Life cycle impact assessment of bio-based plastics from sugarcane ethanol

Tsiropoulos, Ioannis; Faaij, André; Lundquist, Lars; Schenker, Urs; Briois, Jean-François; Patel, Martin Kumar

doi:10.1016/j.jclepro.2014.11.071

Cited by 164 publications

(92 citation statements)

References 29 publications

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“…Additionally, with some changes and careful decision-making about more sustainable transport options, a combination of both pollution prevention and product stewardship strategies may yield optimal results and lower ecological impacts. Furthermore, we did not consider the potential for Healthcare Hub to influence the bioplastic production process, where improvements such as pesticide and burning reduction or elimination would yield even better ecological impact outcomes (Tsiropoulos et al, 2015). This would improve the overall ecological sustainability of this and other medical supply chains.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Optimistically, though they still make up only about 2% share of the polymer market, production capacity is expected to grow by more than 400% by 2018 (Aeschelmann & Carus, 2015) and they have become a real alternative on the market (Kishna et al, 2017). Though still not fully sustainable due to impacts associated with their production (Álvarez-Chávez et al, 2012), they are a more ecologically friendly alternative to fossil-based plastics (Papong et al, 2014;Razza et al, 2015;Tsiropoulos et al, 2015). If Healthcare Hub could either influence or source their products from suppliers involved in cleaner production / greening practices, this would reduce the ecological impacts caused during the production and supply process of fossil-based plastics.…”

Section: Scenariomentioning

confidence: 99%

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How supply chain choices affect the life cycle impacts of medical products

Gabriel

Bortsie-Aryee

Apparicio-Farrell

et al. 2018

Journal of Cleaner Production

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The natural resource based view (NRBV) of organisations suggests that there are two main models used by businesses to achieve short-term sustainability outcomes. They are the product stewardship and pollution prevention models. Here is the case of a New York-based wholesaler of medical supplies. The business aims to develop a more environmentally sustainable supply chain for one of its products -an emesis basin. The emesis basin is currently only offered in high-density polyethylene (HDPE) plastic, which has negative effects on the natural environment. This study aimed to assess how the focus of the business' new business model might affect the overall life cycle impacts of this product. To achieve this, we compared the environmental impacts of the conventional product (Scenario 1-an HDPE basin) with equivalent products supplied via pollution prevention (Scenario 2 -a bioplastic basin) and product stewardship (Scenario 3 -green supply chain management and improvements) scenarios, as well as a combination scenario (Scenario 4). The results show that, in line with expectations, the pollution prevention option -switching to a bioplastic product -has the lowest environmental impacts. Unexpectedly though, the product stewardship option had a greater impact on the natural environment than the conventional HDPE, business-as-usual option. We suggest there may greater environmental gains to be obtained by focusing on one's core business, than by extending influence to the entire supply chain. KEYWORDSNatural resource-based view (NRBV); Life Cycle Assessment (LCA); sustainable supply chains; medical supply sector HIGHLIGHTS  Four scenarios comparing conventional and bio-plastics considered  Bioplastic product has lowest environmental impact (pollution prevention scenario)  Supply chain changes (product stewardship) have higher impact due to transport fuels  There are benefits to focusing on core business over supply chain integration  We support deeper inclusion of medical supply industry in sustainability discussion Word Count: 8,082ACCEPTED MANUSCRIPT 2

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Scenariomentioning

confidence: 99%

How supply chain choices affect the life cycle impacts of medical products

Gabriel

Bortsie-Aryee

Apparicio-Farrell

et al. 2018

Journal of Cleaner Production

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“…Overall, the discussion over the sustainability of bio-based products throughout their life cycle, especially biofuels, has until now focused primarily on environmental issues [33][34][35]. In recent years, however, social and socio-economic aspects have gained increasing attention and have progressively been included in all sustainability schemes for biofuels [36].…”

Section: S-lca Applied To Bio-based Productsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Social Life Cycle Approach as a Tool for Promoting the Market Uptake of Bio-Based Products from a Consumer Perspective

Falcone

Imbert

2018

Sustainability

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Abstract:The sustainability of bio-based products, especially when compared with fossil based products, must be assured. The life cycle approach has proven to be a promising way to analyze the social, economic and environmental impacts of bio-based products along the whole value chain. Until now, however, the social aspects have been under-investigated in comparison to environmental and economic aspects. In this context, the present paper aims to identify the main social impact categories and indicators that should be included in a social sustainability assessment of bio-based products, with a focus on the consumers' category. To identify which social categories and indicators are most relevant, we carry out a literature review on existing social life cycle studies; this is followed by a focus group with industrial experts and academics. Afterwards, we conduct semi-structured interviews with some consumer representatives to understand which social indicators pertaining to consumers are perceived as relevant. Our findings highlight the necessity for the development and dissemination of improved frameworks capable of exploiting the consumers' role in the ongoing process of market uptake of bio-based products. More specifically, this need regards the effective inclusion of some social indicators (i.e., end users' health and safety, feedback mechanisms, transparency, and end-of-life responsibility) in the social life cycle assessment scheme for bio-based products. This would allow consumers, where properly communicated, to make more informed and aware purchasing choices, therefore having a flywheel effect on the market diffusion of a bio-based product.

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“…However, some researchers studied the impacts from acquisition of feedstock to end-of-life (EOL) or 'cradle-to-grave' approach [14,16,17]. Bioplastics have been reported to have lower environmental impacts in terms of greenhouse gas emissions and fossil depletion than their conventional plastic counterparts [18][19][20]. Despite consuming less fossil resources, cultivation of agricultural crops for feedstocks can result in environmental impacts such as land use change and may also give rise to issues pertaining to competition between food, energy and materials.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Eco-Efficiency Assessment of Bioplastics Production Systems and End-of-Life Options

2018

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Bioplastics demand has been increased globally due to concerns regarding environmentally friendly consumption and production. Polylactic acid (PLA), polyhydroxyalkanoates (PHAs), and polybutylene succinate (PBS) are promising bioplastics with bio-based feedstocks and property of biodegradability. They are produced by bacterial fermentation of sugars from carbohydrate sources. With flexibility in their properties, PLA, PHAs, and PBS can potentially substitute conventional plastics such as polypropylene (PP), polyethylene terephthalate (PET), and polystyrene (PS). This study aims at evaluating the environmental and economic sustainability of bioplastics production together with end-of-life (EOL) options. The combination of environmental and economic indicators, eco-efficiency (E/E), was selected to investigate the performance of PLA, PHAs, and PBS from sugarcane and cassava in comparison with PP. The environmental impacts were determined using life cycle assessment. The product cost was used to represent the economic value. The E/E results showed that the environmental and economic sustainability could be enhanced with 100% mechanical recycling of all kinds of studied plastics. It is also important to highlight that mechanical recycling showed a better performance in terms of E/E than composting of bioplastics.

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Life cycle impact assessment of bio-based plastics from sugarcane ethanol

Cited by 164 publications

References 29 publications

How supply chain choices affect the life cycle impacts of medical products

How supply chain choices affect the life cycle impacts of medical products

Social Life Cycle Approach as a Tool for Promoting the Market Uptake of Bio-Based Products from a Consumer Perspective

Eco-Efficiency Assessment of Bioplastics Production Systems and End-of-Life Options

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