ENG608 Sustainable Development: LCA of Washing Machines Analysis

This report presents a comprehensive life cycle assessment (LCA) of washing machines, adhering to ISO standards and focusing on identifying key environmental impacts throughout the product's life cycle, from raw material extraction and manufacturing to usage and end-of-life disposal. The study defines the goal and scope of the LCA, including the functional unit (washing 7kg of clothes), system boundary, and impact assessment methodology (Eco-Indicator 99). It analyzes the life cycle inventory, detailing energy consumption and material usage in production, the significant energy and water consumption during the use phase, and the recycling and landfill processes at the end of life. The impact assessment reveals that the use phase is the most environmentally intensive, primarily due to electricity and water usage, contributing to global warming and eutrophication. The report concludes that LCA is a valuable tool for manufacturers and consumers to identify hotspots and improve the sustainability of washing machines, suggesting potential improvements such as optimizing design, reducing energy and water consumption, and enhancing recycling processes.

Running head: ENVIRONMENTAL MANAGEMENT
Sustainable Development and Environmental Management
Name of the Student:
Name of the University:
Author Note:

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Table of Contents
Introduction......................................................................................................................................2
Definition of goal and scope of PLCA............................................................................................2
The life cycle inventory analysis.....................................................................................................5
Life cycle impact assessment...........................................................................................................7
Life cycle interpretation...................................................................................................................8
Conclusion.......................................................................................................................................9
Reference.......................................................................................................................................10

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Introduction
Product life cycle analysis (PLCA) is a part of a strategic planning process. It includes
strategic analysis, strategic choice, and strategic implementation. PLCA helps to develop a
marketing strategy of a product which increases its robustness and also provides a framework for
forecasting the product sales. The product life cycle illustrates the time period through which a
product is developed, introduced in to the market and then removed from the market (Stark
2015). This study is based on life cycle analysis of washing machines. The report also includes
the life cycle assessment, life cycle interpretation and the environmental impact of the washing
machines.
Definition of goal and scope of PLCA
PLCA or LCA is an efficient tool for the purpose of conducting comparisons within the
competing systems and also assist in improving an existing system. This product improvement is
also a sort of comparison. An effective result is dependent upon an unambiguous, clear purpose
and definition of the study from the beginning (Curran 2016).
The goals of the LCA states: intended application, rationale for the conduct of the study,
the audience of these study (to whom the results will be conveyed and communicated), whether
the results accumulated are suitable for dissemination to the general public. This purpose of the
study is to perform a life cycle assessment of Washing Machines. The rationale behind the
carrying out of the LCA is to perform a thorough analysis of the impact of washing machines on
the environment (Klöpffer 2012). This LCA focusses on the parameters like overall efficiency of
the machines, energy and design. The intended audience for this study are the different
companies that manufacture the washing machines, the recycling agencies that recycle the

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electronic wastes, the dismantling companies that aid the recycling processes. The study results
will be effectively communicated to the above mentioned stakeholders for the purpose of
reducing the impact on the environment. The results will be used to make comparative analysis
of the different products of different companies and the parameters of the comparison will be
based on efficiency of the machines used, energy consumed by the final product and the design
of the product (Curran 2016).
The Scope of LCA involves: the product system intended for the study; the function of
the product for the purpose of making comparative analysis with other products; the functional
unit within the product; system boundary; procedures of allocation; categories of impact
selected, impact assessment methodology selected, and the subsequent interpretations; data
requirements; limitations and assumptions; requirements related the initial data quality; critical
review if required; format and type of the report required for the purpose of the study. The
product system to be studied here are the washing machines (Klöpffer 2012). The function of the
product system is to wash clothes and dry them subsequently. Whereas, the areas of comparison
lie on the types of washing machines. The types of washing machines are based on the automatic
or semi-automatic types, Front loading or top loading types. Depending on the type of usage of
the washing machines, the functional unit is set as washing machines that have the capability to
wash 7kg of clothes in one wash. The washing machines wash 175 times in one year and operate
at temperatures of 40 degree Celsius, 60 degree Celsius and 90 degree Celsius over the period of
15 years. The functional unit of 7kg is selected because the majority of the washing that are
available in the market have the maximum load capacity of 7 kg. The figure 1 shows the system
boundary of the washing machines (Curran 2016).

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Figure 1: system boundary of washing machines [source: Matsumoto et al. 2012]
The allocation procedure are based on the following principles: the allocation rules are
based on the pollutant emissions and the resource consumption (multi-output); actual
relationship (this is based on the emissions during the manufacturing process). The methodology
of the impact assessment selected for this study is an Eco Indicator 99(HA). This is a life cycle
impact assessment methodology that assesses the 3 important categories, like the resources,
ecosystem quality and human health. Data requirements are basically the data of material
composition of the various parts of a washing machine, data are also sourced from the literature
and Ecoinvent database. The assumptions considered for the study are related to the temperature
mix collected from the user ends and also from the manufacturers. Because of the inability to
gather information and data from the supplier’s end. Thus, data collections are limited only to the
manufacturers (Morbidoni et al. 2012).

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The life cycle inventory analysis
In order to establish the energy used during the production of the washing machines, a
bill of materials (BOM) is acquired. The figure 2 shows the bill of materials of a washing
machine.
Figure 2: Bill of materials of Washing Machine [Source: Ashby 2013]
From the table it is evident that, the majority of the materials used in the washing
machine manufacturing are the metal parts. Thus, there remains a scope of reuse and recycling of
the metal parts. The total manufacturing energy required for the manufacturing of the washing
machines is measured to be 996 MJ. Although this measured exclude the manufacturing of the

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liquid crystal display (LCD) and printed circuit boards (PCB). Thus, the total amount of energy
required for the entire production stage totals about 280 KWh or 1008MJ (Ashby 2013).
Use phase: the use of the washing machine consumes more energy in comparison to the
manufacturing process. The more energy consumption can be attributed to the frequency of the
usage of the washing machine and the detergent utilization. The use phase includes the
following:
 Fossil fuel depletion (life cycle impact is 62 percent)
 Global warming potential (life cycle impact is 73 percent)
 Energy use (life cycle impact is 60 percent)
 Water use (life cycle impact is 92 percent) (Plappally 2012)
Textiles are made of variety of fabrics and it includes synthetic, mineral, wool and cotton
and this results in a specific type of laundry. One major flaw is that all the washing requirements
are done based on cotton washing settings. The washing temperature for cotton influences the
consumption of energy. The more the temperature, the more energy is required. The areas that
contribute the energy consumption are the wearing of the parts, standby time, movement of the
mechanical parts and water. The water usage is directly linked to the amount of water utilized
during the washing process, because dirt removal from the clothes requires water. Per cycle of
washing machines usage consumes about 9 to 11 liters. This rinsing cycle requires about 8 liters
and have 3 rinses per cycle. Thus, the total consumption of water per wash is around 35 liters.
This data when extrapolated provided some interesting data. Thus, an average household will
have 200 washes per year and this totals 7 thousand liters of water usage. This will increase the
usage of electricity at about 3055 KWh ort 11,000 MJ. While at full load of 5 kg, the motors will
spin at 1800 rpm, which will consume about 2.75KWh of electricity. Also keeping in mind that

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washing machine utilizes fossil fuel energy, which totals around 160 pounds of greenhouse gases
getting released in to the atmosphere in the form of Carbon dioxide per machine per year (Santin
2011).
End life: According to the Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment Directive (WEEE
Directive) 85 percent is the basis upon which white material recycling is to be recycled. Around
1.75 KWh of energy is required in order to shred the majority of the washing machine parts for
the purpose of recycling. Around 15 percent, of the parts of the washing machine is utilized for
landfill (Ongondo, Williams and Cherrett 2011).
Table 1: recycled parts of washing machine [Source: Eco-3e, 2018]
Life cycle impact assessment
The Eco-indicator 99 is utilized for the analysis of the impact assessment and is used for
the evaluation of the damage on the resources, ecosystem or environment and human health. The
total impact is found to be higher in the older models in comparison to the later or newer models
of washing machines. Among all the three categories, the human health is found to be affected
adversely by the respiratory inorganic substances. It was further found that the copper fraction
and the printed circuit boards contribute significantly to the human health and it acts as a
carcinogen. Generally the printed circuit board, rubber, copper and polypropylene influence
health of the humans to a large extent. Polypropylene contributes to a great extent for the ozone

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layer depletion, ionizing radiation and climate change. While the highest contributor is rubber
itself. The environmental quality is greatly hampered by the copper, steel and the printed circuit
boards that are found in the old washing machines (Song, Wang and Zeng 2013).
During the life time of a washing machine, the use phase contributes negatively to the
environment. The electricity usage and the usage of water are both resource intensive. The vast
amount of electricity consumed per year per machine contributes extensively to the global
warming. The reason for the increase in global warming is the release of carbon dioxide during
the energy generation. While considering the water usage by the washing machines. The water
consumed per cycle of washing is around 35 liters. This water usage data when analyzed for a
whole year, a whopping 7000 liters of water is found to be utilized by a single household
(Castillo-Cagigal et al. 2011).
Washing machines need to perform at certain temperature in order to clean clothes
properly. It has been found that, washing machines impact the environment negatively when it is
operated at 40 degree Celsius and 60 degree Celsius along with the detergents. Whereas, the
impact is little less when the washing machines are operated at the 95 degree Celsius along with
the detergents. There are environmental impacts that arise from the disposal of the washing
machine water. The water which after getting removed from the washing machines gets
transported to the drainage and the eutrophication potential increase, when such high nutrient
water mass enters in to small water bodies. The water mass can be considered similar to an
industrial effluent that are potentially damaging the water bodies and hampering the aquatic
ecosystem. The second issue arises from the dismantling of the washing machines. Improper
disposal of the washing machine electronic equipment can largely impact the environment
through the mixing of different toxic chemicals in to the soil (Laitala, Boks and Klepp 2011).

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Life cycle interpretation
The life cycle assessment of the washing machines are critical for both the manufacturers
and the consumers. Through the assessment, it has been found that starting from the
manufacturing to the product usage by the consumers, the product is resource intensive. Washing
machines are built to reduce the effort and time that a person spent in washing clothes. The cost
involved in manufacturing a washing is dependent on the specific type of technology used.
Whereas, the irrespective of the technology, the environment is getting adversely affected due to
it improper usage. The time involved in the manufacturing a single unit of washing machine is
just a few hours due to the advancement of the technology. Economically washing machines are
not a cost intensive product and emphasize that any middle class or an upper class person can
purchase it. Whereas, the usability is rather resource intensive process. The washing machine
alone consumes 35 liters of water per wash cycle, the quantity of electricity consumed is also
directly proportional to the temperature set during the washing process. There are certain areas
that need to be addressed, like the availability of the data. The unavailability of data from the
suppliers end, environmental impact data from dismantling the washing machines is also not
properly available. Although during its usage, it was found clearly that the organic compounds
used in the manufacturing process of washing directly impacts the human health (Behrendt et al.
2012).
Conclusion
Therefore, from the above study it can be concluded that, life cycle assessment is an
inevitable tool for the analysis of any product which is used daily for the household purposes.
Through the LCA, the potential issues can be effectively communicated to the manufacturers and
the consumers regarding the manufacturing and usage respectively. For this study, washing

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machines are chosen, and it has been found that the production cost is not much for each unit of
washing machines, but the manufacturing and the usage itself impact negatively to the
environment.

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Reference
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Butterworth–Heinemann–Elsevier-New York.
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manual for small and medium-sized enterprises. Springer Science & Business Media.
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