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. Overall, while the materials for disposable razors are few, and the products basic design makes it appear simplistic, the products lifecycle is far from simple. Anaesthesia 2007;62:3814, 5. van Zundert AAJ, Fonck K, Al-Shaikh B, Mortier E. Comparison of the LMA-Classic with the new disposable soft seal laryngeal mask in spontaneously breathing adult patients. A Life Cycle Assessment of Reusable and Single-Use Central V - LWW Life Cycle Approach to Plastic Pollution - Life Cycle Initiative However, the LCA is not an exact science and has its limitations: 3. Gillette's slogan 'Gillette - the best a man can get' is famous the world over. Their disposable nature causes them to be put into landfills faster than it takes them to be made, packaged, and shipped. I found information about the whole blade manufacturing process, but could not find details about energy consumption in every step of the process. The Bic USAs company website provides information about the making of the razors in the factories, regarding their inspection and factory standards, yet there is no mention for the environmental impact of the disposal. 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. Life cycle assessment (LCA) is a method used to estimate the total environmental impacts from producing a good or service. Amazon.com: Bulk Disposable Razors This is done on an assembly line by the robotic arm the inserts the razor blade into the small crevices in the plastic body. (PDF) A Comparative Life Cycle Assessment of Disposable - academia.edu Disposable razors are a product that can be found in almost any average bathroom. a 4.1% (Bic). Where regulations permit, disposal of LMA-related waste as regular municipal waste, as opposed to biohazardous waste, should also reduce the adverse health effects stemming from medical waste incineration. Rogers, Tony. This means, of the 2 billion razors disposed of annually within the United States, each razor will be on the planet longer than the people who used them. The Eco-Indicator method is a tool developed to help designers conduct a simplified LCA study. J Clin Anesth 1997;9:432, 20. Everything You Need To Know About Polypropylene (PP) Plastic. Everything You Need To Know About Polypropylene (PP) Plastic, https://www.creativemechanisms.com/blog/all-about-polypropylene-pp-plastic. This is the fourth installment in a series of blogs in which weexplore how to design a product for circularity. Marvel Product Razor Lady Body Shaver Disposable Razore. This is based on our Life Cycle Inventory flows from phase 2. The life cycle of plastics Life cycle assessment (LCA) considers the environmental aspects associated with a product over its lifespan. What is Life Cycle Assessment (LCA)? | iPoint-systems to maintaining your privacy and will not share your personal information without The total amount of Direct emissions from BIC factories was 8,689 tonnes of carbon dioxide (For You For Everyone Registration Document). BIC Group, 2016, For You For Everyone Registration Document. BIC has done their best to deal with waste in an environmentally conscious manner. The total amount of indirect emissions was 89,762 tonnes of carbon dioxide (For You For Everyone Registration Document). Everything You Need To Know About Polystyrene (PS). Everything You Need To Know About Polystyrene (PS), 5 Nov. 2015, https://www.creativemechanisms.com/blog/polystyrene-ps-plastic. Upgrading to a new, energy-efficient autoclave machine leads to a nearly equal reduction in life cycle GHG emissions and may be considered particularly in instances in which older equipment is being used. 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. If all 2.6 billion of those razors each weight 8.8 grams, then the total amount of waste produced would be around 25,220 tonnes. However, BIC did report some of its transportation statistics. 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. Encyclopaedia Brittanica, Encyclopaedia Brittanica, Inc., 26 Sept. 2012, www.britannica.com/technology/tungsten-processing#ref82029. This manuscript was handled by: Steven L. Shafer, MD. Small components such as inks and labels on the packaging and on the sterilization indicator strips are expected to have negligible impacts and were excluded from the analysis. For You For Everyone: Registration Document.Bic World, Bic, 2016, www.bicworld.com/sites/default/files/2017-03/BIC_DRF2016_EN.pdf. Click the image for pricing & more info. At 20 reuse cycles,16 the results indicate an increase in emissions of nearly 20%. Powers, Matt, and Amanda M. Can You Recycle Disposable Razors? Earth911.Com, 30 July 2019, earth911.com/living-well-being/health/can-you-recycle-disposable-razors/. Life Cycle Assessment of Reusable and Disposable Cleanroom Coveralls Introduction Paper diapers are roughly divided into two types: those for infants and those for adults. Interpretation of results The last step in the process is to interpret the results and compare them against each other. Max Soft Disposable Razor For Women - 3 Pcs In A Pack. Sinha R, Sunder R. Retiring reusable laryngeal mask airways after 40: an anaesthetist's dilemma. Atlanta, 2012. After the reusable LMA was washed and dried, it was then placed into a heat seal pouch, made of polypropylene film and paper. Finally, the need for manual labor in the cleaning process of reusable LMAs contributed to the costs of these LMAs. The blade is made from a tungsten steel, and carbon alloy. Contribution: This author helped design the study and prepare the manuscript. In BIC factories they pride themselves in producing a quality product, so the blades go through a series of highly precise visual inspections with cameras which help with rejecting blades that do not meet BIC standards (Case Studies) After that they go through visual inspection is done be BIC employees to reject any blades that the cameras were not rejected by the inspection camera system, the blades are then send off to be coated and burned. The processes that contribute to these emissions differ markedly between the 2 LMA devices. Certain practices would further reduce the environmental impacts of reusable LMAs, such as increasing the number of devices autoclaved in a single cycle to 10 (25% GHG emissions) and improving the energy efficiency of the autoclaving machines by 10% (8% GHG emissions). Polystyrene. Wikipedia, Wikimedia Foundation, 2 Dec. 2019, en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Polystyrene. There are three main components in a disposable razor. The Eco-Indicator for EPDM rubber includes the manufacturing of the rubber as well as the molding process. Metal materials are sent for smelting and conversion to new alloys (Terracycle). The largest source of GHG emissions for the disposable LMAs (23%) is the production and polymerization of PVC, the main material constituent. #3. Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) and Sustainability Assessment - Fraunhofer Figure: Life Cycle Assessment steps: goal and scope definition, life cycle inventory, life cycle impact assessment and interpretation (Sala et al., 2016) In the goal and scope phase, the aims of the study are defined, namely the intended application, the reasons for carrying out the study and the intended audience. BIC has noted however that they strive to be as efficient with materials used when it comes to their packaging. The Fate of the Disposable Razor.Industrial Equipment News (IEN), 7 Aug. 2019, www.ien.com/product-development/news/21081402/the-fate-of-the-disposable-razor. Life Cycle Assessment of a Building | Sphera There are so many variables that you have to take into account when calculating how much of an impact a product is having on the environment and our resources. We performed a life cycle assessment of 2 analogous LMAs, the disposable LMA Unique and the reusable LMA Classic, according to internationally accepted standard life cycle assessment methods (ISO 14040: 2006). The reusable LMA was found to have a more favorable environmental profile than the disposable LMA as used at Yale New Haven Hospital. The hardest part of this whole process is the data gathering. From the *Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, College of Engineering, Northeastern University, Boston, MA; School of Forestry and Environmental Studies, Yale University, New Haven, CT; Department of Anesthesiology, Yale School of Medicine/YaleNew Haven Hospital, New Haven, CT. Funding: Department of Anesthesiology, Yale School of Medicine. There are 3 key tasks in this step. The cheap price of the razor does not reflect the high cost of its waste and impact on the environment. The study found that: Differences in environmental impacts between devices may present a compelling consideration in their selection. Energy Consumption by Mode of Transportation. Energy Consumption by Mode of Transportation | Bureau of Transportation Statistics, Bureau of Transportation Statistics, www.bts.gov/content/energy-consumption-mode-transportation. To begin the process of creating the metal, the tungsten is purified and ground into a fine powder. 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). use/disposable and multiple-use/washable surgical gowns. From mining and extracting the natural tungsten metal, to making the metal alloy and manufacturing just the blade, waste is released. 4.Complete the form After reaching the end of their useful lives, both LMAs and their respective packages entered waste management, which was modeled using US average statistics on recycling/composting, landfilling, and incineration.15 Although some incineration facilities also produce electricity, this credit is not included here. The buyer online is not exposed to the long lasting waste of the razors after they are thrown out. Goodman EJ, Haas AJ. Life Cycle Assessment - Sustainability Guide On the basis of observation at Yale New Haven Hospital, it takes approximately 10 minutes to conduct all cleaning processes for 1 LMA, which is equivalent to roughly $3 in wages. The natural half life of a large stock of reusable laryngeal mask airways at a teaching hospital. Materials were matched with appropriate life cycle inventory records from the ecoinvent database.11 Injection molding was assumed for the hard plastic pieces (polycarbonate and ABS plastic) and thermoforming for the softer plastics (silicone, polypropylene, and PVC). Poly(Phenylene Oxide). The Polymer Science Learning Center, www.pslc.ws/macrog/ppo.htm. Life Cycle Assessment (LCA): A Guide to Best Practice - ResearchGate 13, 14 There are few published life cycle assessment studies of medical items (ref. #4. Overview. It is resistant to fats and almost all organic solvents which helps it hold up in the damp and warm conditions of a bathroom and shower (Polypropylene. Wikipedia.org). Washington, DC: U.S. Bureau of Transportation, 2002, 14. Teoh W, Lim Y. What does a business area's assessment of agreements, income, and value implicate? After the parts are manufactured it is time for the final product assembly. BIC Group, 2016, Sustainable Development Report. A Life Cycle Assessment of Disposable Razors. Sensor3 disposable razors for men feature an enhanced Lubrastrip with water activated Comfortgel technology for ultra-gentle shaving on your sensitive skin. Gillette Mach3 Men's Disposable Razor for Sensitive Skin - Best Cartridge Razor for Sensitive Skin. What IS Life Cycle Assessment? 769 0 obj <>stream This obviously makes the results less accurate, but it can still be used as a general indicator of impact. We are proud that it is among the leading professional LCA software . The EPA has said in their 2014 report: Currently, little information is available about the fate and transport of tungsten in the environment and its effects on human health. After getting the sharpened blade they are coated with a thin film to allows them to not lose sharpness after only a few shaves (Manufacturing Processes). The advantage of using this method compared to a more comprehensive LCA method is that its much simpler to carry out and to gather the required information because the data regarding the most common materials and processes has been collected in advance. B|$5 Another advantage is that the process produces a single score (Eco-Indicator Point) for the all the impacts of the product, not just individual ones for each part. After the plastic body is manufactured it goes through inspections similar to ones the blades go through. The alloy is strong enough to resist moisture for a short time in the buyers shower, yet, in the landfill, it does eventually rust and decompose. Comparison of the single use and reusable intubating laryngeal mask airway. Reprints will not be available from the authors. Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) explained - PR Sustainability A Comparative Life Cycle Assessment of Disposable and Reusable Packaging for the Distribution of Italian Fruit and Vegetables. 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. Anaesth Intensive Care 2010;38:538, 9. Alternate assumptions were used to test model sensitivity and to create bounds to aid interpretation of the results (Table 2). 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. How One Company Keeps Used Razors Out Of Oceans.Green Matters, Green Matters, 25 Sept. 2017, www.greenmatters.com/news/2017/09/25/Z1oInGt/razors-ocean. 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. Enter the email address you signed up with and we'll email you a reset link. All of these equipment-related cases occurred before the routine implementation of sterilization procedures currently used in health care facilities. Despite the overall lower impacts of the reusable LMA, there are still several ways that its environmental profile could be improved, as suggested by the results shown in Table 2. Amersfoort, The Netherlands: Product Ecology (PR) Consultants, 2011, 11. There much environmentally friendly options when it comes to shavings, such as the traditional safety razor and straight razors, which can have a much longer life than disposable razors. Figueredo E. Changes in the intracuff pressure of the laryngeal masks airway caused by repeated use. These included alternative routes and modes of transport from San Diego to New Haven, changes in autoclave loading practices and efficiency, and varied amounts of PVC in the disposable LMA. You may be trying to access this site from a secured browser on the server. Being that it is such a common and quickly replaced product, this is is a major issue in terms of waste. The metal that can be used in the cartridge is also cut out during this stage. Sustainable Development Report. Wages are then spent on food, entertainment, transport, and other economic activities that themselves have environmental impacts. Polystyrene is not biodegradable and takes hundreds of years to break down. A life-cycle inventory of cloth and disposable diapers was conducted based on diapering habits in Canada The parameters evaluated were energy consumption, water consumption, raw materials 15 Crop water use and water use efficiency on irrigated cotton farms in Australia S. Tennakoon, S. Milroy Environmental Science 2003 93 Online Course Life Cycle Assessment | MIT Professional Education American Society of Anesthesiologists (ASA) Task Force on Infection Control. How Is Tungsten Carbide Formed? Chronicle, 20 Aug. 2015, chronicle.kennametal.com/how-is-tungsten-carbide-formed/. A combination of transportation methods is used depending on where the product needs to go. Polystyrene is a naturally transparent thermoplastic that is available as both a typical solid plastic as well in the form of a rigid foam material (Rodgers, Everything You Need To Know About Polystyrene (PS).). %%EOF Despite manufacturer-recommended cleaning processes, and various modifications thereof, proteinaceous material may remain on reusable LMAs.27 Of particular concern, these residues may expose patients to prions causing transmissible spongiform encephalopathy, CreutzfeldtJakob disease. Overall BIC is an industry leader when it comes to reducing the environmental impact that their disposable products make. Anesth Analg 2004;99:6267, 17. Considering human health concerns, the majority (60%) of impacts for the disposable LMA is due to the production of polymers, PVC in particular, with emissions from incineration contributing another 15%. Decision makers have typically favored disposable LMAs because the purchase price is perceived to be less for a comparable quantity of disposable LMAs, in comparison with 1 reusable LMA with its associated labor costs for in-house reprocessing.6. There are three main materials used in the plastic handle and the cartridge of the disposable razor. The disposable LMA consisted largely of polyvinyl chloride (PVC) plastic, and the reusable LMA consisted primarily of silicone. The 2 LMA options are nearly equivalent in terms of eutrophication impacts, but with different contributions. The cartridge-based razor had a slightly higher impact due to the rubber parts which cant be separated from the plastic body. I could however not find any details about the energy consumption of the machines used in the assembly process. The tables didnt contain values for welding steel, so it has been assumed that the value is close to welding aluminium which is in the table. Steel Life Cycle.SSAB, www.ssab.com/company/sustainability/sustainable-offering/steel-life-cycle?di=discover21C927E58ECC41198B78D915F7E3E2AF. 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. At the end of applying the additives, the blades are once again heated, to cement the coating onto the blade. The biggest impact during the cartridge-based razor life-cycle is manufacturing the cartridge as this is the part which is hardest to make. 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. Manufacturing Processes (RAZOR): KAI FACTORY: KAI Group.KAI FACTORY | KAI Group, www.kai-group.com/global/en/kai-factory/process/razor/. 10 Best Disposable Razors for Men (Incl. Cartridge) - 2023 Life Cycle Assessment - GDRC Individually autoclaving the reusable LMA (because of stock shortages, for example) increased life cycle GHG emissions by >400%, whereas loading with 10 LMAs per cycle decreased emissions by nearly 25%. Table 2 shows the results of alternate assumption on the overall results. Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) is a modeling tool for quantifying the environmental impacts of products and processes. This reflects the equivalence between 40 disposable LMAs and their associated materials, waste, and 40 uses of 1 reusable LMA. It can be used to study the environmental impact of either a product or the function the product is designed to perform. Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) measures the impact of products on the environment. The polypropylene is sorted during recycling using a float test that separates it from other materials based on its ability to float due to its weight, then it is often melted down and reused in other product manufacturing. 2. Their carbon footprint was reported with the highest offender being air travel for the product, and staff transportation coming from France: accounting for 73% of the companys annual greenhouse gas emissions (Bic). Life Cycle Analysis (LCA) - A Complete Guide to LCAs A new incentive must come for companies to be more sustainable with resources and create products that can still be cheap for the buyer, while also not taking a high cost on the environment. All that is needed is the insertion of the razor blade into the plastic body. LMA Classic Product Specifications, 2011, 10. Flying staff to meetings, shipping, and distributing the product is the highest offender for the planet. On the basis of manufacturer information and density testing, the materials used in the 2 LMAs were identified and their compositions measured using a microgram scale (Table 1). A life cycle assessment (LCA) is used to identify the environmental risks of existing and planned products, services and manufacturing processes as well as identify strategic improvement opportunities. But this is expected from a large brand like Gillette. Phenylene oxide, or PPO, is another common plastic material used in disposable razors. In this case its much harder for me to carry out an LCA on a Gillette razor than if Gillette did the LCA themselves, as they would have all the correct info required first-hand (reducing the number of assumptions needing to be used). The second component of the razor is the plastic body which is made of a fairly inexpensive plastic called polystyrene. Criteria air pollutants arise for the disposable LMA primarily from the production of ethylene (a polymer precursor) and the combustion of natural gas throughout the system, and for the reusable LMA from the combustion of fossil fuels to produce steam and electricity. Once Terracycle has collected the waste, it is: broken down and separated by material. Current LMA procurement decisions are typically based on perceived costs. GaBi includes its own database containing life cycle inventories of processes such as polypropylene manufacturing, transportation, and landfill . The most important sources of impacts for the disposable LMA were the production of polymers, packaging, and waste management, whereas for the reusable LMA, washing and sterilization dominated for most impact categories. Life cycle assessment Plastics Europe Through an examination of how the raw materials: carbide steel, tungsten steel, and a combination of the plastics: polypropylene, polystyrene, and phenylene oxide of the razors decompose, and how much waste is accumulated in making the razors, an assessment can be made for the duration of their life cycle. Phase 3: Life Cycle Impact Assessment. Julabo Gmbh, et al. The LMAs were first rinsed in tap water, scrubbed externally with a Hibiclens sponge and internally with a small scrub brush, and rinsed again. The number of BIC razors that are used by consumers is astounding.
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