BASF Creates New Online Tool for Easy Calculation of the Ecological Footprint
The software compiles all of the relevant data for the production and disposal of selected products –the findings of many exhaustive Eco-Efficiency Analyses – in a single user-friendly interface.
30 Jun 2010 --- When does it make sense to use biodegradable plastics? Packaging industry, consumers and policy makers are more and more confronted with this question during discussions about climate and the environment. Up to now, anyone who wanted to base a decision on a solid foundation had to turn to extensive individual eco-efficiency analyses or other life cycle assessments (LCA) that scrutinize the consumption of resources during the manufacture, use and disposal phases of a plastic product. A new BASF online tool, the so-called Ecovio Eco-Efficiency Compass (E³C), will make this decision much easier in the future.
The software compiles all of the relevant data for the production and disposal of selected products – the findings of many exhaustive Eco-Efficiency Analyses – in a single user-friendly interface. Various parameters that are crucial for the ecological evaluation of a given product can be quickly checked, revealing their impact on the product’s eco-efficiency right away. The uncomplicated comparison of the ecological footprint of various approaches allows the user to quickly ascertain whether, in the final analysis, a biodegradable plastic is actually more environmentally friendly.
It has been more than ten years since biodegradable plastics have entered the awareness of consumers and the industry, and they continue to enjoy a growing interest on the part of the market and the public at large. A number of BASF products have contributed to this development, too. Ecovio F Film is commonly found in compostable shopping bags. At the end of 2009, BASF’s Ecovio product line was expanded by two new types, namely, Ecovio FS Paper, which is suitable for the production of coated paper cups and cardboard boxes, and Ecovio FS Shrink Film, which was developed explicitly with an eye towards the manufacture of shrink films.
Biodegradable plastics, however, do not automatically solve environmental problems simply because they can be composted. Their use only makes sense if they are more sustainable than non-biodegradable materials at a performance level that is the same or even better. The biodegradability is supposed to create added value, for instance, by allowing organic waste to be composted rather than incinerated. After all, organic waste consists primarily of water, which makes thermal utilization very inefficient. In contrast, if the film can be composted along with its contents, this can have a positive effect on the environment.
Comprehensive life cycle assessments like the Eco-Efficiency Analysis developed by BASF have already been helping people for many years to make the right choice among different product and process alternatives. Towards this end, such analyses thoroughly and quantitatively investigate and evaluate the consumption of resources, the environmental impact and the economic effects during the production, use and end-of-life phases of a material in a given application. However, all of this makes these studies complex: a comprehensive Eco-Efficiency Analysis has to be performed by LCA experts and takes several months. Such individual studies do not lend themselves to being combined and specific scenarios must be prepared separately. This again affords the experts’ support. Thus it is not possible to make flexible and quick decisions from among several material alternatives.
This is where the new Eco-Efficiency Compass springs into action. A web-based interface with an input mask is provided so that users can combine numerous parameters with each other that are of relevance for the ecological profile of their envisaged product such as, for instance, a shopping bag. These parameters include not only the selection of the packaging material – if necessary all the way down to the monomer level – but also the weight of the bag and the type of disposal technology. Thus, the entire life cycle of the product is depicted, from the selection of the raw material all the way to disposal.
The software bases its calculations on several Eco-Efficiency Analyses and control parameters describing materials, applications and disposal scenarios. For the sake of clarity, however, they stay in the background. Moreover, some of the variables have been pre-set to appropriate values. Experience has shown, for example, that, when seen over the entire life cycle of the product, the energy consumption during the production of the film only has a relatively small impact on the eco-efficiency of a film bag.
Users first receive the analysis results in the form of a radar and portfolio diagram that clearly and logically shows the eco-efficiency of the approaches being compared. This already shows where a product variant has advantages or disadvantages, for example, in terms of its consumption of resources or its emissions.
If so desired, users can receive assistance from BASF experts who will provide them with individual diagrams showing valid and reproducible estimates of the energy and material streams involved in the production, transportation, use and final disposal. The environmentally relevant effects of the material selection and naturally also the costs of the chosen approach are provided.
The calculational comparison between a shopping bag made of paper and one made of Ecovio, both of which offer double benefit since they can be used for shopping and for biowaste disposal, shows: under the boundaries chosen the Ecovio bag is more eco-efficient than the paper bag, because the latter has to be considerably thicker in order to perform equally well. Generally speaking, this parameter plays a crucial role. Together with trained BASF employees, users can experiment with these parameters.
At the present time, the new Ecovio Eco-Efficiency Compass is still tailor-made for estimating the eco-efficiency of shopping bags and foam trays of the type found everywhere in the retail sector. Other product groups, however, can be added. Major developments on the market can be promptly incorporated; an example of this is polyethylene made of “bio-ethanol”.
At the moment, experts are implementing models for paper coatings as well as for shrink films. These will help BASF customers to ascertain the eco-efficiency of paper cups and beverage packaging – and also to ensure that, in these sectors, biodegradable plastics are only employed where they are indeed more sustainable while performing at least equally well.
