Conclusions and thoughts:
In view of this series of posts published in recent weeks, it is important to highlight a series of conclusions.
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- ZFoam has been one of the first European companies in the sector to carry out a Life Cycle Analysis of the products it manufactures and has also carried out the calculation of other alternative products that are used as solutions for packaging.
- We offer the service of calculating the LCA of the products we manufacture to our clients.. You can make a comparison between different foams or other alternative materials (cardboard, moulded polyester).
- Our LCA calculator has been developed by the CIRCE Foundation.. They have used a series of primary data provided by us and the rest is secondary data obtained from internationally recognized databases. All organizations that calculate LCA use secondary data.
- LCA comprises 18 different types of impacts. Within these 18 impacts, climate change is included. Climate change can also be called carbon footprint, CO2 emissions or greenhouse gas emissions. It is exactly the same, but with a different name.
The LCA, therefore, is much more complete and global than simply the carbon footprint. - Today, biopolymers are a good alternative as they have a much lower carbon footprint than any other material, foam or an alternative product.
Biopolymers are of 100% renewable origin. Among these sources is sugar cane, forest residues and even cooking oils.
In addition, the use of this type of raw material is aligned with the 2030 Agenda and rural development framed in the 17 sustainable development goals (SDG). In this way, the abandonment of farmland is avoided and the reindustrialization of the countryside takes place. - It is very important to note that a foam made from a biopolymer has the same characteristics as one made with a traditional polymer. .
In addition to the aforementioned benefits (negative carbon footprint), it is important to note that the vegetable waste generated can be used as biofuel or fertilizer, making the global process a clear example of a circular economy. - These BIO-Polyethylenes ARE NOT BIODEGRADABLE OR COMPOSTABLE. For the processing of BIO Polyethylenes, the same techniques, facilities and machinery are used as for “traditional” Polyethylenes..
- Data: in terms of data, in view of the data produced by the calculator, the following can be concluded:
- Impacts derived from transportation: in general terms, it can be ensured that that the impact related to the transportation of the pieces to the customer is approximately 1% of the greenhouse gas emissions for every 1,000 km traveled.. That is, a practically negligible impact compared to the choice of raw material, transformation process, end of life, etc.
- Finally, note that since ZFoam began to recycle all the waste it generates (in 2017), it has reduced its greenhouse gas emissions by approximately 10%. .
8.3. Climate Change: the most sustainable solution for this impact is biopolymers. It is also important to note that low-density foam (such as Plastazote LD18 or Plastazote LD24) has less carbon footprint than compact cardboard due to their low density.
8.2. Soil Acidification: in soil acidification, the worst results are for LJ45 BIO and cardboard, since both “use” the soil to generate their starting raw materials.
8.3. Water use: for this category of impact, there are also results similar to those of soil acidification, the most unfavorable being cardboard and Biopolymers.
8.4. In global terms, it could be concluded that the most sustainable materials are low-density LD (18 – 24 Kg/m3) foams. But if, on the other hand, we only care about the carbon footprint, the most advantageous are Bio Polyethylenes..
