Environmental assessment of ozone layer depletion due to the manufacture of plastic bags

Méndez, Jonathan David Morales; Silva-Rodríguez, Ramón

doi:10.1016/j.heliyon.2018.e01020

Cited by 30 publications

(13 citation statements)

References 18 publications

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“…Unlike the HDPE bottle, the PET bottle showed up as a maximum indicator in some CML impact categories. The categories in which PET was maximum indicator in the pressurised and fruit juice categories ('Depletion of Abiotic Resources -elements, ultimate reserves' and 'Ozone Layer Depletion') are in line with other studies (Accorsi et al, 2015;Morales-Méndez and Silva-Rodríguez, 2018). The biggest factor in both of these impacts is the production of plastic granules, which encompasses inputs and outputs of mining raw materials, processing, and preparation for manufacture.…”

Section: Key Resultssupporting

confidence: 86%

Life Cycle Assessment of Beverage Packaging

Brock

Williams

2020

Detritus

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Global plastic production has been increasing annually since World War II and is currently 380 million tonnes. Global concern about pollution from plastics in the seas and the environmental costs of plastics manufacture is rising. This study aimed to: i) review the costs, benefits, advantages / disadvantages of plastics as packaging materials and ii) use life cycle assessment to determine if there is less environmentally impactful beverage packaging than plastic bottles. As different beverages have different packaging needs, three categories were used: commonly used containers for milk, fruit juice and pressurised ‘fizzy’ drinks. The packaging types included in the assessment were glass bottles, aluminium cans, milk cartons, Tetra Pak, polyethylene terephthalate (PET) bottles and high-density polythene (HDPE) bottles. The ISO 14040:2006 and ISO 14044:2006 standards for life cycle assessment formed the basis of the methodology. The open source software openLCA was used to conduct the assessments. Data was assembled from LCA databases such as the European reference Life Cycle Database of the Joint Research Center (ELCD), existing life cycle assessments, scientific reports and peer reviewed literature. The functional unit was set at a container that held one litre of fluid. The results found that in each category there was a less impactful beverage packaging than plastic bottles. In the Pressurised Beverage Category, 100% recycled aluminium cans would be the least impactful option, in the Fruit Juice Beverage Category Tetra Pak would be the least impactful option and in the Milk Beverage Category milk cartons would be the least impactful option.

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Section: Key Resultssupporting

confidence: 86%

Life Cycle Assessment of Beverage Packaging

Brock

Williams

2020

Detritus

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“…Specifically, the fossil fuels and oil‐derived materials used for LDPE production were the largest contributors to global warming, smog and respiratory effects. Global warming is known as a primary cause of ozone layer depletion 30 …”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Life cycle assessment of returnable mailers used for apparel electronic commerce: A case study in Canada

Park

Waqar

2022

Packag Technol Sci

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E‐commerce is increasingly popular in the fashion industry in Canada. Based on a case study, this research analysed the environmental sustainability of the returnable e‐commerce package format distributed in Canadian apparel retail channels. The case study compared the environmental impacts of a returnable polypropylene mailer to those of two different expendable packaging formats currently used by a brand owner, such as a corrugated paperboard package and a low‐density polypropylene mailer. A life cycle assessment (LCA) was conducted to examine the environmental impacts of the three packaging scenarios. The foreground data of the LCA were obtained from a brand owner and packaging suppliers in 2021. TRACI 2.1, including 10 life cycle impact categories, was used for the LCA. The comparative LCA results showed that the returnable mailer generated the lowest environmental impact for eight out of 10 impact categories when the final consumers' locations were relatively close to the brand owner or returnable packaging service provider. The expendable corrugated paperboard packaging format contributed the greatest environmental burden in all the impact categories primarily because it used a large amount of material and was relatively heavy. However, the comparative results were changed for some impact indicators depending on the final consumer's location and the number of reuse cycles for the returnable mailer. Specifically, the returnable mailer had a higher environmental impact than the expendable mailer for half of the 10 impact categories when the number of reuses for the returnable mailer was decreased to 10 cycles.

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“…A recent study assessed the contribution of the various stages of the plastic bag production process to atmospheric pollution by quantifying the ozone layer depletion category. The results showed that the process contributing the most pollution was the extrusion process of plastic bags, followed by the printing process, which accounts for about 50% and 30% of the total contribution, respectively [9]. The extrusion process of plastic film has the most significant degree of ozone layer depletion.…”

Section: Current Pollution Caused By Plastic Bagsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…This is where raw materials such as natural gas and oil enter the plastic bag manufacturing process. The printing section of plastic bags is the second process that has a significant environmental impact on the ozone layer because this process uses a large number of chemicals, such as alcohol, acetic acid, and ink [9].…”

Section: Current Pollution Caused By Plastic Bagsmentioning

confidence: 99%

The Environmental Impact of Plastic Grocery Bags and Their Alternatives

Liu

et al. 2022

IOP Conf. Ser.: Earth Environ. Sci.

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Plastic grocery bags can casue a variety of environmental problems. Plastic bags pollute the air through their life cycle, from raw material extraction and manufacturing process to the disposal. The raw materials to produce plastic bags are mainly crude oil and natural gas, and the extraction process of those raw materials can cause the emission of a considerable amount of air pollutants to the atmosphere. In addition, plastic bags can also cause water pollution and soil pollution. Countries around the world have issued bans and tax measures to reduce the use of plastic grocery bags. At the same time, a variety of alternative options have been created and promoted to replace the use of plastic bags, including paper bags, jute bags, and other biodegradable bags. Each alternative has its advantages and disadvantages. After analysis of the environmental impacts and the practicability of plastic bags and their alternatives, we evaluated the feasibility of the utilization of alternative grocery bags under difference occasions as well as corresponding policy measures. Finally, we proposed several suggestions to mitigate the problem of plastic bag pollution, including developing new degradable bag technologies and reusing grocery bags.

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Environmental assessment of ozone layer depletion due to the manufacture of plastic bags

Cited by 30 publications

References 18 publications

Life Cycle Assessment of Beverage Packaging

Life Cycle Assessment of Beverage Packaging

Life cycle assessment of returnable mailers used for apparel electronic commerce: A case study in Canada

The Environmental Impact of Plastic Grocery Bags and Their Alternatives

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