Environmental Engineering Reference
In-Depth Information
Obtaining compliance with appropriate standards is therefore an important
issue for material producers interested in securing a market share of the green
economy.
8.6.4
Material Recycling
In relation to end-of-life options, clear labelling of material types and biobased
products in particular can improve the rate of recycling or composting by aiding
separation, preferably at source. Biodegradable and non-biodegradable bioplastics
need to be very clearly labelled to avoid contamination of waste recycling streams.
Failure to ensure materials reach the desired end-point may undermine the
rationale for selecting a particular material in the first place. Design and labelling
of materials can help and this is backed up by agreed standards defining specific
types of materials, but it also requires a significant amount of consumer education
to increase effective recycling of materials.
Distinguishing between materials is likely to become more difficult where the
same material can be produced from fossil or biomass resources, for example PE.
In such cases the material product streams will become increasingly intermingled
as they approach end of life. It then becomes increasingly difficult to ascertain any
added-value proposition for biobased materials other than through combustion,
where the carbon isotope balance can be assessed to differentiate the contribution
from fossil and biobased materials.
8.7 Life-Cycle Analysis
It may be necessary to provide quantified data in support of any specific
environmental claim for a material or product. In such cases, life-cycle
analysis (LCA) has emerged as an important standardised approach to assess the
environmental impacts of a given product, where criteria or a range of criteria are
examined in a defined life-cycle perspective (i.e. from cradle to grave or another
defined perspective) according to a defining set of international standards (ISO
14040 and ISO 14044).
The use of a standard approach to such analysis (i.e. to agree system boundaries,
units, fossil comparators and partitioning of impacts between main and co-
products, etc) enables a comparison of products and approaches to production on
a common basis. Most commonly, it has been used to compare energy and material
use and associated GHG emissions for comparable products, including biobased
and fossil alternatives. Despite this, differences exist from one team to another
due to differences in units, raw material allocations or approaches adopted.
Inventories, common tools and calculators are being developed to (1) overcome
and reduce such problems and (2) provide common datasets that can be incorpo-
rated into further analysis, while helping to reduce analysis costs. Examples of
such tools and databases include the following.
