Eco-aduit Asssignment PDF

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Module Title: Sustainable Development for Engineering Practitioners

Module Code: KB7040

Title: Individual Eco-audit Assignment

Contents Page 1.0 INTRODUCTION:.................................................................................................................................................2 2.0 LIFE CYCLE REPORT OF PET BOTTLE...................................................................................................................2 3.1 ENERGY ANALYSIS...............................................................................................................................................3 3.2 MATERIAL...........................................................................................................................................................3 3.3 MANUFACTURING..............................................................................................................................................3

3.4 TRANSPORT........................................................................................................................................................4 3.4 DISPOSAL / 3.5 END-OF-LIFE POTENTIAL...........................................................................................................4 4.0 CO2 FOOTPRINT ANALYSIS.................................................................................................................................4 4.1 MATERIAL...........................................................................................................................................................4 4.2 MANUFACTURING..............................................................................................................................................4 4.3 TRANSPORTATION..............................................................................................................................................5 4.4DISPOSAL.............................................................................................................................................................5 5.0 LIMITATIONS AND ASSUMPTIONS......................................................................................................................5 6.0 ANALYSIS OF RESULTS.........................................................................................................................................5 7.0 MODIFICATIONS AND COMPARATIVE ANALYSIS................................................................................................5 8.0 HERFINDAHL-HIRSCHMAN INDEX (HHI).............................................................................................................7 9.0 CONCLUSION......................................................................................................................................................7 10.0 FUTURE WORK:................................................................................................................................................8 11.0 REFERENCES.....................................................................................................................................................9

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1.0 Introduction: The project will use the advanced software CES EduPack to analysis a PET bottle to determine environmental impacts taking into consideration transportation, manufacturing process, energy, CO2 and end of life potential (EOL). The product, a PET bottle has an estimated shelf life of 245 days before being disposed of (Ros-Chumillas, Belissario, Iguaz and López, 2007). The aim of the project is to evaluate the original material comparing it to that of modified materials under the same parameters to ultimately increase the end of life potential. The energy used to refrigerate the water was also taken into consideration, transporting electrical energy to mechanical for duration of 3 days at 24 hours a day. Assumptions were needed to define key values; they are as follows:  Original Material – PET  Modified Material – Stainless Steel AISI 304 18/8, Annealed / Soda-lime Glass  Quantity – 1000  Transportation – (7775km from China to London via air, 455km from London to Newcastle via 32 tonne 4 axel truck)

2.0 Life cycle report of PET Bottle

Figure 1: PET Life Phase

The life phase has been displayed within numerical form in table 1 for easy analysis of values to understand the energy and CO2 impact of every process within the life cycle from material, manufacturing, transportation, use, disposal and end of life potential. As observed from the EOL potential the PET material has a small reduction in energy having a negative value of -1.54e+03 and CO2 footprint of -34.2. Since 2001 there were only 1% of PET plastic recycled to that in 2017 to be 57% as stated in the Environmental Audit Committee of plastic bottles (Commons, 2017).

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Table 1: PET Values Life Phase

3.1 Energy Analysis

Figure 2: PET Energy Analysis

Figure 2 indicates the energy contribution of the PET bottle, the material and transport have the highest impact. The transportation of the product are high at around 5.4e+04 (MJ) and materials at 1.1e+03. The transport is higher due to the bottling of water being carried out at the factory in China adding significant weight for the transportation process. 3.2 Material Table 2: Energy of Material

Table 2 analyses the material; it was calculated that a one litre PET weighed 40 grams and the bottle cap to be 10 grams. The quantity of 1000 units was assumed to be a reasonable amount to transport; smaller quantities for example 1 and 10 units caused issues within the software by processing values insignificant due to being so close to zero. 3.3 Manufacturing Table 3: Manufacturing of PET Bottle

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3.4 Transport Table 4: Transport of PET Bottle

Table 4 indicates the transportation which is of great concern when trying to reduce environmental risks and acting ethically. As the PET bottle is transported 7775Km to the UK it takes a significant amount of energy to provide this service without damaging the ozone layer by using air freight, in return increasing air pollution that effects eco-systems and human health globally. 3.4 Disposal

3.5 End-of-Life Potential

4.0 Co2 Footprint Analysis

The C02 footprint throughout the main phase of the life cycle. As observed in the figures 5 and 7, the largest contribution factor is that of transport and raw material extraction. Transport has a value of 3.9e+03 and material extraction at 1.4e+02. 4.1 Material Table 5: Co2 of Raw Material Extraction

4.2 Manufacturing Table 6: Co2 of Manufacturing Process

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4.3 Transportation Table 7: Co2 of Transportation

As transport has the highest C02 of any of the phases the focus on sourcing materials and the manufacture of the product at a closer distance to the end location of sale. 4.4 Disposal

4.5 End of Life potential

5.0 Limitations and Assumptions The main material of PET has been assumed to have a weight of 40 grams (0.04 Kg) for a one litre bottle, with the cap of the bottle weighing 10 grams (0.01 Kg). Another assumption is that of the shelf life taken at 245 days before being disposed of (Ros-Chumillas, Belissario, Iguaz and López, 2007). When defining the end-of-life options, it was stated as recycling 20% due to PET not being able to metabolize within a natural environment easily and should either be recycled or re-used to reduce plastic wastage going to landfill (Chowdhury, Amin Mahi, Haque and Rahman, 2018). The manufacturing process in which the PET bottles where produced were polymer moulded also commonly known as injection moulded, at a quantity amount of 1000 units to be analysed (Ebnesajjad, 2015). The assumption of bottling the water in the place of manufacturer prior to transportation took place will significantly alter the results; the assumption of manufacture was in China with an end destination of Newcastle England for distribution and sales. The product was transported via long haul air freight 7775 km into the capital being London then drove 455km via a 32-tonne truck to the end destination of Newcastle. 6.0 Analysis of results In order to evaluate alternative materials, the energy and CO2 footprint impact throughout the different phases of the life cycle must be analysed to obtain data, by doing so intelligent decisions can be suggested rather than assumptions. The original material is PET, however in section 7.0 stainless stain and soda lime glass has being analysed to understand different alternative materials for the same product. 7.0 Modifications and Comparative Analysis

Figure 3: Comparison of Alternative Materials (Energy Usage)

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Figure 4: Comparison of Alternative Materials (C02 Usage)

Within this section of the report energy and CO2 will be analysed and compared to that of the original material, with two other alternatives taking into account; raw material, manufacturing, transport, use, disposal and the end-of-life potential. It is apparent that PET has the highest transport energy and CO2 at 5.4e+04 MJ and 3.9e+03 Kg respectively, due to being bottled in the factory in China. The parameters remain the same throughout to keep continuity in relation to distance transported. In the figures and 4 above the green represents glass bottles, red being PET bottles and yellow being stainless steel. However, by analysing all phases it indicates that stainless steel has a high energy and CO2 footprint when the raw material is extracted at 6.8e+03 MJ and 4.7e+02 Kg. Contrast to that of glass at 3.2e+03 MJ and 2.3e+02 Kg and that of PET at 4.1e+03 MJ and 1.4e+02 Kg respectively. From observation PET has the lowest material extraction impact on the environment; however, as PET is made from crude oil there is only a finite amount of oil left on planet earth seen in Fig 5, to be discussed further in section 8.0. Another consideration is to manufacture the product with stainless steel due to it having the lowest values of energy and CO2 at 3.2e+02 MJ and 22Kg, whereas glass has the highest at 2.7e+03 MJ and 72 kg. Another important factor is that of endof-life potential, stainless steel has the lowest impact as it is 100% recyclable and a shelf life of 12 years, producing a value of energy at -5.26e+03 MJ and C02 of -346 kg (Basson, 2019). Glass is 80% recyclable and has a shelf life of an infinite amount of time if not broken due to not emitting toxic substance to the contents, having a value of -547MJ and -65 Kg of C02 (Institute, 2020).

Figure 5: Crude Oil Production by Regions of the World (Opec, 2018)

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8.0 Herfindahl-Hirschman Index (HHI) The HHI Index is an important factor to take into consideration, it can be used to determine supply chain of materials and how abundant a raw material is in regions of the world. The HHI index is generally accepted as a measure of market concentration and is defined by sum of each firm’s market share within the industry squared (Nauenberg, Basu and Chand, 1997). The formula below is used to determine market concentration. n

∑ Si2 i=1

Where n=Noof Firms i=1 S ( ¿n ) =Market Shares HHI Less than 1,500 HHI of 1500 - 2500 HHI of 2500 – 10,000

Competitive Market Moderately Concentrated Market High Concentrated Market

Table 8: Diversification of PET Producers Data Obtained (Garside, 2020) PET Plastic Producers

China

Market Share HHI

30.8 %

Asia (Excluding India and China) 21 %

North America

Europe

Middle East & Africa

South America

Africa

16.9 %

14.7 %

10.2%

4.1 %

2.3 %

2017.48 Moderately Concentrated Market

Table 9: Diversification of Stainless-Steel Producers Data Obtained (Basson, 2019)

Stainless Steel Producers

China

Market Share HHI

51.3 %

Asia (Excludin g India and China) 7.3 %

NAFTA

Europe

Middle East

Central & South America

Africa

CSI

Japan

India

Australia and New Zealand

6.6 %

11.6 %

2.1 %

2.5 %

1%

5.6%

5.8%

5.8%

0.4%

2973.46 High Concentrated Market

Table 10: Diversification of Glass Producers Data Obtained (Workman, 2020) Glass Producers

China

Mexico

North America

Europe

Japan

Hong Kong

Taiwan

Market Share HHI

22 %

2.1 %

7.6 %

31 %

4.3 %

4%

2.6 %

Far & Middle East 8.4%

Africa

India

Rest of world

2.8%

4%

11.2 %

1768.26 Moderately Concentrated Market

9.0 Conclusion The eco audit analysis in this section will conclude on the overall findings, taking into account all factors observed and recommendations for future work. Across the three materials it is complicated to conclude on one significant factor that is more important due to all the materials affect each phase of the life cycle in different ways. All three materials comply with that of the European Restriction on Hazardous Substances (RoHS) legislation and have low toxicity levels to the user (RoHS Compliance, 2006). Taking into consideration the aim of decreasing the energy and CO2 impact in the end of life phase the stainless steel bottle is of high interest and recommendation due to recycling of 100% of the product and the shelf life of 15 -25 years

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dependant on use, compared to that of the PET bottle at only 245 days (Stainless steel for Sustainable Future, 2020). Nevertheless, stainless steel has a high value of raw material extraction compared to that of the two alternatives which is of great concern from energy and C02 standpoint. Stainless steel has the highest market concentrate, dominated by China. When considering a material the need to understand supply chains, abundance of the material and which region of the world it is sourced from is essential. It is important because sourcing materials can have political issues, conflict in regions of the world as well as social and ethical principles associated with them. Social and ethical issues are of high importance due to impacting human lives; for example people in less developed parts of a world such as parts of Africa and Asia where raw materials are sourced maybe exploited to obtain that material and in other ways throughout the supply chain. On the account of the HHI Index evaluation, stainless steel would be discontinued in producing the product of the bottle. PET has been discontinued in the production of bottles when analysing the three materials for the reason of having the lowest end-of-life potential, the second highest value observed in the HHI Index with a high percentage being dominated by the Chinese and Asian market. Issues may arise in the future when sourcing the material as it is not as readily available globally compared to that of glass. The material glass will be the recommendation as a new material in the production of bottles due to the lowest HHI index value, as well as not being dominated by the Asian market contribution. The raw material has the largest diversity globally but more so because there are high levels of producers in the European market reducing the need to source the material further afield increasing transportation energy and CO2 impacts on an ever growing issue of climate change worldwide. The glass has the second highest raw material extraction and manufacturing value, however with this being said once the product is produced glass has longest shelf life of an infinite amount of time if not broken or cracked. As glass has the longest shelf life this will reduce the need to continuously source material and manufacturing as it is 100% recyclable and can be re-used time and time again for the reason of not being toxic to the user (MSJ, 2013). Glass has the second highest value when observing end-of-life potential to that of PET where only 20% of the material can be recycled or re-used. 10.0 Future Work: Looking into the future a more in-depth investigation would be needed to determine other materials such as biodegradable material such as polylactic acid (PLA), a 100% plant based material which has a shelf life of around 1 year and is carbon-neutral due to the carbon absorbing plant properties, whilst also having little to no production fumes and takes 60 -80 days to degraded in the case of landfill if not re-used or recycled (MSJ, 2013). This material is far more environmentally friendly in terms of energy and C02 consumption. Another consideration for future work would be to obtain greater in-depth knowledge of the Herfindahl-Hirschman Index to fully utilise this importance factor of the eco audit when analysing any product or material in the sense of supply chain and ethical issues which many arise in different regions of the planet. Finally, a more in-depth looking into the supply chain in terms of social and ethical issues in parts of the world so exploration can be reduced even further and individuals are not taken advantage of.

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11.0 References Basson, D., 2019. WORLD STEEL IN FIGURES 2019. [ebook] Belgium: World Steel Association. Available at: [Accessed 28 March 2020]. Chowdhury, T., Amin Mahi, M., Haque, K. and Rahman, M., 2018. A Review On The Use Of Polyethylene Terephthalate (Pet) As Aggregates In Concrete. Malaysian Journal of Science, [online] 37(2), pp.118-136. Available at: [Accessed 29 March 2020]. Commons, H., 2017. [online] Publications.parliament.uk. Available [Accessed 27 March 2020].

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Ebnesajjad, S., 2015. Injection Molding. Fluoroplastics, [online] pp.236-281. Available [Accessed 29 March 2020].

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Garside, M., 2020. Regional Distribution Of PET Global Production Capacity 2017 | Statista. [online] Statista. Available at: [Accessed 28 March 2020]. Institute, R., 2020. Glass Recycling Facts | Glass Packaging Institute. [Accessed 28 March 2020].

[online]

Gpi.org.

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Nauenberg, E., Basu, K. and Chand, H., 1997. Hirschman–Herfindahl index determination under incomplete information. Applied Economics Letters, [online] 4(10), pp.639-642. Available at: [Accessed 28 March 2020]. Nkwachukwu, O., Chima, C., Ikenna, A. and Albert, L., 2013. Focus on potential environmental issues on plastic world towards a sustainable plastic recycling in developing countries. International Journal of Industrial Chemistry , [online] 4(1), p.34. Available at: [Accessed 28 March 2020]. Opec, 2018. OPEC : OPEC Share Of World Crude Oil Reserves. [online] [Accessed 28 March 2020].

Opec.org.

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Rohsguide.com. 2006. ✔ Rohs Compliance FAQ. [online] Available at: [Accessed 29 March 2020]. Ros-Chumillas, M., Belissario, Y., Iguaz, A. and López, A., 2007. Quality and shelf life of orange juice aseptically packaged in PET bottles. Journal of Food Engineering, [online] 79(1), pp.234-242. Available at: [Accessed 27 March 2020]. Workman, D., 2020. Top Glass And Glassware Exports By Country. [online] World's Top Exports. Available at: [Accessed 28 March 2020]. Worldstainless.org. 2020. Stainless Steel For Sustainable Future. [online] [Accessed 29 March 2020].

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