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In this section :- (click below)
(A) Life Cycle Analysis
(B) LCA of PP-HDPE Woven sacks VIS-a-VIS
jute and paper bags
(C) Life Cycle Analysis of Plastics in
packaging in terms of "Cradle
to grave" Aproach
(D) Life Cycle Analysis of Waste Bags
Institut für Energie- und Umweltforschung (IFEU) Heidelberg
- Plastic Pouch vis-a-vis Glass Bottle for Milk Packaging
- Plastic Bag vis-a-vis Jute Bag for Atta packaging(Flour)
- HDPE Cans vis-a-vis Tin cans for Lube Oil Packaging
Life Cycle Analysis
Life Cycle Analysis is an important environmental management
tool to gauge the impact of a product on the environment from
its manufacturing stage to its final disposal / disintegration.
The development of industries and the various man - made activities
to fulfil the requirement of human race, has created an enormous
impact on the environment. Any man-made product has some impact
on the environment. To analyse the impact/effect of a particular
product on he environment, one has to consider the life cycle
analysis of the product which consists of the following aspects
:
Life cycle analysis on following Plastics materials/proudts
have been included in this document :
1) LCA of PP-HDPE Woven sacks vis-à-vis jute/paper
2) LCA of Plastics in Packaging
For - Milk
- Atta(Flour)
- Lube Oil
LCA of PP-HDPE Woven sacks VIS-a-VIS jute and paper bags
Packaging is both a symbol of society's consumption habits and
reflection of its progress. The user expects it to have better
strength, easier handling, to be lighter, more aesthetic, safer
from a hygiene point of view, etc. The manufacturer undertakes
research and development to meet these demands and to offer
a high quality product. In addition to its standard attributes,
today's packaging just also contribute to protecting the environment,
and certainly must not damage it besides being friendly to human
health. The packaging referred to in this document is used to
pack and distribute bulk products, like cement, fertilizers,
sugar, food grains, salt, chemicals, oilseeds etc. as opposed
to the carry bags that vendors offer their customers for carrying
various edible/non-edible items purchased in retail.
Today where there is a lot of controversy about different
packaging materials and their environmental credentials, an
ecological assessment as well as study of effects on human
health is necessary. In view of this ICPE (Indian Centre for
Plastic in the Environment, New Delhi) decided to carry out
a Life Cycle Analysis (LCA) of bulk packaging materials (Jute
Sacks, PP-HDPE woven Sacks and Paper Sacks) with a capacity
of 50 kg or below. Life cycle analysis is an effective tool
to measure the impact of a product or process on the environment.
In this study, it covers the environmental and resource impact
of PP-HDPE woven sacks in particular vis-à-vis Jute/Paper
from the stage of raw material extraction, production, use
and disposal, taking into account all the inputs such as materials,
energy, capital equipment, man-hours, etc.) and the outputs
like products, by-products, waste materials, emissions at
every stage using cradle to grave approach.
Resource Consumption & Recovery
The analysis by steps identifies the production of jute and
paper and subsequently manufacture of sacks as being responsible
for the greatest consumption of energy (~ 669.6 Thousand GJ/MMT
of packed product) in case of paper bag and 333 Thousand GJ/MMT
of packed product in case of jute sacks as compared to PP-HDPE
woven sacks (~ 226.8 Thousand GJ/MMT of packed product). Energy
consumption related to transportation of bulk goods shows
that transportation in jute sacks requires significantly excess
amount of energy, being about 2036 GJ/MMT of packed product
in case of jute sacks, and 928 GJ/MMT of packed product where
paper is being used as packaging material (compared to transportation
in PP-HDPE woven sacks).
Another major resource utilization is being demonstrated
in terms of consumption of water. The manufacture of jute
and paper sacks is found to be responsible for the overall
greatest consumption of water; ~ 22 Thousand lakh litre/ (MMT
of packed product) in case of jute bag production and ~ 18
Thousand lakhlitre/ (MMT of packed product) in case of paper
bag production. This is about 10 (jute) and 7 (paper) times
higher than that for PP-HDPE woven sack for one MMT of packed
product.
Furthermore, both the production of jute and paper sacks
requires utilization of chemicals in the tune of 258 ton/MMT
of packed product (for jute) and 4647 ton/MMT of packed product
(for paper) whereas almost negligible amount of chemicals
of this nature are required at all for production of PP-HDPE
woven sacks (0.014 ton/ MMT of packed product). The energy
requirement and more particularly health hazards connected
to these should be taken into consideration for comparison
of the three materials for bulk packaging purposes.
More importantly attention is also given to two end-of-life
cases i.e.,100% incineration (waste to energy) and/or 100%
recycling with energy recovery/saving. According to this phase
energy recovery due to incineration is about 95 Thousand GJ
for PP-HDPE woven sacks used for packaging one MMT of bulk
commodities as compared to ~170 Thousand GJ in case of paper
sacks used for packaging one MMT of bulk commodities. Similarly
energy savings due to recycling is found to be 47 GJ for PP-HDPE
woven sacks used for packaging one MMT of bulk commodities
while it is only 32 Thousand GJ for paper sacks used for packaging
one MMT of bulk commodities. It should also be noted that
in case of recycling of plastics the waste enters into a new
life and if the waste management technique is taken into consideration
the life cycle analysis of plastics can be termed as "Cradle
to Cradle" approach instead of "Cradle to Grave".
In this phase minimum or almost no recovery of energy is at
all in practice for waste jute sacks.
Emission to Air
The emission of CO2 for the materials has approximately the
same profile. However, the analysis of input effects indicates
remarkably high emission of CH4 emission in case of production
of jute bag. The comparative study on emission during transportation
also shows significantly excess generation of CO, CO2 and
NOx as compared to that in case of PP-HDPE woven sacks.
Emission to Water
The emission of CO2 for the materials has approximately the
same profile. However, the analysis of input effects indicates
remarkably high emission of CH4 emission in case of production
of jute bag. The comparative study on emission during transportation
also shows significantly excess generation of CO, CO2 and
NOx as compared to that in case of PP-HDPE woven sacks.
Health Hazards to Human
The standard of living of PP-HDPE workers is much better,
compared to those toiling in Jute and Paper in conditions
far from congenial to human health. Jute farmers suffer from
respiratory diseases, skin disorders, and certain cancers--
arising from nitrogen dioxide, hydrogen sulfide, ammonia,
carbon dioxide and methane produced during its cultivation.
Besides, the workers are required to remain for 6 to 10 hours
in waist-deep water during retting of Jute. In addition, the
Jute Batching Oil used during softening process of Jute remains
in the final Jute sacks. Food substances packed in Jute sacks
have the potential to jeopardize human health by causing several
illnesses such as dizziness, headache, nausea and vomiting,
etc.
The toxic chemicals released by Paper industry have enough
potential to harm earth's life forms. In forests, where pulp
mills sludge has been disposed, dioxins have accumulated in
the tissues of field animals and have caused bio-chemical
effects on birds. As dioxin resist natural breakdown processes,
they build up over time in the environment and can undergo
continual recycling through out the environment. Thus, even
if production of dioxin ceases, levels already present in
the environment will take long time to decrease. Finally,
organo-chlorines are found in the paper products themselves.
The study of mortality rate of these workers is absolutely
necessary to study and direct weightage to be given while
considering the total impact assessment. Needless to mention
such health hazards are non-existent for PP-HDPE woven sacks,
both at raw material stage as well as at sack manufacturing
stage.
Conclusion
Though plastics like PP-HDPE are relatively newcomers, the
use of it in packaging of bulk commodities adhere the basic
tenets of sustainable development more than materials like
Jute and Paper, if one considers the consumption of energy,
emission of gases and the use of chemicals. An analysis of
the comparable life cycle with jute and paper clearly tells
that plastics are economically affordable, socially acceptable
and environmentally effective. Health hazards for workers
in jute and paper are very high while those employed in plastics
are almost free from such health hazards.
While documenting the stages of procuring raw material for
jute, PP-HDPE and paper, it highlights the facts that were
hitherto kept under the wrap, such as the hazards on workers
and environment caused by massive use of fertilizers, insecticides
and chemicals in jute and paper. On the contrary, the use
of PP-HDPE is not only safe, but as a whole actually saves
more oil than needed for their manufacture.
The recording of the stages of production of jute sacks,
PP-HDPE woven sacks and paper sacks give a complete picture
of the consumption of energy, water and gases in all the three
materials and remove the prevailing notion that jute and paper
are more environment- friendly than PP-HDPE.
Another sensitivity in the study results in discovering
the effects of the weight of the jute vis-à-vis PP-HDPE
woven sacks on the overall loss to environment through transport
of commodities. Managing waste help to produce more from fewer
resources, while generating less pollution and waste. The
measures to reduce the amount of solid waste produced, either
as industrial, commercial or domestic waste, in essence are
improvements in efficiency. Jute and paper as bulk packaging
material cause more stress on waste management than PP-HDPE
woven sacks. The residual plastics at less than 10 percent
by weight of Municipal Solid Waste can provide 20 per cent
of the fuel value for a local WTE plant.
PP-HDPE-based bulk packaging is a vehicle for sustainable
development, and is fully renewable and recyclable.
Life Cycle Analysis of Plastics in packaging in terms of
"Cradle to grave" Aproach
- Plastic Pouch vis-a-vis Glass Bottle for Milk Packaging
- Plastic Bag vis-a-vis Jute Bag for Atta packaging(Flour)
- HDPE Cans vis-a-vis Tin cans for Lube Oil Packaging
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