Lecture 8 : Sustainability design principles and life cycle assessment (LCA) Flashcards

1
Q

5.1. Basic concepts of sustainable packaging

What are the 3 main components of sustainable packaging? Explain.

A
  1. Time and perpetuality → sustainable packaging should meet the needs of present and future generations
  2. Striking a balance between meeting the needs of society, economy and the environment → sustainable packaging should meet the needs of society, economy and environment equally, without tradeoffs in either aspect
  3. Packaging functions → packaging should have some useful functions (containment, convenience, protection, communication) for it to be considered sustainable
How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
2
Q

5.2. Development of sustainable packaging

What are some useful guidelines for developing sustainable packaging?

Think in terms of environment, society and economy

A
  1. Use minimal but adequate amounts of packaging materials (economy) to meet safety, quality and market needs (economy)
  2. Avoid toxic consitutents (e.g. plasticisers) to ensure food safety (society) and use energy efficient technologies (envt)
  3. Use of renewable / recyclable / environmentally friendly materials (envt) without compromising product safety and quality (society) and greately increasing cost (economy)
  4. Use methodlogies such as life cycle assessment to aid in development of sustainable packaging
How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
3
Q

Environmental issues related to packaging

What are the 3 main issues related to food packaging?

A
  1. Solid waste
  2. Hazardous compounds
  3. Ozone depletion
How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
4
Q

5.3. Environmental issues related to packaging

An issue related to food packaging is hazardous materials. Explain the harmful effects of these materials on the environment / safety :
1. PVC
2. Plasticisers

A
  1. When PVC is incinerated (burned), it releases dioxins, a class of highly toxic chlorinated hydrocarbons
  2. Plasticisers are small chemical additives that can migrate into the surrounding water bodies in the environment or migrate from packaging into food
How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
5
Q

5.3. Environmental issues related to packaging

What has been a solution to overcome the issue of PVC being a hazardous compound?

A

PVC containers are replaced by PET / PE containers

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
6
Q

5.3. Environmental issues related to packaging

Explain how the manufacture of packaging materials leads to ozone depletion and harmful effects of ozone depletion.

A

In the past, chlorinated fluorocarbons (CFCs) were widely used in many applications, incl the manufacture of food packaging materials like polystyrene. CFCs deplete the ozone layer, causing UV rays to penetrate into Earth and cause disease such as skin cancer.

But now CFCs no longer used in industrialised countiries

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
7
Q

5.4. Packaging waste management

What are the 4 different waste management strategies?

A
  1. Reduce, reuse, recycle (3R) → for paper & cardboard, glass, aluminium and plastic
  2. Composting
  3. Incineration → burning waste
  4. Landfill → for waste that cannot decompose, cannot be recycled / reused
How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
8
Q

5.4. Packaging waste management

What is the difference in which compostable and biodegradable materials degrade?

A
  • Compostable materials : decompose under certain conditions (temp, humidity, microbes) in a fixed amount of time
  • Biodegradable materials : materials that decompose naturally in any environment, with no strict regulation on time required for it to decompose
How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
9
Q

5.4. Packaging waste management

What is the difference in the end products of compostable and biodegradable materials ?

A
  • Compostable materials decompose into to become a pile of nutrient rich soil
  • Biodegradable materials breaks down into smaller pieces, and may leave harmful microplastic residues
How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
10
Q

5.4. Packaging waste management

All biodegradable materials are compostable. True or False?

A

false. Not all biodegradable materials are compostable ;; but all compostable materials are biodegradable

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
11
Q

5.4. Packaging waste management

What is the difference between bio-based and petroleum-based plastics?

A
  1. Bio-based plastics are plastics derived from renewable sources (can be regenerated within short period of time), such as plant-based sources such as starch and cellulose → microbes feremnt these plant based materials to form monomers (e.g. lactic acid) which then undergo polymerisation to form plastics
  2. Fossil based plastics are plastics made from non-renewable sources such as fossil fuels (take thousands of years to form) → fossil fuels are cracked into fractions, and lighter fractions (ethane etc) are used as monomers to polymerise into plastics
    - Examples of fossil fuels : natural gas, petroleum
How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
12
Q

5.4. Packaging waste management

What happens to waste in a landfill?

A

The waste just stays there without decomposing; it is just buried

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
13
Q

5.5. Life cycle assessment (LCA)

What is life cycle assessment (LCA)?

A

It is a system approach for evaluatuing and minimising adverse impacts of packaging on the environment.

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
14
Q

5.5. Life cycle assessment (LCA)

What are the 4 main phases in LCA?

A
  1. Define scope of assessment
  2. Inventory analysis
  3. Impact assessment
  4. Interpretation
How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
15
Q

5.5. Life cycle assessment (LCA)

Step 1 of LCA : defining scope of asessment
What4 aspects are covered when defining the scope of LCA assessment?

A

1) Define package and related processes
- functional unit of package : 1kg? 100g of package?
- packaging types to be compared
- related processes : energy input, solid waste, water emissions, transport….

2) Establish context in which assessment is made

3) Idenifying boundaries
- cradle-to-gate, cradle-to-grave, cradle-to-cradle

4) Define environmental impacts to be reviewed
- CO2 emission? Ozone depletion?

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
16
Q

5.5. Life cycle assessment (LCA)

What are the 3 types of LCA assessments (boundaries) and what do they mean?

A
  1. Cradle-to-gate : assess from raw material extraction to manufacturing of packaging
  2. Cradle-to-grave : full life cycle, from raw material extraction to disposal
  3. cradle-to-cradle : full life cycle, from raw material extraction to disposal + recycling / reuse at end of life → circular econoy approach
17
Q

5.5. Life cycle assessment (LCA)

Step 2 : inventory analysis
What is the main purpose of inventory analysis ?

A

Identifying and quantifying energy and raw material usage, solid waste disposal and pollutant emissions

18
Q

5.5. Life cycle assessment (LCA)

Step 2 : inventory analysis
What kinds of activities are involved when conducting inventory analysis? [4]

A
  1. creating process flow diagrams (to visualise raw materials, process and outputs)
  2. Designing data colletion plans
  3. Collecting and evaluating data
  4. Reporting results
19
Q

5.5. Life cycle assessment (LCA)

In analysing 4 types of packaging, the variables / elements incude :
- amount of tin in packaging (g)
- amount of copper in packaging (g)
- natural gas energy consumption (kWh)
- electricity energy consumption (kWh)
- CO2 emission per can / bag of coffee (g)
……. [and many others]

It is often difficult to compare so many different variables across different packaging types due to their differing units. How is the data subsequently treated and analysed?

A

For each packaging, values from all variables are normalised into consistent unit, millipoint
1) Using a specialised software, the amount / quantity of each parameter is multiplied by an indicator values.
- table of Indicator values for : production of metals (steel, tin, copper) , production of plastics, production of energy, transport (aircraft, truck, train)

2) The millipoints for each parameter is summed up → total millipoints for packaging material

Across all packaging materials
3) A graph of millipoints against packaging type is plotted, where each bar is split into different environmental and human health effects based on what the software calculates (e.g. greenhouse effect, ozone depletion, carcinogenic….)

4) Compare millipoints across 4 packaging. The higher the milllipoints, the worse the environmental impact

20
Q

5.5. Life cycle assessment (LCA)

Step 4 : intepretation
What is involved during the intepretation step in LCA? [4]

A

1) Results from inventory analysis are analysed and evaluated to select preferred products / processes with least overall adverse environmental impacts

May also include
2) Identifying significant issues (solid waste and resource depletion) by reviewing data / information from first 3 phases of LCA

3) Establishing the confidence in and reliability of results

4) Reporting results and make recommendations

21
Q

Tutorial : additional info

What is the difference between carbon neutrality vs net zero?

A
  • Carbon neutrality : when CO2 emissions into atmosphere = CO2 absorbed from atmosphere by carbon sinks
  • Net zero : similar to carbon neutral but includes all greenhouse gases, such as NO2, CH4