Life Cycle Assessment of Water Bottle and Energy Efficiency Report

Sustainable Systems Assignment No.2
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Due date: 25 October 2018
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Contents
A REPORT OF LIFE CYCLE (LCA) ASSEMENT OF WATER BOTTLE........................................3
Executive Summary...............................................................................................................................3
Introduction...........................................................................................................................................3
Assessment of Life Cycle using GaBi...................................................................................................5
Conclusion...........................................................................................................................................12
References...........................................................................................................................................12
A REPORT OF ENERGY EFFECIENCY..........................................................................................14
Executive Summary.............................................................................................................................14
Introduction.........................................................................................................................................15
Cost Benefit Analysis..........................................................................................................................15
Conclusion...........................................................................................................................................16
References...........................................................................................................................................16

A REPORT OF LIFE CYCLE (LCA) ASSEMENT OF WATER BOTTLE
Executive Summary
LCA is as the framework that is used to identify and evaluate the material, energy and
impacts on the environment of a material or process or even a system across its life span from
manufacturing (raw material stage) to retirement or disposal (Curran & Marry, 2012). Life
cycle assessment looks at the product life by closely analyzing the aspects such as the input
materials and output materials (Chau, et al., 2015). The inputs can be thought of as the raw
material materials and the energy used in the production process of a product (Fan, et al.,
2011) On the other hand, the output include emissions into the atomosphere, wastes released
into water bodies, general solid wastes, bi-products and many other (Ara, 2011). In a
nutshell, the specific areas which are looked at in the LCA consist of raw materials, material
processing, manufacturing and assembly and retirement and recovery (Gehrer, et al., 2014).
Based on the outputs above, it is demonstrated that the plastic water bottle have a higher
emissions of toxic materials such as carbon into the atmosphere (Goverdhan & Saikat, 2010).
Plastic materials are not bio-degradable as well. This implies that a glass water bottle is
clearly the best option (Dehnen, 2011). Similarly, it is possible to see that the cost of
manufacturing the two alternatives re the same, implying that given one option, glass is still
the best option. Glass is satisfactorily environmentally friendly than a plastic water bottle.
Furthermore, the major identified hotspot include biodegradability, economic and social
responsibility (Frano, 2009).
Introduction
The objective of this report is to provide a comparison between two water bottles made from
different materials manufactured using different materials. The assessment is based on the
social efficiency, economic efficiency as well as environmental impact of the cycle of the

product, that is from the point of manufacturing to the time of retirement of disposal (Ban, et
al., 2012).
The service wanted is a water bottle that is able to effectively and comfortably used as well
as that which is sustainable and supporting the going- green agenda (Battarbee & Binney,
2008). The sustainability of the bottle is sassed in terms of the its suitability towards being
environmentally friendly, bio- degradable, recyclable, ozone friendly and contribution
towards global warming (Ban, et al., 2012).
Two Alternatives of water bottles that are considered in this report are the plastic water
bottle and the glass water bottle. The life- cycle of the two products will be assessed using a
software. The assessment involve acquisition of raw material, processing of material,
manufacturing and assembly, the uses and services of the products and the retirement and
retirement (Fan, et al., 2011). The assessment also involves the investigation of the possible
materials that are re- used, recycled or remanufactured (Sarancha, et al., 2014).
GaBi software will be used for the life cycle assessment process. GaBi software is a program
for conducting life assessment modelling (Veronica, et al., 2011). The assessment is made up
definition of scope and goal, analyzing the inventory, assessing the possible impacts well
interpretating the results (Huijbregts, et al., 2015). The goal and scope definition involves the
analysis off the purpose of the life cycle analysis and the target audience of the assessment
(Curran & Marry, 2012). The inventory analysis on the other hand involves the functional
unit of the assessment, the boundaries of the assessment, the required data set for purposeful
analysis, the assumptions taken into consideration and similarly the limitations of the
assessment process (Curran & Marry, 2012). Similarly, assessment of impact involves
assessing the effects of the product’s cycle on the environment (Vahe & Susanna, 2008). The