Sustainability and Life Cycle Assessment

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PART 1: SUSTAINABILITY AND LIFE CYCLE ASSESSMENT
Name of Institution:
Name of Student:
Date:

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Executive Summary
Over the years, there has been a lot of corporate collaboration towards environmental
conservation across the world (Lehmann & Joseph, 2015). This has been as a result of the shared
concern that continuous environmental pollution is contributing largely to the worsening weather
conditions across the world. Australia is not left behind in this journey. Climate change has been
at the center of discussion in most of the world forums and in most state conferences. There
have been a series of a recorded rise in sea levels and stronger storms from different states across
the world.
These concerns form the basis for writing this report. The results obtained from this analysis are
used to make a decision on which of the two items is more environmentally friendly. This
analysis is done using an application by the name GiBi.
Introduction
The consumption levels in a society depend on the payment capacity of the customers (Wu,
2011). When a commodity is affordable to most people and it is of good quality, the chances that
its demand would be high are very high. However, low-quality products attract fewer people
even when their prices are lower. High demand commodities require an equivalent volume of
supply to match up the demand (Kalecki, 2013). This way, there would be no deficit and
therefore the business would retain more customers. This is a healthy trend for any business.
The product chosen for this report is the plate. A comparison is done between a plastic plate and
a metallic plate. The areas under consideration for the two items is the effect they have on the
environment. This can be assessed by exploiting how easy it is to dispose of either of the two. A
life cycle analysis is conducted and the findings inform the position taken by the researcher.

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Problem Statement
The focus of this report is on metallic and plastic plates. This is kitchen appliances used to serve
food to friends and family members who sit around the tables for meals. Food is one of the most
basic needs for human beings (Gustavsson, et al., 2011). Confidently, it is a basic need for
animals too. This makes it very necessary to use quality plates that would have minimal or no
effect on the environment. Since food is a need for the masses, it goes without saying that the
number of plates across Australia is so much that if they are not disposed of properly, they would
be a major threat to the environment.
Both plastics and metals are non-biodegradable (Demirbas, 2011). This makes them very
sensitive items in regards to how they should be disposed of. These materials are not well-
handled leads to blockages in the sewerage systems. They also make the environment dirty and
not attractive. Imagine the physical appearance of a field full of plastics and metallic items of
types of colors spread all over. With this, it is possible to come up with the most creative ways of
disposing of these products without compromising the principles of environmental conservation.
Life Cycle Analysis Process
The International Organization for Standards (ISO) the following procedures to be followed
when conducting the life cycle analysis.
Life Cycle Analysis
First step:
Definitions of
Goal definition
and
Determination of
the Scope
Second step: The
Life Cycle
Inventory
Identifying both
inputs and
outputs
Third step: Impact
Assessment
Assess environmental
effects.
Fourth step:
Interpretation

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Weight and Functional unit
Metallic Plate Plastic Pate
Weight 7.65 – 408.0 (lb /ft2) 0.55 – 1.27 g/cc
Functional unit More than 100 years Utmost 450 years
Data source: (Uhthoff, et al., 2009)
Impact Analysis