This document discusses life cycle assessment (LCA) and its application to polymers. It describes LCA as having four phases: goal definition and scoping, life cycle inventory, impact analysis, and improvement analysis. The document then provides an example LCA of poly(lactic acid), discussing impacts from corn growing, transportation, processing, and polymerization. It also discusses four environmental parameters to assess packaging: air pollution, waste production, water pollution, and energy consumption. Finally, it summarizes major sources of plastic waste and environmental issues related to the plastics industry.

1. KEJ 4604
POLYMERS AND ENVIRONMENT
SEM II 2015/2016
GROUP 7
TENGKU NOR SYAMIMI BINTI TENGKU ISMAIL UK 32416
NORFAREHAN BINTI HARUN UK 32267
DATE OF PRESENTATION : 16 MAY 2016

2. INTRODUCTION OF LIFE CYCLE ASSESSMENT
• Life cycle assessment (LCA) is a fundamental method for
o assessing the environmental impacts of products and
technologies from a "cradle to grave" systems perspective.
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3. Goal
definition and
scoping
• identifying the LCA's purpose and the expected products of
the study, and determining the boundaries (what is and is
not included in the study) and assumptions based upon the
goal definition;
Life- cycle
inventory
• quantifying the energy and raw material inputs and
environmental releases associated with each stage of
production;
Impact
analysis
• assessing the impacts on human health and the environment
associated with energy and raw material inputs and
environmental releases quantified by the inventory;
Improvement
analysis
• evaluating opportunities to reduce energy, material inputs,
or environmental impacts at each stage of the product life-
cycle.
THE FOUR PHASES
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4. • Life cycle assessment assist in:
 Identifying opportunities to improve the environmental aspects
of products or processes at various points in their life cycle (e.g.
strategic planning, priority)
 Decision-making in industry, government or non – government
organization for strategic planning purposes, and improving the
overall environmental performance and economic performance
 Selection of relevant indicators of environmental performance,
including measurement technique.
 Marketing (for example, environmental claims, an ecolabelling
scheme or environmental product declaration).
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5. BENEFITS OF LCA
a) Improved environmental
performance and reputation
b) Enabling better decisions
c) Cost savings
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6. LIFE CYCLE
ASSESSMENT OF POLY(LACTIC ACID)
The analysis of poly(lactic acid) systems include example impacts associated
with:
corn growing
Transport or corn to the corn wet
mill
Processing of corn to dextrose
Conversion of dextrose into lactic
acid
Conversion of lactic acid into
lactide
Polymerization of lactic acid
into polylactide
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7. • Four environmental parameters to assess
the ecological impact of packaging:
– Air pollution
– Waste production
– Water pollution
– Energy consumption
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8. WASTE PRODUCTION
• Plastic waste in urban litter does pose a serious and
real waste management problem.
• Plastic waste: The output of consumption, which is
disposed of and forms waste streams
• In terms of environmental impacts the following
trends are considered to be of most significance:
Rising use of plastics – The primary plastics feedstock will
remain fossil fuels, despite the anticipated rapid rise in the
production of bioplastics.
Rising levels of plastic waste generation – This implies the
need for an expanded waste management system simply to
remain capable of dealing with the anticipated increase
waste production.
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9. Plastic waste data

10. • The EU accounts for around 25% of world production. China produces
more plastic than any other country, at 15% of global production.
Germany produces the greatest amount of any EU country, accounting
for about 8% of global production
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11. There are five broad categories of waste stream in the
polymers may be found such as:
i. Municipal solid waste
ii. Automotive waste
iii. Construction waste(including demolition and civil
work)
iv. Agriculture waste
v. Electrical and electronic waste
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12. Construction and demolition
• The main applications generating waste in the construction and demolition
(C&D) sector are fitted furniture, floor and wall coverings (PVC), pipes
and ducts, insulation materials (PU) and profiles (PVC) (see Figure 2-18).
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13. Automotive Waste
– Plastics are used in vehicles for their impact and
corrosion resistance but more importantly for their
low weight and cost.
– The most common automotive plastic types are :
I. Polypropylene (PP )
II. Polyethlene (PE)
III.Polyurethane (PU)
IV. Polyvinyl chloride (PVC)
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14. • Agriculture
– The most common polymers
in the agricultural
plastic waste stream
are LDPE and PVC:
 LDPE accounts for
around 60-65%
of the waste stream while
PVC represents 18-23%.
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15. • Municipal solid waste (MSW)
 The definition of MSW is broad and includes
household
waste.
 There are six major plastics in domestic solid waste
stream such as:
i. LDPE
ii. PP
iii. HDPE
iv. PVC
v. PET
vi. EPS/PS
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16. • Electrical and electronic waste
– describes discarded electrical or electronic devices. Used
electronics which are destined for reuse, resale, salvage,
recycling or disposal are also considered e-waste. Informal
processing of e-waste in developing countries can lead to
adverse human health effects and environmental pollution.
– Electronic scrap components, such
as CPUs, contain potentially
harmful components such as lead,
cadmium, beryllium, or brominated
flame retardants.
A fragment of discarded
circuit board
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17. Life cycle Assessment ( Air Pollution)
• The main source of air pollution is the packaging material manufacturing
process.
• Some of the emission (e.g., vinyl chloride, CFC and hexane) can rise from
accidental fires or waste incineration activities.
• Packaging related sources of pollution also electricity generation (CO2,
SO2, NOx emission) and transportation related emission (e.g.,
CO2,SO2,Nox,dust,hydrocarbon).
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18. Major Global Environmental Issues and their Relevance to the Plastic
Industry
Environmental
Issues
Identified Cause Effects Relevant to Plastic
Global warming The release of
greenhouse gases such
as CO2, methane, NOX
and CFC’s into the
atmosphere
1. Direct health impacts
due to increased
temperature.
2. Sea-level rise and
possible displacement of
populations.
3. Unstable weather
conditions
4. Increase in vector-borne
and infectious disease
5. Loss of agricultural
productivity.
All industry, including
plastics release some
greenhouse gases.
Polymers industry does
not produce
disproportionate share of
the emissions.
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19. Major Regional or Local Environmental Issues and their Relevant to
the Plastic industry
Environmental Issues Identified cause Effect Relevance to Plastic
Hazardous air
pollutants
Industrial processes emit
volatile chemicals.
Include some of the
VOCs( from solvent,
paints and adhesive)
Negative health effects
from overexposure to
these chemicals.
1. Solvents in paints and
adhesive systems include
HAP’s
2. Monomers can often be
HAPs.
3. In thermoset systems or in-
situ polymerization
technologies, small fraction
of HAP reactants might be
released to environment.
4. HAPs (dioxins) are claimed to
be created in the
incineration of polymers
such as PVC.
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20. Emission of Greenhouse Gases, Particularly CO2
 Emission of greenhouse gases leading to gradual but certain warming of
the global environment which particularly salient environmental problem
with grave implications.
 Measurements made worldwide clearly indicate that average global
temperature
have been on rise since the industrial revolution.
 In common with all types of industry, plastic manufacturing and
processing operations primary use fossil fuel energy.
 The concomitant release of CO2 and other greenhouse gases contribute
in some measure to the global climate change process.
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21. KEJ4604
 In 2001, the United Nations Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change
(IPCC) conclude that most of warming observed over last 50 years attributed by
human activities, particularly burning of fossil fuels.
Effect predicted by IPCC include increase in sea levels, global warming,
greenhouse gases and etc.
 Small fraction of CO2 emission can be undoubtedly attributed to plastic
industry.

22. COMMON GREENHOUSE GASES AND RELATIVE CONTRIBUTION TO
GLOBAL WARMING
Source: Based on data from the IPCC (2001) report Climate Change 2001:
The Scientific Basics, Cambridge University, Cambridge, England, 2001.
Greenhouse gases Relative
Warming
Influence(%)
Approximate
lifetime in the
atmosphere(yr)
Rate of
Accumulation in the
atmosphere(%yr)
Carbon Dioxide 60 50-200 0.4
Methane 20 12 0.6
Halocarbon 14 Variable variable
Nitrous Oxide 6 120 0.25
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23. Potential Pollution of Air from making and using plastic materials
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Polymer Energy (Gj/ton) Emission Air ( UPA/
ton)
Emission Water
(UPW/ton)
PVC 53 700 3000
PE 70 265 1650
PP 73 325 3685
PS 80 255 6335
PET 84 180 8000(estimate)
PUR 98 - -
PC 107 180 5050
Tin plate 30 3400 4600
Aluminium 223-279 9320 27,000
Aluminium recycled 10 370 Negligible
Glass 9-12 109, 320 -

25. Case: Styrene Emission from Composite Manufacture
 unsaturated polyester thermoset system using styrene as a reactive
diluent (sometimes with susbtituted such as vinyl styrene or methyl
methacrylate).
 Some of styrene evaporate in the process and poses a threat as a
hazardous air pollutant.
 Time weighted average (TWA) for styrene is 50ppm or 213mg/m3.
 In 1996, the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA)
endorsed a proposal by the styrene industry to voluntarily adopt the
50ppm exposure limit.
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26.  the composite industry able to achieve low emission by a number of
changes:
- increased use of low styrene resins of lower molecular weight
- higher percentage of filters in the compounds.
- minimize the surface evaporation of styrene during curing stage of the
resins.
 in addition to change in the formulation, engineering improvement use to
reduce emission:
- spraying technology( e.g. use of controlled spray atomizers)
- improved plant design with better air flow characteristic.
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27. Case: release of hazardous Emission from incineration(MSW)
• Dehydrochlorination of PVC is a facile reaction and expected to take place
on incineration of plastic waste.
• the corrosive fumes can potentially affect the incinerator structure and if
allowed to escape into the atmosphere, it will contribute to acidification of
environment.
• Analysis of flue gases from mixed MSW incinerator typically show very
small amount of HCl (< 2000mg/m3 of gas).
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28. • Particular emphasis has been placed on the emission of polychlorinated
dibenzo- p- dioxins(PCDD) and polychlorinated dibenzo-furans(PCDF)
during incineration of MSW.
• Depending on design, operating temperature, composition of waste
incinerated, most incinerator may emit small amounts (few nanograms to
few thousand nanograms per cubic meter) of these highly toxic
compounds.
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29. Conclusion
As a conclusion, the plastic industry( as should
every industry) should continually makes
every effort to minimize such emission by
becoming increasingly energy efficient and
develop innovative low emitting technologies.
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30. KEJ4604
REFERENCES
1. University of Oulu, Finland Department of Process and Environmental
Engineering, Finland,DOI: 10.1002/9780470168219.ch9 In book: Environmentally
Conscious Materials and Chemicals Processing, pp.237 – 278
2. Gerald Scott (1999). Polymers and Environment. Cambridge, UK The Royal Society
of Chemistry
3. Anthony L.Andrady .(Ed).(2003). Plastics and the Environment . Hoboken, N.J
wiley- Interscience.
4. Akinola, A. A., Adeyemi, I. A., & Adeyinka, F. M. (2014). A Proposal for the
Management of Plastic Packaging Waste. IOSR Journal of Environmental Science,
Toxicology and Food Technology IOSRJESTFT, 8(1), 71-78. doi:10.9790/2402-
08117178