Environmental and economic life cycle assessment of a lightweight solution for an automotive component: A comparison between talc-filled and hollow glass microspheres-reinforced polymer composites

Abstract

Overall, light weighting strategies are mainly analysed in the aim of reducing impact during the use phase of a vehicle. In this paper environmental and economic assessments are combined to evaluate the sustainability of adopting an innovative lightweight material for an automotive component. The analysis is carried out according to the Life Cycle Assessment and Life Cycle Costing methods. A standard solution, based on talc filler-reinforced composite, and an innovative one made with hollow glass micro-spheres as plastic reinforcement, are compared to be applied to a vehicle dashboard. The use of hollow glass micro-spheres has expanded during the last years in the automotive sector, however evaluations of their environmental and economic performances along its whole life cycle have not yet been discussed extensively. In this study particular attention is given to the following aspects: i) balance between the use phase benefit and material production phase; ii) End-of-Life scenarios; iii) analysis of additional indicators besides CO2 emissions; iv) data accuracy concerning manufacturing phase. Results show that hollow glass microspheresreinforced composite is likely better from an environmental point of view for those impact categories where the use phase is more involved. The increase of material processing impact does not compromise benefits in terms of GWP and PED due to weight reduction, nevertheless it affects resource depletion and ecotoxicity indicators negatively. Overall the End-of-Life phase is not affected significantly. Moreover, despite a higher material cost, the innovative solution was found economically convenient as demonstrated also by the breakeven point (within the life distance).

Preparation and Characterization of Hollow Glass Microspheres- Reinforced Poly (acrylonitrile-co-butadiene-co-styrene) Composites

“…Delogu and coworkers 9 combined environmental and economic assessments to evaluate the usage of talc and HGM as reinforcing agents in polymer composites used as lightweight materials in automotive components. The authors observed that based both on environmental and economic assessments HGM-reinforced polymer composites are preferable to talc filler-reinforced composites.…”

Increasing the Competitiveness of Tidal Systems by Means of the Improvement of Installation and Maintenance Maneuvers in First Generation Tidal Energy Converters—An Economic Argumentation

“…The study of the fundamental variables of the economic model implies the definition of the LCC of the project [26,47] and the estimation of the annual sales. Please note that we obtained the estimated costs and estimated annual sales included in the economic feasibility procedure for tidal energy projects (TEPs) by carrying out an analysis of current scientific literature and reports created by companies that specialize in these types of technologies and shipyards.…”

Evaluation of the Solid and Hazardous Wastes Generated by the Automotive Industry in Turkey

“…Research on automotive industry is also dedicated to investigate green or sustainable supply chain management practices and to develop models [12][13][14][15]. Life cycle assessments for automobile components such as exterior door skin [16], multi-material component for brake system [17], composite material for vehicle dashboard [18] were also undertaken. Limited studies exist on the solid wastes from automotive industry and their management.…”