It has a low density and is quite flexible and heat resistant, therefore making it an easily moulded and extruded material. What IS Life Cycle Assessment? DEHP leaches out upon exposure to heat and lipids, as would be the case in contact with mucous membranes. Life Cycle Assessment - IPP - Environment - European Commission More immediate levels of waste, however, happen during the processing of disposable razors before they are even brought to the buyer and the landfill. Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) and Solid Waste Management Consultants Gillette Sensor3 Sensitive Men's Disposable Razors : Target From San Diego, both LMAs were assumed to be transported 4700 km by truck to New Haven, CT (70% of shipments in the US are made by truck).13. The long and harmful life-cycle of disposable razors is not reflected to the buyer browsing aisles of fully stocked razor shelves. The actual making of the razors, and printing paper for their packaging has a lower environmental impact, than the waste from the factories high energy use. It is resistant to fats and almost all organic solvents which helps it hold up in the damp and warm conditions of a bathroom and shower (Polypropylene. Wikipedia.org). Research about tungsten is ongoing and includes health effects and risks, degradation processes and an inventory of its use in the defense industry as a substitute for lead-based munitions (EPA). This is based on our Life Cycle Inventory flows from phase 2. For a number of perioperative textiles, surgical instruments, and anesthetic devices, a life cycle assessment (LCA) has been done and has shown reusables to be environmentally favorable to disposables [ 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23 ]. In this section we also need to state the assumptions made during the process: Tungsten Carbide. Wikipedia, Wikimedia Foundation, 26 Nov. 2019, en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tungsten_carbide. Manufacturing Processes (RAZOR): KAI FACTORY: KAI Group. KAI FACTORY | KAI Group, www.kai-group.com/global/en/kai-factory/process/razor/. Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) - Europa In 2016, Bic reduced packaging for their Soleil Razor by 40%. A life-cycle assessment or LCA is a 'cradle to grave' analysis of the impact of a manufactured product on the environment. Waste is not only a problem when a product is disposed of, but also when it is initially manufactured. A Life Cycle Assessment of Disposable Razors. Each year in Italy, millions of tons of fruits and vegetables are harvested, packed and transported to national and foreign retail outlets. The blade is made from a tungsten steel, and carbon alloy. Finally, inclusion of the environmental impacts of labor for cleaning (from wages spent on goods and services) only nominally increases the total GHG and water impacts of reusable LMAs. 11,772. These results will then be used to inform the design process and improve the redesigned razor. Life Cycle Assessment - Sustainability Guide Accessed 28 Nov. 2019. www.thefabricator.com/thefabricator/article/stamping/die-basics-101-intro-to-stamping, https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2019/08/07/landfill-waste-how-prevent-disposable-razor-plastic-pollution/1943345001/, http://www.greatrecovery.org.uk/resources/3682/, www.plasticsnewseurope.com/article/20091119/PNE/311199986/bic-disposable-razor-1975, www.nytimes.com/1982/04/11/business/how-bic-lost-the-edge-to-gillette.html, www.sciencedirect.com/topics/chemical-engineering/polyphenylene-oxides, www.epa.gov/sites/production/files/2014-03/documents/ffrrofactsheet_contaminant_tungsten_january2014_final.pdf, www.kai-group.com/global/en/kai-factory/process/razor/, www.epa.gov/toxics-release-inventory-tri-program/reducing-trichloroethylene-tce-waste-fabricated-metals-sector, www.madehow.com/Volume-5/Safety-Razor.html, www.recyclingtoday.com/article/the-recycling-potential-of-polypropylene/, www.ssab.com/company/sustainability/sustainable-offering/steel-life-cycle?di=discover21C927E58ECC41198B78D915F7E3E2AF, BEHR Oil Based Interior/Exterior Primer and Sealer, California Academy of Sciences Living Roof Life Cycle, UC Davis Social Sciences and Humanities Building, A-Z List for Digital & Electronics Topics. 1. Tungsten Carbide. Encyclopdia Britannica, Encyclopdia Britannica, Inc., 17 Dec. 2018, www.britannica.com/science/tungsten-carbide. Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) is a modeling tool for quantifying the environmental impacts of products and processes. The processes that contribute to these emissions differ markedly between the 2 LMA devices. The metal used for the razor blades is called Tungsten Carbide which is used in wear applications, such as shaving (Safety Razor). 1. You Asked, We Answered. Chronicle, 12 June 2015, chronicle.kennametal.com/what-is-tungsten-carbide-you-asked-we-answered/. Redesigning the razor - Life Cycle Assessment - Great Recovery These containers, mainly wooden pallets and spools, are subject to European legislat Impact Assessment. Chain Management by Life Cycle Assessment (CMLCA) software has been used to conduct the LCA and Ecoinvent 2.01 has been used for life cycle inventory data. a Centers for Disease Control. Bic did have an increase in non-hazardous waste due to: expansion work or renovation of buildings or development of new products and manufacturing equipment (For You For Everyone: Registration Document, Bic) For carbon footprint assessments for large companies, they are assessed on direct (scope 1) emissions and indirect (scope 2) emissions of greenhouse gases. EPA. Despite this, a general perception is that reusable LMAs possess a safety profile inferior to that of disposable LMAs, thus contributing to the proliferation of the latter. With such a fast accumulating waste and slow decomposition rate, there must be changes and incentive for companies to rethink the disposable razor. On the basis of information provided by the distributing company, the disposable LMA was manufactured in Hangzhou, China, and the reusable LMA was manufactured in Singapore. In landfilling or incinerating this part, the large amount of energy and material value used in creating it is lost. A comparative cradle to grave life cycle assessment (LCA) was conducted to determine and analyze the environmental impacts of using disposable acrylic speculums versus using reusable stainless-steel speculums in a women's university health clinic where around 5,000 pelvic exams are conducted on a yearly basis. PDF An updated lifecycle assessment study for disposable and reusable nappies BIC may be doing as much as possible to lessen the impact of the production of disposable razors, but due to the massive production it will because unsustainable, because of the energy input, material consumptions, and unrecyclable nature of disposable razors. This is the fourth installment in a series of blogs in which weexplore how to design a product for circularity. LCA's are completed particularly in relation to how to develop a sustainable world where less waste and more reuse is implemented. What's the greenest way to shave? - Slate Magazine The carbon alloy allows for the metal to be strong enough to be exposed to high levels of moisture without corroding, yet brittle enough to be made into thin blades for a multiple blade razor (Safety Razor). Yet, tungsten has been found to deposit particles into the soil that causes some contamination, making it a recent concern to the United States Environmental Protection Agency. To begin the process of creating the metal, the tungsten is purified and ground into a fine powder. The metal is then heated and then cooled slowly to remove any internal stress, which makes it tougher, this process is called annealing (Safety Razor). Alternate assumptions were used to test model sensitivity and to create bounds to aid interpretation of the results (Table 2). Polyphenylene Oxides.Polyphenylene Oxides - an Overview | ScienceDirect Topics, 2013, www.sciencedirect.com/topics/chemical-engineering/polyphenylene-oxides. A life cycle assessment (LCA) is a tool for analyzing the environmental impacts and resources used throughout a product's life, from raw materials extraction to production, and extending through product use and disposal. Sets Strategy to End 'Staggering' Garbage Crisis.The New York Times, The New York Times, 23 Sept. 1988, www.nytimes.com/1988/09/23/us/epa-sets-strategy-to-end-staggering-garbage-crisis.html. The majority of eutrophication impacts from disposable LMAs are from deposition of nitrogen oxide particulates from electricity generation and waste incineration, and impacts for the reusable LMA are nearly all from wastewater used in the cleaning process. Because of its high stability, PPO is a very widely used plastic for many different household items. LCA for product sustainability. 3. Erosion time for the blades was difficult to find, yet tungsten steel does erode faster than the plastic elements to the disposable razor due to the carbon alloys brittle makeup. If you count the actual razor cover (if you haven't lost it long ago) then it will be four pieces for recycling. There are only two components for the BIC disposable razors which are the plastic body and razor blade. 761 0 obj
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Life Cycle Assessments - Diaper Answers Life cycle assessment (LCA) is a framework for assessing the environmental impacts of product systems and decisions. Safety Razor.How Products Are Made, www.madehow.com/Volume-5/Safety-Razor.html. Anesth Analg 1993;77:1079, 21. Cargo planes and other transport aircraft use jet fuel which produces 135,000 BTU per gallon (Energy Consumption by Mode of Transportation.). On the basis of manufacturer information and density testing, the materials used in the 2 LMAs were identified and their compositions measured using a microgram scale (Table 1). So, while this solution is not an easy fix, as it would require buyers to save their own waste, it does provide an alternative to the disposable razor waste crisis. Packaging is an . Olsen, Alexandra. Life Cycle Assessment explained: an introduction to building LCA BIC states that it prides itself on producing affordable, safe, and quality razors for its customers worldwide. At an average of 10 reuse cycles, GHG impacts increase by >50%, and this is the break-even point at which the GHG emissions from reusable and disposable LMAs are essentially equal. The largest difference in environmental impacts is seen in the impact category of carcinogenesis, in which reusable LMAs cause 5% of the impacts of disposable LMAs. Chu L, Mathur P, Trudell J, Brock-Utne J. Questions and Answers: CreutzfeldtJakob Disease Infection-Control Practices. Its aim is a comprehensive analysis of the environmental impact of products and services. However, BIC did report some of its transportation statistics. Recycling of Polypropylene (PP). AZoCleantech.com, 25 June 2012, www.azocleantech.com/article.aspx?ArticleID=240. Lippiatt BC, Boyles AS. In life cycle assessment, the basis of comparison is called the functional unit. For this report, the functional unit of the disposable and reusable LMAs was taken to be maintenance of airway patency by 40 disposable LMAs or 40 uses of 1 reusable LMA. Once Terracycle has collected the waste, it is: broken down and separated by material. We can see how the double edge safety razor has a much lower impact due to the low amount of parts and materials used and the fact that the blade can be separated from the rest of the body and recycled (reducing the overall impact of the product). Hedrick, Art. Main methodological choices . During a Life Cycle Assessment (LCA), environmental impacts are evaluated throughout the entire life cycle of a product (production, use and disposal or recovery).This also includes the upstream and downstream processes associated with production (e.g., the production of .