Intro to LCA Packaging Examples Interactive LCA tool
Evaluating Sustainable Packaging with Life Cycle Assessment PE Americas
Life Cycle Assessment
Is not enough!
• • • • • •
QUANTIFY!
A growing demand for greater transparency and traceability of sustainability performance across the supply chain Consumers confused by labels such as “green” and “eco-friendly” Investors are skeptical that sustainability efforts pay off beyond a slight boost in corporate image Cash-strapped companies want to make sure that their investments are targeted at the most high impact projects Governments and other stakeholders are starting to demand greater transparency around environmental claims Industry lacks quantitative support for sustainable innovation
Sustainability How to achieve it
•Steering on investment of resources, biggest bang for environmental buck
PE Americas PE Americas - a joint venture of PE International and Five Winds International, two of the world’s largest, most experienced sustainability consulting firms. •
Five Winds International, a leading management consulting firm focused on Sustainability •
28.09.2010
PE International, a premier provider of life cycle consulting, software, databases, and services
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PE/Five Winds Tools and Services Sustainability has been our business model for over 20 years.
Life Cycle Assessment Services ECO Design Practices Product Category Rule Energy efficiency studies Monitoring and Reporting Carbon Footprints / Offset Supply Chain Management
Corporate Sustainability 28.09.2010
Corporate Sustainability Platform Sustainability information management and reporting (e.g., GRI, ISO 14001, OHSAS 18000) Key Performance Indicator (KPI) systems Corporate Carbon Footprint
Process Sustainability
Product Sustainability Platform Life Cycle Assessment Life Cycle Inventory Design for Environment Product Carbon Footprint Environmental Product Declarations (EPD)
Product Sustainability •5 5
Global Presence Utilizing a network of over 150 sustainability consultants worldwide North America
Europe
Asia
Africa
South America Australia Software Sales Partner PE Subsidiaries •28.09.2010
Five Winds International Presence of PE or partners •6
Life cycle perspective Raw Materials
Product Manufacture Materials Manufacture
Final Disposal 28.09.2010
Recycling
Transportation & Distribution Use
Life cycle perspective Raw Materials
Product Manufacture Materials Manufacture
Final Disposal 28.09.2010
Recycling
Transportation & Distribution Use
Marketing examples •Timberland’s EcoLabel uses LCA numbers
•Levi Strauss and Co. introduced the life cycle assessment tool to consumers
•A Brazilian based beauty care company
How to do an LCA
ISO 14040 guidelines define the LCA process Goal & Scope Definition: Determination of scope and system boundaries
Life Cycle Inventory: Data collection, modeling & analysis
Life cycle assessment framework Goal and Scope Definition
Inventory Analysis
Impact Assessment: Analysis of inputs and outputs using indicators
Interpretation: Sensitivity analysis, Monte Carlo analysis, dominance analysis, weighting (discouraged)
Impact Assessment
Interpretation
Functional Unit
≠ • Time • Quantity • Quality
Examples of Functional Units 1 yd2 of carpet on the floor for 7 years 1000 lbs of cotton fiber 1 print cartridge
Life Cycle Impact Assessment Calculation of impact potential by category
Inventory value
*
GWP Factor
=
Impact potential
25 kg CO2
*
1
=
25 [kg CO2-Equivalent]
2 kg Methane
*
23
=
46 [kg CO2-Equivalent]
...
*
...
=
Total:
...
71 [kg CO2-Equivalent]
1 kg Methane is equivalent to the impact of 23 kg CO2
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Life Cycle Impact Assessment Categories - global, regional and local Global Criteria Primary Energy Demand Global Warming Potential Ozone Depletion Potential
Regional Criteria Acidification Potential Eutrophication Potential Smog Creation Potential
Other Criteria Human- and Eco-Toxicity Potential Land use Water Intake (Total & Irrigation) Pesticide & Fertilizer use
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Life Cycle Impact Assessment Interface Carpet – Carbon Footprint of Vinyl-backed Carpet Tile Overall Product Breakdown
Raw Material Breakdown
10% Other 10% Process Energy
Vinyl Resin 10%
80% Raw Materials
Polyester 7%
Other 7%
Nylon 6,6 45%
Latex Polymer 13% Plasticizer 18%
**Identified Nylon 6,6 as largest material impact
19.01.2010
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Intro to LCA Packaging Examples Interactive LCA tool
Evaluating Sustainable Packaging with Life Cycle Assessment PE Americas
Packaging Reduction Project Clever Little Bag - PUMA
Project: The "Clever Little Bag" replaces the cardboard shoebox with a re-usable shoe bag Environmental Benefits: • Reduce the paper used for shoeboxes by 65% • Reduce carbon emissions by 10 000 tons per year In other words: • approximately 8,500 tons less paper will be consumed, • 20 million Megajoules of electricity will be saved, • 1 million litres less fuel oil will be used, and • 1 million litres of water will be saved.
http://www.pe-international.com/company/newsroom/newsdetail/article/protecting-shoes-and-environment-clever-littlebag-from-puma/
28.09.2010
Packaging Reduction Project Reel-less Packaging
Project: Created new product delivery system which required NO packaging. The original system was made from large wooden reels Benefits: For one large client, this project • Reduced direct cost approximately $500,000 • Reduced product waste (avoiding purchase of $140,000 new materials) • Reduced landfill tipping fees $10,000 annually. Environmental Benefits LCA conducted to show the environmental benefits…
28.09.2010
Packaging Reduction Project Benefits
Project: Created new product delivery system which required NO packaging. The original system was made from large wooden reels Benefits: For one large client, this project • Reduced direct cost approximately $500,000 • Reduced product waste (avoiding purchase of $140,000 new materials) • Reduced landfill tipping fees $10,000 annually. Environmental Benefits LCA conducted to show the environmental benefits…
28.09.2010
Packaging Reduction Project Benefits?
The main benefits of reducing packaging are avoided disposal of reels at their end of life, and avoided production of the wood for the reels. However, these avoided impacts are all dwarfed by the impacts of the product itself. Switching to reel-less packaging reduces the life cycle impacts of 1000 ft of product from 5517 to 5483 lbs CO2 equivalent. This is roughly half of one percent.
28.09.2010
Apple Communicating benefits
To accurately measure a company’s environmental footprint, you must look at the impact that company’s products have on the planet. Apple uses comprehensive life cycle analysis to determine exactly where our greenhouse gas emissions — all 10.2 million metric tons of them1 — come from.
http://www.apple.com/environment/complete-lifecycle/#recycling
28.09.2010
Apple Communicating benefits
Efficient packaging design helps reduce the emissions produced during transportation. The packaging for the 13-inch MacBook Pro, for example, is 41 percent smaller than the previousgeneration MacBook. That means 50 percent more boxes fit on each shipping pallet, more pallets fit on each boat and plane, and fewer boats and planes are used — resulting in fewer CO2 emissions.
28.09.2010
Intro to LCA Packaging Examples Interactive LCA tool
Evaluating Sustainable Packaging with Life Cycle Assessment PE Americas
GaBi i-report The challenge
Problem: Lack of instant LCA decision-support within the product development process Solution: An interactive report that provides product designers and decision-makers with a tool to evaluate environmental performance of new product alternatives
28.09.2010
GaBi i-report Example screenshot
Parameter Entry Area Access the parameter values that were defined in your GaBi 4 model Make changes to these values
Report Area Model results are re-calculated and displayed here
Questions? John Jewell j.jewell@pe-international.com PE Americas