life cycle assessment of disposable razors

This is where most of the complexity of an LCA is involved. It has a low density and is quite flexible and heat resistant, therefore making it an easily moulded and extruded material. What is Life Cycle Assessment (LCA)? - Sphera It takes a lifetime perspective LCA takes into consideration all the steps that lead from raw material through manufacture, distribution and usage to final disposal. The Nation's Freight: U.S. Bureau of Transportation Statistics. These steps are not necessarily conducted in succession, but iteratively. Poly(Phenylene Oxide). The Polymer Science Learning Center, www.pslc.ws/macrog/ppo.htm. Gillette Mach3 Disposable Razors for Men, 6 Count, Designed for Sensitive Skin. endstream endobj 749 0 obj <>/Metadata 40 0 R/Pages 746 0 R/StructTreeRoot 63 0 R/Type/Catalog>> endobj 750 0 obj <>/MediaBox[0 0 612 792]/Parent 746 0 R/Resources<>/Font<>/ProcSet[/PDF/Text/ImageB/ImageC/ImageI]>>/Rotate 0/StructParents 0/Tabs/S/Type/Page>> endobj 751 0 obj <>stream Life Cycle Analysis (LCA) - A Complete Guide to LCAs J Clin Anesth 1997;9:432, 20. With the recommended use of three to ten uses for disposable razors, they quickly end up in the landfill to decompose. The next step the blade goes through is called polishing in which is done using strops made out of cowhide to get the desired blade edge shape, the blade is then cut into the sizes of the individual blades, which are then sent off to be inspected. (iii)What are the strategic lifecycle challenges for paramount's current products as well as for clean edge? 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. Though technicians are paid regardless of whether they are cleaning LMAs or are performing some other task, these wages are nonetheless assigned to the reusable LMA on the basis of time spent. At every point during planning, production, and even marketing, the quantity of consumption should be analyzed to adjust business models accordingly. I found information about the whole blade manufacturing process, but could not find details about energy consumption in every step of the process. This was a cradle-to-grave study that included inputs and outputs for the manufacture, transport, use, and waste phases of the LMAs. For more information, please refer to our Privacy Policy. Polyphenylene Oxides.Polyphenylene Oxides - an Overview | ScienceDirect Topics, 2013, www.sciencedirect.com/topics/chemical-engineering/polyphenylene-oxides. For You For Everyone: Registration Document.Bic World, Bic, 2016, www.bicworld.com/sites/default/files/2017-03/BIC_DRF2016_EN.pdf. Rogers, Tony. They have teamed up with Gillette to raise awareness about the massive waste of disposable razors by allowing users to mail their old razors in to be recycled. An LCA is a life cycle assessment which is completed through research, testing and understanding of the environmental impacts a particular item creates through it's resources use/ production/distribution/disposal. Environment Agency (Life Cycle Assessment of Disposable and Reusable Nappies in the U.K.) investigated the impact of three diapering systems: cloth diapers with home wash, cloth diapers with commercial laundry, and disposable diapers. BIC says its product beats out other models by 59 percent. More immediate levels of waste, however, happen during the processing of disposable razors before they are even brought to the buyer and the landfill. qILL@#nO @8 Conducting a Life Cycle Assessment (LCA): from Theory to Practical The mixed plastics used in most of the razor take hundreds of years to break down in landfill, and the blades, while the metal is recyclable if separated from the rest of the product, poses a safety hazard for both the consumer and the employees who handle recyclables. Safety Razor. How Products Are Made, www.madehow.com/Volume-5/Safety-Razor.html. Yet, tungsten has been found to deposit particles into the soil that causes some contamination, making it a recent concern to the United States Environmental Protection Agency. 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. The Great Recovery was a project by the RSA working with Innovate UK which ran between 2012 and 2016. The company reported that with their hazardous waste in 2016 11 percent was recycled, 49 percent incinerated with energy recovery, 8 percent sent to land disposal, and 32 percent was sent off to be treated in another way (For You for Everyone Registration Document). PPO elements of the disposable razor are hard to determine in years, however, data shows that most plastic items take up to 1,000 years to begin to decompose (LeBlanc). James Drinkwater - Head of Built Environment - LinkedIn Online Course Life Cycle Assessment | MIT Professional Education Life Cycle Assessment of Compostable Coffee Pods: A US - Nature There much environmentally friendly options when it comes to shavings, such as the traditional safety razor and straight razors, which can have a much longer life than disposable razors. Once in the landfill, it usually takes around 20-30 years to breakdown. The autoclave was typically run with 5 LMAs, although loading varied significantly. PDF An updated lifecycle assessment study for disposable and reusable nappies Where material types were unknown, proxies were assumed from relevant literature,2 although more detailed material information from suppliers would permit a more robust analysis. The blades, which are made from a carbide steel made using tungsten carbide, the handle, which is made from a combination of plastics such as polypropylene, polystyrene, and phenylene oxide (PPO), and the cartridge, which is made up of these plastics and sometimes the carbide steel as well (Safety Razor, madehow.com). The majority (77%) of life cycle CO2e emissions for the reusable LMA is from natural gas production and combustion to produce steam for the autoclave machine. 3. 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. It can also help them to compare the newly redesigned product to the original, acting as a benchmark to ensure the design changes are actually positive for the environment. The results also suggest effective procurement strategies for reducing the impacts of disposable LMAs where they are selected. Product Ecology (PR) Consultants. The total amount of direct GHG emissions in 2016 was estimated at 8,689 teqCO2, i.e. : Uses, Benefits, and Safety Facts.ChemicalSafetyFacts.org, 17 June 2019, www.chemicalsafetyfacts.org/polystyrene/. One of the materials used is polypropylene, a thermoplastic addition polymer made from the combination of propylene monomers (Creative Mechanisms Staff, creativemechanisms.com). What makes for an easy, simple, and affordable mass produced and used product costs more in its long afterlife in the landfill, out of sight of the buyers awareness. The life cycle for disposable razors must first be assessed by the products design. The high waste from manufacturing and shipping such a small, and cheap product is one that is negatively impacting the planet. Washington, DC: U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, 2011, 16. Teoh W, Lim Y. The LMA was then dried with a cotton towel. Life cycle assessment of a disposable and a reusable surgery instrument set for spinal fusion surgeries Leiden A, Cerdas F, Noriega D, Beyerlein J, Herrmann C. Life cycle assessment of a disposable and reusable surgery instrument set for spinal fusion surgeries. There are three main components in a disposable razor. The cartridge-based razor had a slightly higher impact due to the rubber parts which cant be separated from the plastic body. Life cycle assessment is a "cradle-to-grave" approach for determining the financial and environmental costs of a product over its entire life. 1. Overcash M. Comparison of reusable and disposable medical textiles. hb```X ea i:=3*?a_.k7#uq-u[JRP erle@@)`EkP;~ cdC58xiv06@Jup E In conclusion, disposable razors are being used and thrown away at a rate that is unsustainable for the finite space on the planet. In addition, the impact categories of eutrophication (growth of microorganisms due to excess nutrients) and terrestrial ecotoxicity reflect the impacts on other species and ecosystems and have implications for public health. My next blog post will show some design recommendations using sketches and 3D-printed prototypes. BIC Disposable Razor Design Life-Cycle It is cheap and highly versatile, and can either be hard plastic material, or a soft foam material, making it one of the most common plastic materials manufactured and used (What Is Polystyrene? The long and harmful life-cycle of disposable razors is not reflected to the buyer browsing aisles of fully stocked razor shelves. Life Cycle Impact Assessment is the estimation of indicators of the environmental pressures in terms of e.g. Finally, the razors are packaged in cardboard and plastic, and shipped out to stores and markets globally for customers to purchase and use. All of which provides an easy user experience, but, takes a toll on the planet. There are 3 key tasks in this step. Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) explained - PR Sustainability BIC Group, 2016, Sustainable Development Report. GaBi includes its own database containing life cycle inventories of processes such as polypropylene manufacturing, transportation, and landfill . Recycling of Polypropylene (PP). AZoCleantech.com, 25 June 2012, www.azocleantech.com/article.aspx?ArticleID=240. (PDF) A Comparative Life Cycle Assessment of Disposable - academia.edu

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