life cycle assessment of disposable razors

Due to the nature of the disposable razor, they are usually just thrown in the trash and sent off to a landfill. In this case it was very difficult to see what materials the product contained and exactly how it was manufactured (as the big manufacturing companies wouldnt disclose this information), so some of the data had to be assumed. However, we can discuss the energy usage of different modes of transportation. Since BICs products do not go to a single location it is impossible to give an exact number for BICs energy usage in transportation. Sherman JD, Ryan S. Ecological responsibility in anesthesia practice. The specific type or blend of plastic for BIC razors is used is called polystyrene (Europe). Biro P. Damage to laryngeal masks during sterilization. The cheap price of the razor does not reflect the high cost of its waste and impact on the environment. Life Cycle Assessment - IPP - Environment - European Commission The blades do eventually dissipate within the landfill, yet, it is not cost-free, as the tungsten waste can be ultimately harmful to the environment. What Is Polystyrene? LCA for product sustainability. Here we present a life cycle assessment of 2 laryngeal mask airways (LMAs), a one-time-use disposable Unique LMA and a 40-time-use reusable Classic LMA. Disposable Blood Warmer Market 2023-2030 Future Forecasts LCA is the most common tool for quantifying the environmental effects associated with a product, process, or service's entire life (Baumann and Tillman 2004).LCA was performed in accordance with the international standards of the ISO 14040 and ISO 14044 . The majority of life cycle human health impacts of disposable LMAs are caused by PVC use in packaging and the device itself. Life Cycle Approach to Plastic Pollution - Life Cycle Initiative BIC reported that every year around 2.6 billion of their razors are chosen by consumers every year (Shaver's). We perform Life Cycle Assessments (LCA) and Critical Reviews in accordance with ISO 14040/44 for products and services. The company reported that with their hazardous waste in 2016 11 percent was recycled, 49 percent incinerated with energy recovery, 8 percent sent to land disposal, and 32 percent was sent off to be treated in another way (For You for Everyone Registration Document). The buyer online is not exposed to the long lasting waste of the razors after they are thrown out. There are three main components in a disposable razor. BIC has reported their total energy usage and carbon footprint in their factories around the world, this was all however for the year 2016. The actual making of the razors, and printing paper for their packaging has a lower environmental impact, than the waste from the factories high energy use. Please enable scripts and reload this page. This obviously makes the results less accurate, but it can still be used as a general indicator of impact. (PDF) Comparative life cycle analysis of disposable and reusable Swiss Center for Life Cycle Inventories. Gillette's slogan 'Gillette - the best a man can get' is famous the world over. Disposable razors are a commonly used item for most Americans, and over two billion razors are thrown away every year in the United States (Shabecoff). What Is Tungsten Carbide or Hard Metal? AZoM.com, 2 Aug. 2009, https://www.azom.com/article.aspx?ArticleID=4827. The product has several innovative elements, due to the implementation of eco-design principles, such as: (1) introduction of biopolymers (namely polylactic acid (PLA) and Mater-bi), (2) relevant . 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. If the reusable LMA is discarded prematurely, e.g., after 20 uses,16 the unit cost increases to $13 per unit, but decreases to $5.50 if the lifetime can be extended to 80 uses. The high levels of pollution from disposable razor blades alone caused the EPA to claim a national garbage crisis in the late 1980s, and the actual figure of 2 billion razors thrown away every year dates back to the 1990s. Manufacturers can do this solely by machine or by human eye/hand plus machine for extra quality assurance. Overview. American Medical Association (AMA). 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). Despite its ability to be recycled, it often ends up in the landfill as many people dont know how to properly recycle it, people are too lazy to recycle, or the plastics arent labeled properly (Polypropylene. Wikipedia). Contact Supplier. The extraction and consumption of resources (including energy), as well as releases to air, water, and soil, are quantified throughout all stages. These results will then be used to inform the design process and improve the redesigned razor. Interpretation of results The last step in the process is to interpret the results and compare them against each other. This means that it takes around 1 BTU to heat a 0.035-ounce razor blade to the desired temperature (Julabo et.al). Its an extremely strong and durable metal compound, making it perfect for the use of razor blades (Siddle, How Is Tungsten Carbide Formed?; Tungsten Carbide. Wikipedia.org). Polyphenylene Oxides.Polyphenylene Oxides - an Overview | ScienceDirect Topics, 2013, www.sciencedirect.com/topics/chemical-engineering/polyphenylene-oxides. Redesigning the Razor Life Cycle Assessment. The Great Recovery, http://www.greatrecovery.org.uk/resources/3682/. 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. Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) is a widely-used technique to comprehensively assess the impacts of a product or a process on the environment and acts as an effective tool in gauging the. Two Life Cycle Impact Assessment (LCIA) methodologies were employed using SimaPro software 51,52 to calculate the environmental impacts of manufacturing both the plastic and compostable coffee . There is no public data entailing the details of this plastics recyclability. A Comparative Life Cycle Assessment of Disposable and Reusable Packaging for the Distribution of Italian Fruit and Vegetables. What Is Tungsten Carbide?" 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. It is also often not accepted in curbside recycling, and even when it is, it is not separated and recycled when it reaches the dumping station, making it an unsustainable and wasteful material (Polystyrene. Wikipedia.org). The carbon footprint reported was separated into two sections which are direct and indirect emissions. Research and Innovative Technology Administration. If you count the actual razor cover (if you haven't lost it long ago) then it will be four pieces for recycling. Address e-mail to [emailprotected]. The metal liquid then goes through a strengthening process called annealing. Ans: (i) Significant growth in industry of super premium segment . @article{Cordella2015EvolutionOD, title={Evolution of disposable baby diapers in Europe: life cycle assessment of environmental impacts and identification of key areas of improvement}, author={Mauro Cordella and Iris Bauer and Anja Lehmann and Matthias Schulz and Oliver Wolf}, journal={Journal of Cleaner Production}, year={2015}, volume={95 . 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. LMA North America. Impact Assessment. 3.Quantify the materials and processes Life Cycle Assessment of Disposable and Reusable Nappies in the UK Ref: ISBN 1844324273, LIT 2080 PDF, 1.83 MB, 203 pages This file may not be suitable for users of assistive technology.. On the basis of such criteria, single-use disposable medical devices are increasingly supplanting reusable devices in the United States (US) and elsewhere.1 Although purchase and maintenance costs for disposable devices are perceived to be less than for reusables, this fails to account for indirect costs to society from the environmental impacts attributable to the entire life cycle of a device. In order to carry out the Eco-Indicator analysis method, the methodology described below has to be followed: 1.Establish the purpose of the Eco-Indicator calculations 2.Define the life-cycle 3.Quantify the materials and processes 4.Complete the form 5.Interpret and analyse the results But this is expected from a large brand like Gillette. The total energy consumption of the Babyplast in its four-step molding cycle of setup, fill, cool, and reset was approximately 4.5 kilowatts (Weissman et.al). U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) | Sustainable Agriculture Research Environmental LCA - Life Cycle Initiative Nash, Nathaniel C. HOW BIC LOST THE EDGE TO GILLETTE. The New York Times, The New York Times, 11 Apr. Next, the razors will be tested for flaws, strength, and razor hardness and sharpness (Safety Razor, madehow.com). McGain F, McAlister S, McGavin A, Story D. The financial and environmental costs of reusable and single-use plastic anaesthetic drug trays. BIC Comfort 3 Refillable Three-Blade Disposable Razors for Men, Sensitive Skin Razor for a Comfortable Shave, 1 Handle and 12 Cartridges With 3 Blades, 13 Piece Razor Kit. BIC says its product beats out other models by 59 percent. Life cycle analysis takes into account the following categories: Energy consumption Water consumption Air emissions (including carbon dioxide and other global warming gases) Water emissions Generation of solid waste Another material used is polystyrene. 39 ($0.37/Count) FREE delivery Thu, Mar 2 on $25 of items shipped by Amazon. In this paper, life cycle assessment (LCA) has been used as a tool to quantify the environmental impacts of disposable medical face masks. 21 offers from $5.20. Applying this method of assessment is complex and difficult and translating the theory into a . Life Cycle Assessment - GDRC By not using air travel and transport, BIC greatly reduces their energy usage and carbon footprint at the same time. Camera visual inspection is performed and This is all to ensure BICs quality standards are being met and ensure a quality product. 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. Plastics are cleaned and pelletized to be recycled into new products, such as picnic tables and park benches. Dbendorf, Switzerland, 2011, 12. The 1% of the material that is recycled however, goes through a 5 step recycling process which is collecting, sorting, cleaning, reprocessing, and producing new products. Gillette Mach3 Disposable Razors for Men, 6 Count, Designed for Sensitive Skin. 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. 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. LIFE CYCLE ASSESSMENT: PRINCIPLES AND PRACTICE | Science Inventory - US EPA %%EOF 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. Subramaniar Trading Company. 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. 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 decision-making process of device selection. Ison E, Miller A. The company urges users to mail packages over 15 lbs., in order to reduce the waste of mail as well, yet is not necessary. 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/. Data Uncertainty. Teoh W, Lim Y. Some error has occurred while processing your request. 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. Environmental Life-Cycle Assessment of Disposable Bioreactors This was a cradle-to-grave study that included inputs and outputs for the manufacture, transport, use, and waste phases of the LMAs. A Life Cycle Assessment of Disposable Razors. Comparative life cycle assessment of disposable and reusable - PubMed The use of disposable razors is unsustainable with our growing population and increased demand. 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). To go from raw materials to final product involves many steps and heavy energy input. When designing a product for circularity it is often difficult to know where to begin. Terracycle. With the recommended use of three to ten uses for disposable razors, they quickly end up in the landfill to decompose. We purchase the product in a store, use the product for removing unwanted body and facial hair until it eventually dulls, and then we toss it in the bathroom trash, unaware of where it goes or where it came from. The Ramboll Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) found that, assuming realistic usage over a year, the energy consumption involved in the use phase of reusable plastic and traditional crockery, during in-store or out-sourced washing and drying, outweighed the environmental impact of single-use paper dishes. Gillette Mach3 Men's Disposable Razor for Sensitive Skin - Best Cartridge Razor for Sensitive Skin. Finally, the need for manual labor in the cleaning process of reusable LMAs contributed to the costs of these LMAs. Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) is a technique for assessing the potential environmental aspects and potential aspects associated with a product (or service), by: compiling an inventory of relevant inputs and outputs, evaluating the potential environmental impacts associated with those inputs and outputs, At the end of applying the additives, the blades are once again heated, to cement the coating onto the blade. 2.Define the life-cycle Gillette Sensor3 Sensitive Men's Disposable Razors : Target 2002/03 and 2005/06, to include an assessment of the effects of a range of behavioural assumptions on the life cycle environmental impacts of the reusable nappy types, and to compare these with each other and with modern disposable nappies. The major problem with recycling this plastic however, is that during the heating process, the plastic degrades in quality making it less valuable (What Is Tungsten Carbide or Hard Metal?, AZoM.com). To make the handle and cartridges, these various plastics are heated together and melted together along with optional colorants and various filler materials. Disposable razors are designed for consumers that prefer minimum spending . Address correspondence to Jodi Sherman, MD, Yale University, School of Medicine, Department of Anesthesiology, 333 Cedar Street, TMP3, New Haven, CT 06520. It is used to assist companies, consumers, and policy-makers in greening their practices and decisions. 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.). International Sympsium on Sustainable Systems and Technology. Table 2 shows the results of alternate assumption on the overall results. The EPA has now stopped tracking the: impact of disposable razors on the environment and has no update on the figure (Olsen). The blades, which are made from a carbide steel made using tungsten carbide, the handle, which is made from a combination of plastics such as polypropylene, polystyrene, and phenylene oxide (PPO), and the cartridge, which is made up of these plastics and sometimes the carbide steel as well (Safety Razor, madehow.com). Life cycle assessment software I used GaBi 6 software, produced by PE International. Land transport like trains and trucks use diesel as fuel and that produced 138,700 BTU (Energy Consumption by Mode of Transportation.). 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. The life cycle for disposable razors must first be assessed by the products design. 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). Iatrogenic transmission of the CreutzfeldtJakob disease agent has been reported in >250 patients worldwide, and 6 of these were linked to the use of contaminated equipment, all of which were neurosurgical related. Enter the email address you signed up with and we'll email you a reset link. There is uncertainty in several model assumptions. 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. The metal must be mined and extracted from the mountain causing an emission of fossil fuels and greenhouse gases (Wang). Features Downloads. Cad M, Webb T, Bjorksten A. Can J Anaesth 2001;48:40912, 22. In this section we also need to state the assumptions made during the process: 85 percent of the energy came from electricity, 14 percent came from gas, and the rest came from fuel oil (For You For Everyone Registration Document). Lv, Andrea Lind, and Tigist Fetene. 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. 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. 2011, Packaging Technology and Science. After that, the metal is pressed down to the desired blade thickness which is around 1mm (Manufacturing Processes). Anaesth Intensive Care 2004;32:5304, 4. Wolters Kluwer Health Sets Strategy to End 'Staggering' Garbage Crisis.The New York Times, The New York Times, 23 Sept. 1988, www.nytimes.com/1988/09/23/us/epa-sets-strategy-to-end-staggering-garbage-crisis.html. The scope of our analysis, as is shown in Figure 1, includes extraction of material and energy resources, manufacturing, packaging and transport from the manufacturing site to the distribution center and the hospital, reprocessing, and eventual disposal.

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