Life Cycle Assessment of Plastic Bags: Impact Analysis and Alternatives

Running head: LIFE CYCLE ASSESSMENT
LIFE CYCLE ASSESSMENT
Name of the Student
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Author Note

2LIFE CYCLE ASSESSMENT
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
The report looks into the Life Cycle Assessment of plastic bags on the ISO:
14040 standards and evaluates the material flow of the product along with the
hotspots and alternatives. The assessment gives an insight into the several
processes that contribute in making a plastic bag and analyses the impact that these
processes create in the environment. The report compares three different consumer
bags made out of high density plastic polyethylene plastic bags, long lasting
polypropylene plastic bags and bio-degradable bags made out of paper and
degradable material. The life cycle assessment of these products allows comparing
the feasibility of the three different products over each other.

3LIFE CYCLE ASSESSMENT
Table of Contents
Introduction......................................................................................................................................4
Processes in LCA.........................................................................................................................4
Weight calculation of the product................................................................................................6
Material flow Diagram:...............................................................................................................7
Impact analysis:...........................................................................................................................8
Identification of Hotspot............................................................................................................10
Best alternative..........................................................................................................................11
Conclusion:....................................................................................................................................11
References......................................................................................................................................12

4LIFE CYCLE ASSESSMENT
Introduction
The Life Cycle Assessment or LCA of a product analyses the whole process from its
origin to end and is referred to “Cradle to Grave” analysis which allows us to understand the
impact a product creates in the process of it manufacturing, use and disintegration. The LCA is
assessed by ISO 14000 environmental standards. The standards that define LCA are according to
the ISO: 14040 standards and generally followed while assessing the life cycle impact of a
product. The report will perform a Life cycle analysis of three different plastic bags that are
generally in use. The Low Density Polyethylene, the long life Polypropylene, and the bio-
degradable bag have been taken for the assessment. The growing use of plastic bags and their
impact in the environment has been huge and therefore this product has been selected. Plastic
bags are extensively used in the present resulting in generation of huge amount of wastes. The
bags are the most common form of degradation of the environment.
Processes in LCA
The process of assessing the Life Cycle of a product includes a stage-wise process that
overviews the process in the lifetime of product. The ISO 14040 standards refer to three stages
that identify the stages of development use and disintegration or recycling in the case of a close
looped system. The stages can be represented in a schematic chart as follows:
The ISO standards define the processes in
three different stages as mentioned in the steps beside. The
Gola and Scope
Defination
Inventory Analysis
Impact Asessment
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