Life cycle assessments Flashcards
1
Q
What is a life cycle assessment?
A
- An assessment that analyses the different stages of a products life cycle to determine its impact on the environment
2
Q
What are the main stages assessed in a life cycle assessment?
A
- Extracting and processing of raw materials
- Manufacturing and packaging the product
- Using the product
- Disposing the product
3
Q
What impacts does extracting and processing of raw materials have on the environment?
A
- Directly damages the environment: deforestation and large mines to exctract materials - damages habitats
- Indirectly damages the environment: lots of energy required to process raw materials and lots of pollutants released
4
Q
What impacts does manufacturing and packaging have on the environment?
A
- Use of land for factories - deforestation and loss of habitats
- Use of fossil fuels for energy in manufacturing and packaging
- Production of waste - hard to dispose of
5
Q
What impacts does using the product have on the environment?
A
- Impact depends on what product it is
- We must look at: how much damage it does in its lifetime and how long it was used for
6
Q
What impacts does disposing the product have on the environment?
A
- Use up space in landfill and secrete harmful chemicals into the environment
- Burnt and release lots of harmful pollutants
- Recycled and made into a new product
7
Q
Plastic bags vs paper bags
A
- Plastic bags are made from crude oil (finite resource) AND paper bags are made from trees (deforestation)
- Plastic bags require fractional distillation (pollutants) AND paper bags must be pulped (lots of energy required)
- Plastic bags are multi-use AND paper bags are single use
- Plastic bags aren’t bio-degradable AND paper bags are bio-degradable
8
Q
Limitations of life cycle assessments
A
- Making products has loads of different steps and it is very hard to get data for all of the steps
- Can be manipulated to deliberately support a company
