1. SUBJECT: MATERIAL PROFILE
UNIVERSITY OF OREGON
PAGE 1 OF 9
Project Proposal:
Reformulation in the consumer
product: Inflatable Water Slides.
Prepared for: Dr. Julia Haack, Chemistry 114
Prepared by: Lexi Alaga
March 18, 2012

2. Brief
Objective
My objective is creating greener more environmentally friendly inflatable water slides for children.
Inflatable water slides are designed for home use, therefore we want to make it safe and no risk or
hazardous materials leaking out. These inflatable water slides children enjoy playing with are
coated from the thick strong polymer PVC Tarpaulin or Vinyl and nylon.
Goals
Instead of using a PVC Tarpaulin or Vinyl, I would replace the polymer to be more sustainably for
the environment and safer for the children’s use. To facilitate this process I came up with a project
proposal to hand out to all major companies and store that make and sell this product. I created
my solution by thinking outside the box, I compared the polymer PVC and Vinyl to other
polymers that react in the same way in order to make the product work and look the same, but use
less energy to produce, and reduce the hazards and risks associated with PVC and Vinyl.
Solution
By accomplishing my solution, the removal to PVC Tarpaulin would be replaced with the polymer
polyethylene. Best solution would be reformulation, replacing one polymer with a another that acts
in the same way. High density polyethylene would be the best replacement because it is a strong
polymer that acts in the same way PVC does, but without the plasticizers.
SUBJECT: MATERIAL PROFILE
UNIVERSITY OF OREGON
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3. Green Chemistry &
Life Cycle Thinking
Green Chemistry Aspect
Green chemistry is the utilization of a set of principles that reduces or eliminates the use or
generation of hazardous substances in the design, manufacture, and application of chemical
products. So now lets take a look at the green chemistry side of what we want to replace the
polymer PVC with Polyethylene.
1. Create materials that have a lower impact: Polyethylene can be processed as natural, but most
of the time it will need something extra to make it more suitable for certain
applications;inflatable water slide. The additives are not harmful. Polyethylene is one of the
most environment friendly materials.
2. The manufacture of Polyethylene is relatively clean and efficient, the emission of harmful
substances is minimal and there is barely any waste.
3. Polyethylene is extremely suitable for recycling. It is a thermoplastic material, it can be melted
unlimited times and a new product can be made with it. But if is it collected after use, and
cannot be processed again, it supplies high quality fuel for power supply.
Life Cycle Thinking
Life cycle assessment is a tool to identify and quantify the materials and energy inputs and outputs
associated with the full life cycle of a product. LCA considers all stages of the product life cycle as
interdependent and this kind of comprehensive view provided a more accurate assessment of the
environment and human health impacts that are so important for comparing PVC with PE
Polyethylene
The life cycle for polyethylene starts with the raw materials. Polyethylene has oil and
natural gas. Naphtha is extracted from crude oil. Naphtha is another word for petroleum. By
heating up and making the naphtha crack, ethylene is release. Then in the factory the ethylene is
turned into polyethylene. Naphtha is a carcinogenic, a substance that is an agent directly involved
in causing cancer. Naphtha like many hydrocarbon products, they are products of a refining
process in which a complex soup of chemicals is broken in a range of chemicals, which are then
graded and isolated mainly by their specifics gravity and volatility (substance to vaporize). The little
tiny ethylene parts form a building block for polyethylene. The building blocks thread together
SUBJECT: MATERIAL PROFILE
UNIVERSITY OF OREGON
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4. into a sting and once the strings are ready they look like a branch. Ethylene, an organic compound
that is combustible and used as an anesthetic and listed IARC group 3 is not classifiable as to its
carcinogenicity to humans, is a gas when it enters the factory. In the factory the gas is transformed
into polyethylene. The solidifying polyethylene strings that come out are cut into little pieces by a
rotating knife, resulting in white granules, small grain like shapes, which look like coarse hail. The
granules will go to companies as a raw material, where they are melted and process into different
kind of products. Polyethylene is then turned into three main types, low-density polyethylene
(LDPE), high-density polyethylene (HDPE), and a mixture of both (LLDPE). Making the products
out of one of the three types, the polyethylene granules are put in a cylinder where they are heated.
The cylinder with the screw expressing the melted material is called an extruder. The extruder
pressed the melted mass through an opening at the end after which the polyethylene can be
process into different products before it cool and solidifies. Polyethylene can sometimes be process
as it is (natural) but most of the time it will need something extra to make it more suitable for
certain applications. In all the cases the additives are useful and necessary and not harmful.
Polyethylene is one of the most environment- friendly materials. The manufacturing is relatively
clean and efficient, the emission of harmful substances is minimal and there is barley any waste.
Polyethylene is extremely suitable for recycling. It is thermoplastic material. It can be melted
unlimited time and a new product can be made with it. But if is collected after use and cannot be
processed again, it supplies high quality fuel for power supply.
Polyvinyl Chloride
The raw materials that make up PVC, include water and chemical additives, which are
mixed together in an evacuated reactor. Then the liquid field vinyl chloride monomer is added.
VCM raw materials come from a saturated salt solution called brine is extracted and purified.
Brine is chemically treated to make chlorine. oil is first extracted and refined to form naphtha,
which is then broken down to make ethylene. Ethylene and chlorine form ethylene dichloride
(EDC) in the presence of an iron chloride catalyst. In the second step, the EDC intermediate is
heated to form vinyl chloride monomer, VCM. A hydrochloric acid is a byproduct of this step. A
mixture of the VCM droplets and polymerization initiator is heated. The heat activates the
initiator and large polyvinyl chloride molecules form. Unreacted VCM remains in the solution.
Processing removes unreacted VCM and or remaining water. The purified PVCis ready to be
converted and formed into new consumer products.
The hazards associated with making suspension PVC:
SUBJECT: MATERIAL PROFILE
UNIVERSITY OF OREGON
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5. The End of Life Diagram of PVC including the hazards:
SUBJECT: MATERIAL PROFILE
UNIVERSITY OF OREGON
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6. Polyethylene Report
Lexi Alaga
LIfe Cycle Report • University Of Oregon • March 23, 2012
SUBJECT: MATERIAL PROFILE
UNIVERSITY OF OREGON
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7. THIS WILL INCLUDE A DISCUSSION OF THE RELATIVE HAZARDS AND
ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACTS ASSOCIATED WITH THE SOLUTION IN
COMPARISON TO THE USE OF PVC
The two products in the graph i want you to focus on is PVC and HDPE. both product are
compared in defined environment impact categories, which can be conceptualized by real
environment detriment. This graph is comparing the two product choices, and why HDPE would
be a better polymer to use instead of PVC. If you take a look at all ten categories HDPE does not
result in maximum impact in any category. On the other hand if you take a look at PVC, it has a
great impact in 8 out of the 10 categories, being the most important to human health and health
to the environment.
SUBJECT: MATERIAL PROFILE
UNIVERSITY OF OREGON
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8. HOW AND WHY POLYETHYLENE IS A MORE SUSTAINABLE POLYMER
A chart showing the evaluation of PVC &HDPE, The darker green symbolize the more preferable
values.
In Conclusion
! In building a case for a greener inflatable water slide product, I will promote my project
proposal to major companies that sell these products including, WAL MART, TARGET, SPORT
AUTHORITY, BIG 5, & also to promote the idea all around the world. In order to get ride of the
risk associated with PVC tarpaulins kids play with, we need to think about the plasticizers. Some of
them rub off and getting on the skim, this can harm them, but the phthalates can leach into the
water and harm out environment or maybe be consumed accidentally by one of the kids playing
with the product. In the making of a PVC tarpaulin inflatable water slide, nylon or polyester, with
a coat of PVC coating of soft PVC, usually contains DINP. Phthalates may be released from the
Tarpaulin production, by washing, into rainwater and to the air. By reformulating the polymer to
HDPE we will not have that risk, therefore that hazard will no longer be presented in the product.
HDPE has no phthalates associated with it or added in to it, in order to act in the same way of
PVC tarpaulin. HDPE is the studies and more inflexible type. HDPE is quite heavy but it can be
used for paper thin-foil, that can act in a tarpaulin to make the new product HDPE inflatable
water slides. HDPE is also made from recycled water bottles, and bottles, so we know that are
sources are closed loop, and going right back into another product. HDPE is a more sustainable
polymer. It is easy to process by most methods, and has a low cost and good chemical resistant.
HDPE allows us to prevent waste where PVC we have to treat or clean up waste after its forms.
HDPE is making the product be designed to preserve efficacy of function while reducing toxicity.
Also the HDPE raw material feed stock is renewable, polyethylene is made out of petroleum, out
supply of petroleum is limited, by recycling and reusing these polymers, we are not depleting
whenever technically and economically practical. Unlike PVC, HDPE chemical products are
designed so that the end of their function they do not persist in the environment and break down
into innocuous degradation product. The end of life associated with PVC in our product would be
harmful to the environment, where in the HDPE inflatable water slide, has more than one use
SUBJECT: MATERIAL PROFILE
UNIVERSITY OF OREGON
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9. associated with it, and we can recycle it into another plastic product when finished. Therefor, this
results to HDPE being a more sustainable and a less hazardous material in the process, usage, and
end of life of an Inflatable Water Slide.
Opportunities and Challenges
In creating a product towards a greener solution, some opportunities i took to my advantage while
creating a greener product where all the information was given to me for PVC. The PVC material
profile, helped break down what I liked about the polymer and what I did not like. I found what i
did not like, and replaced it with a polymer i researched, and knew would not have those traits. A
challenge i had to overcome, was understanding what was so bad with PVC, there are no cases or
examples of people being harmed, but there were some for the environment. SOme gaps associated
with my project including being, narrowing done what product i wanted to make more green, the
business aspect and promoting my project. and how it will effect others. Also i needed to think
more of the chemistry PVC vs HDPE, why HDPE is better and i needed to implement this in my
project. the biggest challenge was coming up with policies relating to the HDPE product. I did not
know where to look or where to start, but i talked with others in my company, and we came up
with a good set of policy.
Policies & Economic Benefits
Our review of PVC uses and alternatives makes it clear that a PVC phaseout is achievable and
affordable. The alternatives are increasingly well known and well developed, and in many cases are
already cost-competitive with PVC. It is realistic and practical to build health and environmental
considerations into materials choice for municipal infrastructure, commercial and residential
building, medical supplies, and consumer products. The cost impacts of substitution will be
modest, and will grow smaller over time. There are policy initiatives at every level, internationally
and within the US, calling for reduction and restriction of PVC use. Major industries are
beginning to substitute less toxic materials for PVC throughout their product lines. The rapidly
growing “green building” movement has created numerous successful examples of the use of safer
alternatives materials. Two examples of policy the government has already enforced and i would
like to enforce on my product are :
A number of U.S. cities have passed procurement policies to phase out the purchase of products
such as PVC that contribute to dangerous toxic pollution. In December, 2005, New York City
passed legislation that will reduce the City’s purchase of PVC, wielding its $11 billion annual
purchasing budget to drive markets for safer, environmentally friendly products. Other U.S. cities
such as Boston, Seattle, San Francisco, and Buffalo have passed similar purchasing measures.
Phthalates were banned in toys in the United States in 2008. Similar bans have been enacted by
the states of California, Washington and Vermont. Restrictions or bans have been placed on
phthalates in PVC toys in the entire European Union, Austria, Denmark, Finland, France,
Germany, Greece, Italy, Japan, Iceland Mexico, Norway, and Sweden. In 1998, the U.S. Consumer
Product Safety Commission (CPSC) reached a voluntary agreement with manufacturers to remove
two phthalates from PVC rattles, teethers, pacifiers and baby bottle nipples.
SUBJECT: MATERIAL PROFILE
UNIVERSITY OF OREGON
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