life cycle assessment of disposable razors life cycle assessment of disposable razors

Environmental Life-Cycle Assessment of Disposable Bioreactors - BioProcess InternationalBioProcess International Upstream Processing Bioprocessing begins upstream, most often with culturing of animal or microbial cells in a range of vessel types (such as bags or stirred tanks) using different controlled feeding, aerating, and process strategies. In addition to traditional criteria for the selection and purchase of medical devices that include safety, efficacy, and cost, growing awareness of the negative impacts from the practice of health care on the environment and public health calls for the routine inclusion of life cycle criteria into the product selection process. Eckelman, Matthew PhD*; Mosher, Margo; Gonzalez, Andres; Sherman, Jodi MD. In life cycle assessment, the basis of comparison is called the functional unit. For this report, the functional unit of the disposable and reusable LMAs was taken to be maintenance of airway patency by 40 disposable LMAs or 40 uses of 1 reusable LMA.9 Data collection was specific to Yale New Haven Hospital, including device transportation, cleaning procedures and labor, energy requirements, and disposal. Safety Razor. How Products Are Made www.madehow.com/Volume-5/Safety-Razor.html. Comparative environmental and human health (HH) impacts for disposable and reusable laryngeal mask airways (LMA), Building for Environmental and Economic Sustainability (BEES) impact assessment method. Chu L, Mathur P, Trudell J, Brock-Utne J. The study found that: The hardest part of this whole process is the data gathering. For example, the designer might think that the manufacturing stage would be the most impactful, when in reality for some products its the raw material extraction or its use phase. Our LCA team retains its reputation as the most experienced life cycle staff in North America. Phenylene oxide, or PPO, is another common plastic material used in disposable razors. Polyphenylene Oxides.Polyphenylene Oxides - an Overview | ScienceDirect Topics, 2013, www.sciencedirect.com/topics/chemical-engineering/polyphenylene-oxides. In 2016, Bic reduced packaging for their Soleil Razor by 40%. BIC has repeatedly come under fire because of the environmental impact their disposable razors have, due to the sheer amount of their disposable products are used every year. Health care facilities can decrease their environmental impacts by using reusable LMAs, to a lesser extent by selecting disposable LMA models that are not made of certain plastics, and by ordering in bulk from local distributors. The life cycle impacts of the disposable and reusable LMA options are shown in Figure 2 for all impact categories, on the basis of data from Yale New Haven Hospital. Contribution: This author helped conduct the study and analyze the data. How Long Will It Take That Bag of Trash to Decompose in a Landfill?The Balance Small Business, The Balance Small Business, 22 Oct. 2019, www.thebalancesmb.com/how-long-does-it-take-garbage-to-decompose-2878033#plastic-waste. These few simple materials go through processes of heating, cooling, moulding, cutting, and sharpening throughout their manufacturing process to eventually become the handle, razor blades, and blade cartridge, that will then be assembled to become a disposable razor. Assessing all steps in that life cycle provides insight into individual stresses and burden shifts from one step to another and enables understanding of both the cumulative environmental impacts and related trade-offs in each area, throughout the lifespan of both a facility and its manufactured products. It is used to assist companies, consumers, and policy-makers in greening their practices and decisions. Park Ridge, IL: American Society of Anesthesiologists, 1999, 15. This is shown through their commitment to their eco-design process and new recycling programs that are undergoing testing. Choosing a less-green disposable will magnify your razor's manufacturing impact, but it won't change the overall picture very much. Die Basics 101: Intro to Stamping. The Fabricators, 18 July 2018, www.thefabricator.com/thefabricator/article/stamping/die-basics-101-intro-to-stamping. CASE STUDY ANALYSIS - CLEAN EDGE, NON DISPOSABLE RAZOR Q1. Dbendorf, Switzerland, 2011, 12. Anaesth Intensive Care 2010;38:538, 9. 3. RSA With the results we supply the basis for strategic decisions for sustainable action. However, because of the new awareness to their wasteful impact on the environment, some companies have begun to provide solutions to the disposable razor issue. Anesth Analg 2004;99:6267, 17. LCA for product sustainability. The Life Cycle Impact Assessment (LCIA) is where the impacts on the environment are calculated. . The metal is heated to a temperature of 1967-2048 degrees Fahrenheit and tungsten carbide has a specific heat of 0.226 BTU/lb/Fahrenheit (Safety razor). Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) measures the impact of products on the environment. The US Environmental Protection Agency's Tool for the Reduction and Assessment of Chemical and other environmental Impacts (TRACI) life cycle impact assessment method was used to model environmental impacts of greenhouse gases and other pollutant emissions. Highlights Due to the nature of the disposable razor, they are usually just thrown in the trash and sent off to a landfill. Life cycle impact assessment (LCIA) covers all relevant inputs from the environment (e.g., ores and crude oil, water, land use) as well as emissions into air, water and soil (e.g., carbon dioxide and nitrogen oxides). The largest sources of both cancer and noncancer impacts for the reusable LMA are from emissions from waste management (35%), the mining and production of metals to build wastewater treatment infrastructure (25%), and the bleaching of packaging paper and the card insert (20%). The sheets are then cut out using a process called die stamping, using a tool called a die stamp which is a special, one-of-a-kind precision tool that cuts and forms sheet metal into a desired shape or profile, where the blades are die stamped at a rate of 800-1,200 strokes a minute into the desired shape and size (Hedrick, Die Basics 101: Intro to Stamping.). Gillette Mach3 Men's Disposable Razor for Sensitive Skin - Best Cartridge Razor for Sensitive Skin. They also reported how they dealt with their non-hazardous waste 76 percent was recycled, 11 percent incineration with energy recovery, 10 percent was sent to land disposal, and the remaining 3 percent was sent off for a different treatment (For You for Everyone Registration Document). For climate change impacts specifically, the reusable LMA contributes 7.4 kg CO2e of GHGs over its life cycle, and the equivalent 40 disposable LMAs contribute 11.3 kg CO2e, or approximately the equivalent to burning a gallon (4 L) of gasoline. However, we can discuss the energy usage of different modes of transportation. Gathering all the data for the LCA is the most difficult part of the task, and normally assumptions have to be made where its impossible to gather all the knowledge required, thus not all the relevant impacts are considered. This short course will give you an introduction to life cycle assessment (LCA) methods and how to apply them in real-life situations.. Life cycle assessment (LCA) is a rapidly evolving tool used to determine impacts of products or systems over a range of environmental and resource issues. Direct emissions refer to any emissions that resulted from the burning of fossil fuels and Indirect emissions refer to any emissions that resulted from the generation of electricity. To bring the metal to its final form, it is heated to extremely high temperatures to remove the binders, and to mold the metal particles together, in turn, creating a very strong and durable metal compound (Siddle, How Is Tungsten Carbide Formed?). During production, two components have to be created which are the blade and the plastic body. A Comparison Life Cycle Assessment between Razor Blade and Electric Shaver. Dec. 2012. They have teamed up with Gillette to raise awareness about the massive waste of disposable razors by allowing users to mail their old razors in to be recycled. Williams S, Henderson K. A survey into the number of times laryngeal masks are used. Choosing models that use alternate materials is recommended, particularly because the American Medical Association is urging hospitals and health systems to reduce their use of PVC products, especially those containing DEHP.26 The shipment of LMAs by air also greatly increased overall impacts, pointing to a strategy of bulk ordering from local distributors well in advance of use, and avoiding overnight shipment whenever possible. The biggest impact during the cartridge-based razor life-cycle is manufacturing the cartridge as this is the part which is hardest to make. Finally, the assessment will be carried out on the new design to assess if it has a lower impact than the other options analysed. 21 offers from $5.20. 3. Introduction Paper diapers are roughly divided into two types: those for infants and those for adults. Next, the razors will be tested for flaws, strength, and razor hardness and sharpness (Safety Razor, madehow.com). :396?Qkt)e. Some error has occurred while processing your request. Select patients who are highly infective warrant the choice of disposable devices; however, data do not support selecting disposables for all patients to avoid any possible risk of infection. Yet, as they are designed to be thrown away after use, a question is raised of their fast accumulating waste and its impact on the environment. At 20 reuse cycles,16 the results indicate an increase in emissions of nearly 20%. The next step is to temper the steel at a temperature of 482-752F (250- 400C) and pressed into thin sheets (Safety Razor, madehow.com). Tungsten is a natural metal deposit that is found in metamorphic, and granitic igneous rocks, primarily in China, Russia, South Korea, South America, and the Rocky Mountains in the United States. DEHP leaches out upon exposure to heat and lipids, as would be the case in contact with mucous membranes. For a number of perioperative textiles, surgical instruments, and anesthetic devices, a life cycle assessment (LCA) has been done and has shown reusables to be environmentally favorable to disposables [ 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23 ]. Disposable BIC razors are hollow and made using injection molding, but making the razors hollow is only possible because of the fluid nature of polystyrene (The Bic Razor, Still the Sharpest of the Bunch.). (iii)What are the strategic lifecycle challenges for paramount's current products as well as for clean edge? Europe, Plastic News. Anesth Analg 2012;114:105566, 8. In conclusion, disposable razors are being used and thrown away at a rate that is unsustainable for the finite space on the planet. This assessment is exceptionally useful as it shows the designer what areas are the most impactful during the products life cycle. It has been assumed that the only part recycled at the end of life is the packaging. Ask a worker if you can put them in the bin by themselves or if they need to be in a recyclable container to protect sanitation workers from being cut. We are proud that it is among the leading professional LCA software . Life cycle assessment (LCA) is a method used to estimate the total environmental impacts from producing a good or service. Razor blades dull quickly after repeated use, and are recommended to be used only three to ten times, making them a cheap alternative to reusable cartridges. They have also reduced shipping time, by only sending the blades from Greece to Mexico to optimize the tools and products available in each location, instead of having all the materials shipped to each factory. 0 8tZ Disposable razors are designed for consumers that prefer minimum spending . Reusable LMAs were collected in a dirty device bin on the anesthesia cart and then reprocessed by the anesthesia technicians. 2 offers from $9.92. Rogers, Tony. This practice meets American Society of Anesthesiologists' recommendations for infection control for equipment requiring high-level disinfection.14. LCA is a technique to assess the environmental aspects and potential impacts associated with a product, process, or service. The largest difference in environmental impacts is seen in the impact category of carcinogenesis, in which reusable LMAs cause 5% of the impacts of disposable LMAs. B|$5 The LCA is broken into four stages: Defining the goal and scope how much of a product's lifecycle will be addressed, the reasons for carrying out the assessment, the intended audience, and the intended end-use [] Reducing Trichloroethylene (TCE) Waste in the Fabricated Metals Sector.EPA, Environmental Protection Agency, 9 Aug. 2016, www.epa.gov/toxics-release-inventory-tri-program/reducing-trichloroethylene-tce-waste-fabricated-metals-sector. Waste is not only a problem when a product is disposed of, but also when it is initially manufactured. In this process, the metal is heated to temperatures of 1,967-2,048F (1,075-1,120C), then quenched in water to a temperature between -76- -112 F (-60- -80 C) to harden it. LMAs may be composed of 40% DEHP by weight. Nash, Nathaniel C. HOW BIC LOST THE EDGE TO GILLETTE. The New York Times, The New York Times, 11 Apr. Once Terracycle has collected the waste, it is: broken down and separated by material. There is no public data entailing the details of this plastics recyclability. The mixed plastics used in most of the razor take hundreds of years to break down in landfill, and the blades, while the metal is recyclable if separated from the rest of the product, poses a safety hazard for both the consumer and the employees who handle recyclables. Life cycle assessment is a "cradle-to-grave" approach for determining the financial and environmental costs of a product over its entire life. For You for Everyone Registration Document. Technical Fact Sheet-Tungsten.Technical Fact Sheet- Tungsten, EPA, Jan. 2014, www.epa.gov/sites/production/files/2014-03/documents/ffrrofactsheet_contaminant_tungsten_january2014_final.pdf. The majority of life cycle human health impacts of disposable LMAs are caused by PVC use in packaging and the device itself. Silver Spring, MD: U.S. Food and Drug Administration, 2002, 26. Part of this responsible shipping mentality forces them to change their packaging to be able to ship more at a time. The number of times an LMA is reused is a particularly uncertain assumption, because there have been reports of premature disposal.16 Use in excess of the manufacturer recommended 40 times has also been reported,17 and 100 to 200 uses appears to be possible with proper handling and preuse checks.1821 Here, 10, 20, 30, 60, 80, and 100 cycles are considered as alternative assumptions. 11,772. In phase 3, we evaluate how significant the impacts are. Washington, DC: U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, 2000 rev, 25. Another material used is polystyrene. Health care facilities can decrease their environmental impacts by using reusable LMAs, by selecting disposable LMA models that are not made of certain plastics, and by ordering in bulk from local distributors. Land transport like trains and trucks use diesel as fuel and that produced 138,700 BTU (Energy Consumption by Mode of Transportation.). disposable paper diaper; material recycling; closed-loop recycling; life cycle assessment (LCA) 1. Product Ecology (PR) Consultants. 769 0 obj <>stream It is cheap and highly versatile, and can either be hard plastic material, or a soft foam material, making it one of the most common plastic materials manufactured and used (What Is Polystyrene? To start the process of making the blades, tungsten carbide is melted at high temperatures. An LCA is a life cycle assessment which is completed through research, testing and understanding of the environmental impacts a particular item creates through it's resources use/ production/distribution/disposal. Safety Razor.How Products Are Made, www.madehow.com/Volume-5/Safety-Razor.html. Criteria for the selection and purchase of medical devices typically include safety for patients and staff, efficacy and ease of use, and purchase and handling prices. Bic has attempted to lower their direct emissions by having factories world-wide and creating: a Transport Community which connects shipping managers on each continent to raise control for greenhouse gas emissions, optimize shipments and routes, and use only responsible carriers (Bic). BIC states that it prides itself on producing affordable, safe, and quality razors for its customers worldwide. Not all form of impacts are valued the same, so the ones with the largest impact should be tackled first in order to produce the maximum overall improvement. 1.Establish the purpose of the Eco-Indicator calculations 4.Complete the form To begin the process of making tungsten carbide, the tungsten must first be extracted. To aid in solving this issue, I believe consumers should stray away from wasteful disposable razors and be encouraged to go with more sustainable and longer lasting options such as classic safety razors. Bics direct emissions were from: a combustion of fossil fuels, primarily natural gas and fuel oil, mainly used to heat buildings. Rogers, Tony. Any extra plastic will be discarded, remelted, and reused (Safety Razor, madehow.com). Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) is a modeling tool for quantifying the environmental impacts of products and processes. hb```X ea i:=3*?a_.k7#uq-u[JRP erle@@)`EkP;~ cdC58xiv06@Jup E The Great Recovery was a project by the RSA working with Innovate UK which ran between 2012 and 2016. The tungsten carbide is then ground into an extremely fine powder in a wet mill process, where metal binders and other metals such as cobalt may be added to increase the metals strength and durability and to help hold the powder together when it is shaped. Alternate assumptions were used to test model sensitivity and to create bounds to aid interpretation of the results (Table 2). For example, LCA results can tell us if one product is environmentally preferable to another . Soulias M, Martin L, Garnier N, Juniot A, Aho L, Freysz M. Disposable vs reusable laryngeal mask airway: a cost-minimization analysis. The high waste from manufacturing and shipping such a small, and cheap product is one that is negatively impacting the planet. Manufacturer specifications indicate 20 kWh of electricity use for a 5-minute cycle at 135C. 761 0 obj <>/Filter/FlateDecode/ID[]/Index[748 22]/Info 747 0 R/Length 72/Prev 421064/Root 749 0 R/Size 770/Type/XRef/W[1 2 1]>>stream On the Venus Gillette company website, they provide the buyer with a guide for choosing which razor is best by asking: When it comes to choosing a razor, how do you know if a disposable or reusable razor is right for you? (What's the Difference Between Disposable and Reusable Razors for Women? Venus)This question, however, only affects the buyers short usage time, and does not provide any information as to the rest of the razors life-cycle after they are ready for a new razor blade and they: throw away the entire razor and grab a new one as recommended by the manufacturer (Venus). This study assumed no difference between the devices in terms of clinical efficacy or time for placement.4 Disposable LMAs were discarded in regular municipal solid waste bins after use. There are only two components for the BIC disposable razors which are the plastic body and razor blade. Buy Now. American Medical Association (AMA). A Life Cycle Assessment of Disposable Razors. This reflects the equivalence between 40 disposable LMAs and their associated materials, waste, and 40 uses of 1 reusable LMA. Life-cycle assessment stages A complete life cycle cost analysis would complement the life cycle assessment results shown here; however, a simple analysis reveals that, assuming full utilization, a $200 reusable LMA costs $5 per use, plus $3 per cleaning for a unit cost of $8, excluding utility and hospital overhead costs. International Sympsium on Sustainable Systems and Technology. Disposable and reusable LMAs typically differ in material composition, packaging, reuse, and cost. The life cycle assessment software package SimaPro 7.3.2 was used to conduct our analysis.10 The majority of inventory data were drawn from the ecoinvent v2.2 life cycle inventory database.11 Impacts were assessed using the Building for Environmental and Economic Sustainability v4.02 impact assessment method,12 which encompasses both environmental concerns (such as climate change, acid rain and smog formation, water use, and ozone depletion) and human-health-related impacts (such as cancer and noncancer ailments and emission of criteria air pollutants). The number of BIC razors that are used by consumers is astounding. 2. Manufacturing Processes (RAZOR): KAI FACTORY: KAI Group. KAI FACTORY | KAI Group, www.kai-group.com/global/en/kai-factory/process/razor/. E-LCA is a time tested assessment technique that evaluates environmental performance throughout the life cycle of a product or from performing a service. This is because of the complexity of the life cycle, from the acquisition of materials to the management of a product at the end of its life. In this post I havent shown the whole process, but there are downloadable links to my full Eco-Indicator results, and to the template form if youd like to carry out an assessment yourself. Bic USAs 2016 registration document provides information about the waste produced during the manufacturing of the razors. There could be hundreds of different sources for their materials. During the research, I could not find how much energy BIC injection molding machines use, but I did find the energy usage of a common injection molding machine called the Babyplast. In their study of Life cycle assessment of wastewater treatment technologies treating petroleum process waters, Vlaopolous et al. However, the LCA is not an exact science and has its limitations: However, the viability of the disposable razor is always thrown into question because of the sheer amount of resources that it expends. Ison E, Miller A. Each razor can last up to 12 gentle shaves. SimaPro is our flagship product: life cycle assessment software that gives sustainability experts, product designers and decision-makers the power to gain insight into the environmental performance of products and services, to define hotspots and to drive positive change. The original LMA was a reusable device (Intavent International SA, Henley-on-Thames, UK). In this life cycle breakdown, I will be discussing what materials go into the making of disposable razors and what processes the materials go through in the operation of making a disposable razor. Research about tungsten is ongoing and includes health effects and risks, degradation processes and an inventory of its use in the defense industry as a substitute for lead-based munitions (EPA). This was a cradle-to-grave study that included inputs and outputs for the manufacture, transport, use, and waste phases of the LMAs. Wat LI, Brimacombe JR, Gee S. Laryngeal mask airway longevity and pilot-balloon failure. hbbd``b`z$k@D It is a thermoplastic that exhibits high heat resistance, dimensional stability, and accuracy and is often combined with other plastics, such as polystyrene, due to various problems in its processing (Poly(p-Phenylene Oxide, Wikipedia.org). 45. Disposable LMAs are made largely from PVC plastic, which is associated with a number of health concerns that are gaining increased attention.23 Historic efforts to minimize routine medical incineration resulted in the 1998 Memorandum of Understanding between the American Hospital Association and the US Environmental Protection Agency, largely on the basis of recognition of the potential carcinogenic effects of burning PVC plastics. A life cycle assessment or analysis according to ISO 14040/14044 is an instrument of environmental and sustainability management. Comparison of disposable and reusable laryngeal mask airways in spontaneously ventilating adult patients. : Uses, Benefits, and Safety Facts, ChemicalSafetyFacts.org,). The majority of eutrophication impacts from disposable LMAs are from deposition of nitrogen oxide particulates from electricity generation and waste incineration, and impacts for the reusable LMA are nearly all from wastewater used in the cleaning process. Whereas transportation has a relatively significant GHG impact for the disposable LMAs, by comparison the transportation of reusable LMAs has little impact on GHG emissions, because 40 disposable LMAs must be shipped to provide an equivalent function to 1 reusable LMA. Here, Great Recovery Intern Sebastian de Cabo Portugal discusses Life Cycle Assessments. In landfilling or incinerating this part, the large amount of energy and material value used in creating it is lost. Di(2-ethylhexyl) phthalate (DEHP) Hazard Summary. The specific type or blend of plastic for BIC razors is used is called polystyrene (Europe). It has been assumed that the packaging contains cardboard, even though it has been made from other natural fibres like bamboo, as there is no info on those materials in the Eco-Indicator tables.