| Author: | Dimitris A. Georgakellos |
| Title: | Packaging Waste Management: Life Cycle Analysis of Various Packaging Materials in Greece and their Consequences on the Quality of the Environment |
| Institution: | University of Piraeus, Department of Business Administration |
| Date: | November 1997 |
| Advisor: | Prof. Sotiris Karvounis |
| Key Words: | Life Cycle Analysis, Life Cycle Inventory Analysis, Packaging Waste Management, Method of Polygon, Table Water Bottles, Energy Analysis |
| How to Obtain: | University of Piraeus, Department of Business Administration
80, Karaoli & Dimitriou Street – 185 34 Piraeus, Greece Tel: +30 1 41 42 000 – Fax: +30 1 41 42 328 E-mail: ode-secr@unipi.gr |
| Abstract: | The dissertation concerns the assessment of the environmental consequences
of packaging materials in Greece, across their entire life cycle. For this
purpose the methodology of Life Cycle Analysis (LCA) is used. The concept
of LCA is to evaluate the environmental effects associated with any given
product or activity from the initial gathering of raw materials from the
earth until the point at which all residuals are returned to the earth.
The products that examined and compared are nine table water bottles of the Greek market from glass, PET, PVC and HDPE in various sizes. A mathematical model is constructed according to the methodological issues and guidelines of the inventory component of LCA and, after data collection, the total results are calculated: resource requirements (energy and raw materials consumption) and environmental loadings (atmospheric and waterborne emissions and solid wastes). The major sources of data are the industry for production processes and the municipalities and trade associations for solid waste management and recycling. Technical books, reports, conference papers and articles published in technical journals have also been used providing data and information on processes in the system. According to the results, no one of the nine bottles has the totally best or the totally worst environmental effect. The 1 lt glass bottle has the lowest waterborne emissions of dissolved materials, phenol, ammonia, sulphate, fluoride, chloride, Na and Fe ions and atmospheric emissions of chlorinated hydrocarbons but it has also the highest atmospheric emissions of particles, NOx, SO2, HCl, HF, volatile organic compounds (VOC), aldeyde, Pb and ammonia; BOD and COD; solid waste and consumption of energy and water. The 2 lt PET bottle has the lowest atmospheric emissions of aldeyde, chlorinated hydrocarbons and VOC; waterborne emissions of suspended material and solid waste. The 0,5 lt PET bottle has the highest atmospheric emissions of CO, hydrocarbons and N2O and waterborne emissions of oil, ammonia, sulphate, nitrate, chloride and Na and Fe ions. The 1,5 lt PVC bottle has the lowest atmospheric emissions of CO, hydrocarbons and HF; waterborne emissions of oil, BOD and energy consumption. The 0,75 lt PVC bottle has the highest atmospheric emissions of organic compounds and chlorinated hydrocarbons and waterborne emissions of suspended material, phenol and fluoride. The 1 lt HDPE bottle has the lowest atmospheric emissions of particles, NOx, N2O, SO2, aldeyde, ammonia, HCl and chlorinated hydrocarbons, COD and waterborne emissions of suspended material. The energy consumption of each type of bottles is compared with the energy consumption that calculated in similar studies in other countries (UK, Switzerland, France, Germany and USA) in order to confirm that the results of the present LCA are acceptable. According to this comparison, the energy consumption of the table water bottles in Greece is similar with the energy consumption of equivalent bottles in other countries. The margin of difference that exists is completely justified from the different performance conditions of each study (year, country, system boundaries, level of technology, data quality, bottle size and weight, solid waste management practices and recycling rate, basis of allocation etc). A new improved technique, the Method of Polygon, is developed, proposed and presented. The aim of this technique is to assist the makings of overall comparative appraisal of the LCA inventories of alternative products, as such inventories, almost always, result in numerous environmental effects expressed by many different units. This method is used to compare the overall environmental performance of the nine table water bottles, as well as to provide useful information about it by highlighting its principal characteristics. The dissertation also includes:
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