Comparison of life cycle assessment for different volume polypropylene jars.docVIP

APTEFF, 43, 1-342 (2012) DOI: 10.2298/APT1243159K UDC: 621.798.1:547.313.3]:504.06 BIBLID: 1450-7188 (2012) 43, 159-167 Original scientific paper COMPARISON OF LIFE CYCLE ASSESSMENT FOR DIFFERENT VOLUME POLYPROPYLENE JARS Nevena M. Krki?*, Vera L. Lazi? and Danijela Z. ?uput ? University of Novi Sad, Faculty of Technology, Bulevar cara Lazara 1, 21000 Novi Sad, Serbia When deciding what packaging is the most appropriate for a product there are many factors to be considered. One of them is the impact of the packaging on environment. In this work, life cycle inventory and life cycle assessment of two different volume packa- gings were compared. The data were collected on the types and amounts of materials and energy consumption in the process of packaging and distribution of hand cream packed in polypropylene jars of 200 and 350 mL. Life cycle inventory (LCI) and life cycle impact assessment (LCA) were calculated. It was found that the total mass flow was higher for the jars of 350 mL. After analyzing individual flows, it was found that in both cycles (polypropylene jars of 200 and 350 mL),the consumption of fresh water was a dominant flow. This fresh water flow is mostly (95%) consumed in the injection molding process of manufacturing jars from polypropylene granules. The LCA analysis showed no signi- ficant difference in global warming potential between different volume jars. The process that mostly affected global warming was the production of polypropylene jars from poly- propylene granules by injection molding for both jar volumes. Judging by the global warming potential, there is no difference of the environmental impact between investiga- ted jars, but considering the mass flow and water consumption, more environmental friendly were the 200 mL jars. KEY WORDS: Life cycle assessment, polypropylene, jars, packaging INTRODUCTION Through its entire life cycle the packaging significantly affe