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How much do you know about Life Cycle Analysis of Plastics?  There is an interesting discussion about LCA.

Following article quotes Rosanna, President, Key Tech Corp, Jocelyn Buteau & Alexis,President, AGMPM  from www.greenerpackage.com/discuss

Rosanna:  I am trying to clarify something I was told recently told. When LCA is completed on plastic materials, it is done considering the raw material being crude oil and the processes employed, drilling, refining, cracking, etc. However, what I was told was that plastics are actually made from the byproducts of gasoline or fuel manufacturing and never really are made straight from crude. Given most of the oil drilled is used for gasoline or fuel, then is it correct to start there when doing LCA, or is it more correct to start somewhere else, or….? Seems then there is something not quite right about starting from crude oil? What am I missing here. Anyone?

Alexis:  To start with, 90% of crude oil is used for making fuels (energy). The other 10% is used for making all other products (chemicals, solvents, bitumen, plastics etc.). Crude oil processing leads to products that can be used either for energy or for other products. In polymer synthesis, part of these products are used as raw material and another part supplies the required energy. So, in a LCA we take into account both.

Buteau:  To perform a proper LCA analysis, you have to take in account values like CO2 emissions per ton at the packaging material manufacturing stage (that is once the resin is manufactured to produce a packaging material). These values are available from databases published by the EPA (here is an interesting link:www.epa.gov/ord/NRMRL/lcaccess/resources.html) and trade associations. In streamlined LCA software (LCA that are specialized in packaging), material metrics containt these values. If you have an opportunity to use the sustainable packaging scorecard that Walmart uses, you will see how these data are used to come up with sustainable performances of packaging. To summarize, you don’t have to add on every single value of CO2 emissions for every processing step (from drilling to manufacturing) unless you really want to do the excersise.

People did not pay even the slightest attention to the environment when the Industrial Revolution began. Coal was burnt in large quantities and cities were enveloped in clouds of soot and dust. However, the environment was a lot cleaner then and the earth had the capacity to absorb the pollution. As pollution increased, people became concerned that excessive pollution may cause harm to the ecosystem. Businesses and enterprises justified the pollution by stating that it was impossible to provide quality and aesthetically superior products without making use of pollutants. This is the primary argument that is used against biodegradable plastic bags.

Today, you can find good looking bags that do not cause harm to the environment. Technology has improved to such a level that businesses are using these plastic bags to promote the image of their brands. What are the benefits of using such bags?

There is no need to compromise on appearance to save the environment. Today, you can find plastic bags that are biodegradable. As such, there is nothing on this planet that does not degrade over time. It is only the rate of degradation and the nature of pollutants released during degradation that matters. A cotton bag will degrade in a span of a few days while plastic will take numerous years to degrade. Today, plastic can be modified to degrade faster. This means that your customers will enjoy the benefits of using plastic bag which are sturdy and strong without feeling guilty for harming the environment.

It does not cost a lot to make use of these plastic bags. You can easily justify the excess expenditure as the price that your company is ready to pay to protect the environment. This argument will definitely boost your image as a responsible institution.

Using biodegradable plastic bags is not an expense. Rather, it is an investment that will yield returns over a long period of time. Offering such plastic bags to just a few customers can spectacularly backfire on your goodwill. You should order sufficient quantity of bags of uniform quality to ensure that each and every customer is pleased for being treated as someone special.

Making use of the World Wide Web to find the right service provider is the smartest decision. For starters, you can quickly get in touch with sellers situated in the same area in which you operate. The most obvious benefit of such a move is that you will save a lot on transportation costs. Secondly, there are web sites that connect you with such sellers and also helps you compare deals and get the best possible deal from each seller. What is more, you can perform the task of negotiating with various sellers of environmental friendly plastic bags without even stepping out of your office.

If you make use of biodegradable plastic bags, you can easily bolster profits without compromising on your image as a responsible and mature business. These plastic bags can be offered in different sizes and will last a long time without any quality issues.

(Source: www.promotional-merchandise.org.uk)