8, excluding utility and hospital overhead costs. GaBi includes its own database containing life cycle inventories of processes such as polypropylene manufacturing, transportation, and landfill . Flying staff to meetings, shipping, and distributing the product is the highest offender for the planet. It is resistant to fats and almost all organic solvents which helps it hold up in the damp and warm conditions of a bathroom and shower (Polypropylene. Wikipedia.org). There are only two components for the BIC disposable razors which are the plastic body and razor blade. Gillette Sensor3 Sensitive Men's Disposable Razors : Target Overall, reusable LMAs were found to have fewer negative environmental effects in nearly all categories, typically contributing <50% of the impacts of disposable LMAs. A Life Cycle Assessment of Disposable Razors. J Environ Assess Policy Manage 2000;2:45376, 2. The tables didnt contain values for welding steel, so it has been assumed that the value is close to welding aluminium which is in the table. A life cycle assessment or analysis according to ISO 14040/14044 is an instrument of environmental and sustainability management. Enter the email address you signed up with and we'll email you a reset link. There are some solutions and new recycling ideas, yet, the reduction of waste for disposable razors is still far off. Certain practices would further reduce the environmental impacts of reusable LMAs, such as increasing the number of devices autoclaved in a single cycle to 10 (25% GHG emissions) and improving the energy efficiency of the autoclaving machines by 10% (8% GHG emissions). With the recommended use of three to ten uses for disposable razors, they quickly end up in the landfill to decompose. Life-cycle assessment - Ways of reducing the use of resources - AQA Life Cycle Assessment of Disposable and Reusable Nappies in the UK Ref: ISBN 1844324273, LIT 2080 PDF, 1.83 MB, 203 pages This file may not be suitable for users of assistive technology.. Such an analysis is commonly performed using life cycle assessment. Reusable LMAs in general appear to be made largely of silicone, lacking these same concerns for PVC/DEHP. There is uncertainty in several model assumptions. In life cycle assessment, the basis of comparison is called the functional unit. For this report, the functional unit of the disposable and reusable LMAs was taken to be maintenance of airway patency by 40 disposable LMAs or 40 uses of 1 reusable LMA.9 Data collection was specific to Yale New Haven Hospital, including device transportation, cleaning procedures and labor, energy requirements, and disposal. Poly(p-Phenylene Oxide). Wikipedia, Wikimedia Foundation, 28 Sept. 2019, en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Poly(p-phenylene_oxide). 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. 3 in Table 1). There are land, air, and water-based transportation methods. Ask a worker if you can put them in the bin by themselves or if they need to be in a recyclable container to protect sanitation workers from being cut. Kaplan, Desire. In this case its much harder for me to carry out an LCA on a Gillette razor than if Gillette did the LCA themselves, as they would have all the correct info required first-hand (reducing the number of assumptions needing to be used). Address e-mail to [emailprotected]. Europe, Plastic News. SimaPro is our flagship product: life cycle assessment software that gives sustainability experts, product designers and decision-makers the power to gain insight into the environmental performance of products and services, to define hotspots and to drive positive change. Life Cycle Assessment - Sustainability Guide To begin the process of creating the metal, the tungsten is purified and ground into a fine powder. 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. The majority of life cycle human health impacts of disposable LMAs are caused by PVC use in packaging and the device itself. Lv, Andrea Lind, and Tigist Fetene. It has been assumed that the packaging contains cardboard, even though it has been made from other natural fibres like bamboo, as there is no info on those materials in the Eco-Indicator tables. James Drinkwater - Head of Built Environment - LinkedIn PDF A Comparative Life Cycle Assessment of Compostable and Reusable Takeout 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. 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). Ann Fr Anesth Reanim 2006;25:8114, 7. Being that it is such a common and quickly replaced product, this is is a major issue in terms of waste. Evolution of disposable baby diapers in Europe: life cycle assessment Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) and Sustainability Assessment - Fraunhofer Life cycle assessment Plastics Europe The tungsten carbide is then ground into an extremely fine powder in a wet mill process, where metal binders and other metals such as cobalt may be added to increase the metals strength and durability and to help hold the powder together when it is shaped. Anesth Analg 1993;77:1079, 21. 21 offers from $5.20. Disposable and reusable LMAs typically differ in material composition, packaging, reuse, and cost. This is the fourth installment in a series of blogs in which weexplore how to design a product for circularity. RSA The life cycle impacts of the disposable and reusable LMA options are shown in Figure 2 for all impact categories, on the basis of data from Yale New Haven Hospital. Brimacombe J, Keller C, Morris R, Mecklem D. A comparison of the disposable versus the reusable laryngeal mask airway in paralyzed adult patients. Select patients who are highly infective warrant the choice of disposable devices; however, data do not support selecting disposables for all patients to avoid any possible risk of infection. Tungsten Carbide. Wikipedia, Wikimedia Foundation, 26 Nov. 2019, en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tungsten_carbide. Life of a Razor Blade - GreatRazors.com Bic USAs 2016 registration document provides information about the waste produced during the manufacturing of the razors. However, because of the new awareness to their wasteful impact on the environment, some companies have begun to provide solutions to the disposable razor issue. The tracking can come from sales, and in 2018 more than $1.2 billion in disposable razors were sold in the U.S., with varying prices but many disposables costing less than $1 each (Olsen). Anesth Analg 1998;87:921, 3. Life cycle assessment of a disposable and a reusable surgery instrument Alternate assumptions were used to test model sensitivity and to create bounds to aid interpretation of the results (Table 2). By far, the biggest impact during the manufacturing of the razors was the 17 spot welds done in each cartridge. Case Studies. Case Studies : Reducing BIC's Rejection Rates | KEYENCE America, www.keyence.com/solutions/case-studies/bic.jsp. Everything You Need To Know About Polypropylene (PP) Plastic. Everything You Need To Know About Polypropylene (PP) Plastic, https://www.creativemechanisms.com/blog/all-about-polypropylene-pp-plastic. Phase 3: Life Cycle Impact Assessment. Life Cycle Assessment - GDRC The alternatives are objects made of bio compostable plastic,. Address correspondence to Jodi Sherman, MD, Yale University, School of Medicine, Department of Anesthesiology, 333 Cedar Street, TMP3, New Haven, CT 06520. Criteria air pollutants arise for the disposable LMA primarily from the production of ethylene (a polymer precursor) and the combustion of natural gas throughout the system, and for the reusable LMA from the combustion of fossil fuels to produce steam and electricity. In this paper, many details about the life cycle stages were not included. Cited Here. Comparison of the single use and reusable intubating laryngeal mask airway. This is where the razors are portioned into their desired packaging amounts, that will be sent off to consumers. Overall, while the materials for disposable razors are few, and the products basic design makes it appear simplistic, the products lifecycle is far from simple. These are the reasons why I will carry out an Eco-Indicator Assessment instead of a full LCA. Reducing Trichloroethylene (TCE) Waste in the Fabricated Metals Sector.EPA, Environmental Protection Agency, 9 Aug. 2016, www.epa.gov/toxics-release-inventory-tri-program/reducing-trichloroethylene-tce-waste-fabricated-metals-sector. Current LMA procurement decisions are typically based on perceived costs. This means that it takes around 1 BTU to heat a 0.035-ounce razor blade to the desired temperature (Julabo et.al). Despite its ability to be recycled, it often ends up in the landfill as many people dont know how to properly recycle it, people are too lazy to recycle, or the plastics arent labeled properly (Polypropylene. Wikipedia). Another material used is polystyrene. Each year in Italy, millions of tons of fruits and vegetables are harvested, packed and transported to national and foreign retail outlets. In phase 3, we evaluate how significant the impacts are. These few simple materials go through processes of heating, cooling, moulding, cutting, and sharpening throughout their manufacturing process to eventually become the handle, razor blades, and blade cartridge, that will then be assembled to become a disposable razor. Die Basics 101: Intro to Stamping. The Fabricators, 18 July 2018, www.thefabricator.com/thefabricator/article/stamping/die-basics-101-intro-to-stamping. Despite this, a general perception is that reusable LMAs possess a safety profile inferior to that of disposable LMAs, thus contributing to the proliferation of the latter. However, the viability of the disposable razor is always thrown into question because of the sheer amount of resources that it expends. Metal materials are sent for smelting and conversion to new alloys (Terracycle). Where regulations permit, disposal of LMA-related waste as regular municipal waste, as opposed to biohazardous waste, should also reduce the adverse health effects stemming from medical waste incineration. BIC put out a report detailing how they deal with the waste from their factories. The long and harmful life-cycle of disposable razors is not reflected to the buyer browsing aisles of fully stocked razor shelves. The actual making of the razors, and printing paper for their packaging has a lower environmental impact, than the waste from the factories high energy use. In this case its the life-cycle of the cartridge-based razor. This is based on our Life Cycle Inventory flows from phase 2. The Nation's Freight: U.S. Bureau of Transportation Statistics. After the parts are manufactured it is time for the final product assembly. The extraction and consumption of resources (including energy), as well as releases to air, water, and soil, are quantified throughout all stages.