Biron, Michel. Staff, RT. 8 John Adam Street There are three main components in a disposable razor. These few simple materials go through processes of heating, cooling, moulding, cutting, and sharpening throughout their manufacturing process to eventually become the handle, razor blades, and blade cartridge, that will then be assembled to become a disposable razor. Overcash M. Comparison of reusable and disposable medical textiles. In addition, the impact categories of eutrophication (growth of microorganisms due to excess nutrients) and terrestrial ecotoxicity reflect the impacts on other species and ecosystems and have implications for public health. endstream endobj 752 0 obj <>stream 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. Life cycle assessment software I used GaBi 6 software, produced by PE International. 2006 have considered a process water flow of 10,000 m3/day for a time period of 15 years (system design life) as the function unit used in order to compare the different wastewater treatment processes . BIC reported that every year around 2.6 billion of their razors are chosen by consumers every year (Shaver's). An LCA is an accounting of the inputs and outputs for a product system, beginning with extraction of raw materials from the earth and continuing through all of the steps of transportation, manufacturing, product fabrication, product use, and end-of-life, which may include reuse, recycling . The Eco-Indicator method is a tool developed to help designers conduct a simplified LCA study. It has a low density and is quite flexible and heat resistant, therefore making it an easily moulded and extruded material. Life Cycle Assessment - definition & methodology. For example, the designer might think that the manufacturing stage would be the most impactful, when in reality for some products its the raw material extraction or its use phase. endstream endobj startxref Reusable LMA cleaning was observed to proceed as follows. Rogers, Tony. to maintaining your privacy and will not share your personal information without What's the Difference Between Disposable and Reusable Razors for Women?Venus, www.gillettevenus.com/en-us/womens-shaving-guide/learning-to-shave/disposable-razors-vs-refillable-razors/. mmw*vA|5v*3n9IUt){e%!HN6@` xcr@pz*Fbiq%1!TJ-CF*1OS|UZU\vQL7M?m'b-,r~S}Y&/{#U6U)S|%q[RB !3j~tj$h>5qtsJ./j?;eosyy*"Z`'wG"M6]O}UKqw[LzY9e B,s&C4++_tI~& Me*lNU"Uigq\u7{:&VNC'rT]FB5jOa.%N%1*stBC]%y&RDs"#&iUX&?8sh:wJo ZjbO|KFmfC{:oX~'b> Cited Here. Eckelman, Matthew PhD*; Mosher, Margo; Gonzalez, Andres; Sherman, Jodi MD. The majority of life cycle human health impacts of disposable LMAs are caused by PVC use in packaging and the device itself. The long and harmful life-cycle of disposable razors is not reflected to the buyer browsing aisles of fully stocked razor shelves. 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 use of LCA to introduce life-cycle thinking into decision-making for the purchase of medical devices in the NHS. Now that we understand the key challenges with the razors, and where the biggest impacts are occurring, we can begin to make informed decisions in the redesign. Enter the email address you signed up with and we'll email you a reset link. On the other hand, extending the number of uses to 80 (doubling the lifetime) reduces GHG emissions by 9%. Ecoinvent 2.2. 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. They also reported how they dealt with their non-hazardous waste 76 percent was recycled, 11 percent incineration with energy recovery, 10 percent was sent to land disposal, and the remaining 3 percent was sent off for a different treatment (For You for Everyone Registration Document). After the products are packaged, there has to be a way for them to get to the end consumer. This is known as a Life Cycle Inventory (LCI) This can be extremely complex because it can involve dozens of separate processes, as well as hundreds of tracked substances. This is based on our Life Cycle Inventory flows from phase 2. The extraction and consumption of resources (including energy), as well as releases to air, water, and soil, are quantified throughout all stages. The product doesnt contain any material labels, so the materials have been assumed to be low alloy steel for the body, PP for the plastic parts of the body, EPDM rubber for the grip and an acrylic polymer coating for the lubricating band. The studies have not found it to be harmful to drinking water, or public safety, however, it is an ongoing research of soil data that continues. There is always some level of uncertainty in the results and in the methodology; so users shouldnt take the numbers shown as absolute values, but more as a guide to prioritise work. Here's How to Keep Your Razors from Contributing to Landfill Waste. USA Today, Gannett Satellite Information Network, 7 Aug. 2019, https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2019/08/07/landfill-waste-how-prevent-disposable-razor-plastic-pollution/1943345001/. a 4.1% (Bic). BIC put out a report detailing how they deal with the waste from their factories. Address e-mail to [emailprotected]. Bic has attempted to lower their direct emissions by having factories world-wide and creating: a Transport Community which connects shipping managers on each continent to raise control for greenhouse gas emissions, optimize shipments and routes, and use only responsible carriers (Bic). Anesthesiology 2003;99:1066, 6. The 2 LMA options are nearly equivalent in terms of eutrophication impacts, but with different contributions. A Comparison Life Cycle Assessment between Razor Blade and Electric Shaver. Dec. 2012. disposable paper diaper; material recycling; closed-loop recycling; life cycle assessment (LCA) 1. The EPA has now stopped tracking the: impact of disposable razors on the environment and has no update on the figure (Olsen). Since BICs products do not go to a single location it is impossible to give an exact number for BICs energy usage in transportation. 2. The total amount of Direct emissions from BIC factories was 8,689 tonnes of carbon dioxide (For You For Everyone Registration Document). 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. Redesigning the Razor Life Cycle Assessment.The Great Recovery, www.greatrecovery.org.uk/resources/3682/. Siddle, Dave. Soulias M, Martin L, Garnier N, Juniot A, Aho L, Freysz M. Disposable vs reusable laryngeal mask airway: a cost-minimization analysis. 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. BIC has repeatedly come under fire because of the environmental impact their disposable razors have, due to the sheer amount of their disposable products are used every year. Goodman EJ, Haas AJ. Packaging is an . 0 Energy Consumption by Mode of Transportation. Energy Consumption by Mode of Transportation | Bureau of Transportation Statistics, Bureau of Transportation Statistics, www.bts.gov/content/energy-consumption-mode-transportation. The life cycle of plastics Life cycle assessment (LCA) considers the environmental aspects associated with a product over its lifespan. LCA can be used to compare alternative products, processes or services; compare alternative life cycles for a certain product . It is at this stage that very small amounts of other metals such as iron, silicon, and chromium may be added to the carbide to increase its strength and durability. Another material used is polystyrene. This makes it an easy and quick method to start the analysis of a product and aid the designer when creating alternative concepts which are more environmentally friendly, because they can clearly identify what areas need improvement and which ones work well already. U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. Figure: Life Cycle Assessment steps: goal and scope definition, life cycle inventory, life cycle impact assessment and interpretation (Sala et al., 2016) In the goal and scope phase, the aims of the study are defined, namely the intended application, the reasons for carrying out the study and the intended audience. The designed short user-time of disposable razors, causes their life cycle to be spent mostly in the landfill where they will remain for hundreds of years due to non-biodegradable plastic, however, recycling the plastic and steel is possible if sent to specific recycling facilities, which could reduce the life cycle and negative impact on the environment. The use of disposable razors is unsustainable with our growing population and increased demand. Life-cycle assessment (LCA) is a process of evaluating the effects that a product has on the environment over the entire period of its life thereby increasing resource-use efficiency and decreasing liabilities. There are land, air, and water-based transportation methods. Disposable and reusable LMAs typically differ in material composition, packaging, reuse, and cost. U.S. Food and Drug Administration. For climate change impacts specifically, the reusable LMA contributes 7.4 kg CO2e of GHGs over its life cycle, and the equivalent 40 disposable LMAs contribute 11.3 kg CO2e, or approximately the equivalent to burning a gallon (4 L) of gasoline. climate change, summer smog, resource depletion, acidification, human health effects, etc. Through an examination of how the raw materials: carbide steel, tungsten steel, and a combination of the plastics: polypropylene, polystyrene, and phenylene oxide of the razors decompose, and how much waste is accumulated in making the razors, an assessment can be made for the duration of their life cycle. In this life cycle breakdown, I will be discussing what materials go into the making of disposable razors and what processes the materials go through in the operation of making a disposable razor. At 20 reuse cycles,16 the results indicate an increase in emissions of nearly 20%. A life-cycle inventory of cloth and disposable diapers was conducted based on diapering habits in Canada The parameters evaluated were energy consumption, water consumption, raw materials 15 Crop water use and water use efficiency on irrigated cotton farms in Australia S. Tennakoon, S. Milroy Environmental Science 2003 93 There is also an additional resin called fluorine resin that is applied to the blades, which allows them to freely glide on the skin. Small components such as inks and labels on the packaging and on the sterilization indicator strips are expected to have negligible impacts and were excluded from the analysis. A Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) is a methodology to assess the environmental impacts of a product or service throughout its life - from raw material extraction, manufacture and use, to end-of-life disposal, recycling or reuse. Marine cargo ships use a fuel called heavy fuel oil which produces around 145,000 BTU per gallon (Energy Consumption by Mode of Transportation.). Tungsten has a high melting point and is used mainly for strong tools unless used for smaller applications when combined with a carbon alloy: Its alloys are employed in rocket-engine nozzles and other aerospace applications (Safety Razors). The following document provides an introductory overview of Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) and describes the general uses and major components of LCA. During production, two components have to be created which are the blade and the plastic body. U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. 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). It can also help them to compare the newly redesigned product to the original, acting as a benchmark to ensure the design changes are actually positive for the environment. The full life cycle environmental impacts can be challenging to model, because modern production "pathways" can involve numerous interacting technologies, each of which can consume materials and energy that are themselves products of complex production processes. Sensitivity and simple life cycle cost analyses were conducted to aid in interpretation of the results. Convenience is a potential advantage for disposable LMAs, and facilities that use reusable LMAs must ensure that a variety of sizes are always available when needed. Terracycle. Polystyrene. Wikipedia, Wikimedia Foundation, 2 Dec. 2019, en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Polystyrene. 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 The study found that: In addition to traditional criteria for the selection and purchase of medical devices that include safety, efficacy, and cost, 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 product selection process. The total amount of indirect emissions was 89,762 tonnes of carbon dioxide (For You For Everyone Registration Document). The reusable LMA was found to have a more favorable environmental profile than the disposable LMA as used at Yale New Haven Hospital. Product Ecology (PR) Consultants. We perform Life Cycle Assessments (LCA) and Critical Reviews in accordance with ISO 14040/44 for products and services. Shavers. BICWorld, www.bicworld.com/en/our-products/shavers. Its aim is a comprehensive analysis of the environmental impact of products and services. Sustainable Development Report. Zhang TW, Dornfeld DA. Tungsten Carbide. Wikipedia, Wikimedia Foundation, 26 Nov. 2019, en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tungsten_carbide. There are only two components for the BIC disposable razors which are the plastic body and razor blade. Our LCA team retains its reputation as the most experienced life cycle staff in North America. Where material types were unknown, proxies were assumed from relevant literature,2 although more detailed material information from suppliers would permit a more robust analysis. 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. They have estimated that they expend around 11.77 gigajoules of energy per ton of their products that they produce (For You For Everyone Registration Document) The BIC report also categorized the energy where they obtained the energy. : Uses, Benefits, and Safety Facts.ChemicalSafetyFacts.org, 17 June 2019, www.chemicalsafetyfacts.org/polystyrene/. During a Life Cycle Assessment (LCA), environmental impacts are evaluated throughout the entire life cycle of a product (production, use and disposal or recovery).This also includes the upstream and downstream processes associated with production (e.g., the production of . may email you for journal alerts and information, but is committed E.P.A. 4. Of course the 2.6 billion razors were not, all the same, however, we can still give a ballpark estimate of how many tonnes of plastic/metal waste is being produced every year. Anesth Analg 1993;77:1079, 21. We performed a life cycle assessment of 2 analogous LMAs, the disposable LMA Unique and the reusable LMA Classic, according to internationally accepted standard life cycle assessment methods (ISO 14040: 2006). When the devices entered use at Yale New Haven Hospital, both the disposable and the reusable LMAs were removed from their original packaging, which was discarded. How One Facility Completely Eliminated the Use of TCE Schick Razor Blade Manufacturing in Knoxville, Tennessee. 2017. Being that it is such a common and quickly replaced product, this is is a major issue in terms of waste. The largest source of GHG emissions for the disposable LMAs (23%) is the production and polymerization of PVC, the main material constituent. To begin the process of creating the metal, the tungsten is purified and ground into a fine powder. Wat LI, Brimacombe JR, Gee S. Laryngeal mask airway longevity and pilot-balloon failure. These impacts are quantified here in terms of energy use, water use, and greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions using general factors for US labor.22. BIC has done their best to deal with waste in an environmentally conscious manner. Health care facilities can decrease their environmental impacts by using reusable LMAs, by selecting disposable LMA models that are not made of certain plastics, and by ordering in bulk from local distributors. BIC reported that the weight of one of their most popular disposable razors is 8.8 grams (Shavers). This document is an update and merger of two previous EPA documents on LCA ("Life Cycle Assessment: Inventory Guidelines and Principles," EPA/600/R-92/245, and "LCA101" from the LCAccess, website . Washington, DC: U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, 2011, 16. Life cycle assessment, according to ISO 14040/44, is conducted in four steps [29,30,31]: (1) goal and scope definition, (2) life cycle inventory, (3) life cycle impact assessment, and (4) interpretation. Any extra plastic will be discarded, remelted, and reused (Safety Razor, madehow.com). To start the process of making the blades, tungsten carbide is melted at high temperatures. Manufacturing Processes (RAZOR): KAI FACTORY: KAI Group. KAI FACTORY | KAI Group, www.kai-group.com/global/en/kai-factory/process/razor/. Overall, while the materials for disposable razors are few, and the products basic design makes it appear simplistic, the products lifecycle is far from simple. Europe, Plastic News. LMAs may be composed of 40% DEHP by weight. Most of those razors just end up in a landfill because most countries are not recycling them. 3. 3.Quantify the materials and processes Certain practices would further reduce the environmental impacts of reusable LMAs, such as increasing the number of devices autoclaved in a single cycle to 10 (25% GHG emissions) and improving the energy efficiency of the autoclaving machines by 10% (8% GHG emissions). 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. Recommendations for Infection Control for the Practice of Anesthesiology. This assessment is exceptionally useful as it shows the designer what areas are the most impactful during the products life cycle. London Phoenix: IEEE, 2008, 23. 2 offers from $9.92. 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 BIC said that around 98 percent of its intercompany product transfer was done by transportation methods that were not related to air-freight (For You For Everyone Registration Document). When designing a product for circularity it is often difficult to know where to begin. Materials were matched with appropriate life cycle inventory records from the ecoinvent database.11 Injection molding was assumed for the hard plastic pieces (polycarbonate and ABS plastic) and thermoforming for the softer plastics (silicone, polypropylene, and PVC). Kaplan, Desire. Research and Innovative Technology Administration. LCA is a standardized, science-based tool for quantifying the impact in order to assess lifetime environmental impact. Once the plastic has cooled, the pieces are released from the moulds. If all 2.6 billion of those razors each weight 8.8 grams, then the total amount of waste produced would be around 25,220 tonnes. 3. Impact Assessment. There is uncertainty in several model assumptions. Choosing a less-green disposable will magnify your razor's manufacturing impact, but it won't change the overall picture very much. In this section we also need to state the assumptions made during the process: However, of the 2 billion razors disposed of annually, about 32% end up in the ocean (Kaplan). Production of razor blades across the industry is fairly standard. By raising awareness and creating locations where one can drop off used razors for recycling, perhaps a change can come. Contribution: This author helped conduct the study and analyze the data. SimaPro is our flagship product: life cycle assessment software that gives sustainability experts, product designers and decision-makers the power to gain insight into the environmental performance of products and services, to define hotspots and to drive positive change. For waste management, switching from 100% incineration to 100% landfilling typically reduced impacts across all categories by 5%10%, with the national average scenario results decreasing in between. Your message has been successfully sent to your colleague. Teoh W, Lim Y. The blade is made from a tungsten steel, and carbon alloy. Case Studies. Case Studies : Reducing BIC's Rejection Rates | KEYENCE America, www.keyence.com/solutions/case-studies/bic.jsp. In 2016, Bic reduced packaging for their Soleil Razor by 40%. The metal is heated to a temperature of 1967-2048 degrees Fahrenheit and tungsten carbide has a specific heat of 0.226 BTU/lb/Fahrenheit (Safety razor). The tracking can come from sales, and in 2018 more than $1.2 billion in disposable razors were sold in the U.S., with varying prices but many disposables costing less than $1 each (Olsen). The second component of the razor is the plastic body which is made of a fairly inexpensive plastic called polystyrene. The life cycle for disposable razors must first be assessed by the products design. An updated lifecycle assessment for disposable and reusable nappies Report that looks at the effect of disposable and reusable nappies on global warming and other environmental impacts. Anesth Analg 1998;87:921, 3. Safety Razor.How Products Are Made, www.madehow.com/Volume-5/Safety-Razor.html. The LCA is broken into four stages: Defining the goal and scope how much of a product's lifecycle will be addressed, the reasons for carrying out the assessment, the intended audience, and the intended end-use [] Composition Assumptions for Disposable and Reusable Largyngeal Mask Airways (LMAs). Data Uncertainty. 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. 39 ($0.37/Count) FREE delivery Thu, Mar 2 on $25 of items shipped by Amazon. They have also reduced shipping time, by only sending the blades from Greece to Mexico to optimize the tools and products available in each location, instead of having all the materials shipped to each factory. This is shown through their commitment to their eco-design process and new recycling programs that are undergoing testing. 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). RSA Health care facilities can decrease their environmental impacts by using reusable LMAs, to a lesser extent by selecting disposable LMA models that are not made of certain plastics, and by ordering in bulk from local distributors. The GTG LCIs are added together to give a cradle-to-gate (CTG) life cycle inventory . The differences in environmental impacts between these devices may present a compelling consideration in device selection when concern for infection transmission is not a factor. Previous studies have examined the relative environmental profiles of reusables and disposables with regard to medical textiles7 and anesthetic drug trays.8 The present study uses life cycle assessment to evaluate the life cycle impacts of disposable and reusable LMAs across several categories of environmental and human health impacts. What does a business area's assessment of agreements, income, and value implicate? 3 in Table 1). Introduction Paper diapers are roughly divided into two types: those for infants and those for adults. Finally, inclusion of the environmental impacts of labor for cleaning (from wages spent on goods and services) only nominally increases the total GHG and water impacts of reusable LMAs. What IS Life Cycle Assessment? your express consent. This short course will give you an introduction to life cycle assessment (LCA) methods and how to apply them in real-life situations.. Life cycle assessment (LCA) is a rapidly evolving tool used to determine impacts of products or systems over a range of environmental and resource issues. However, given the environmental toll to such a fast accumulating, and non-biodegradable product, waste management must be more considered by both the manufacturers and the buyers. After the end of their recommended lifetime, reusable LMAs were also placed in municipal solid waste containers. A comparative cradle to grave life cycle assessment (LCA) was conducted to determine and analyze the environmental impacts of using disposable acrylic speculums versus using reusable stainless-steel speculums in a women's university health clinic where around 5,000 pelvic exams are conducted on a yearly basis. 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. 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. Another advantage is that the process produces a single score (Eco-Indicator Point) for the all the impacts of the product, not just individual ones for each part. After getting the sharpened blade they are coated with a thin film to allows them to not lose sharpness after only a few shaves (Manufacturing Processes). 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. An LCA is a life cycle assessment which is completed through research, testing and understanding of the environmental impacts a particular item creates through it's resources use/ production/distribution/disposal. The biggest impact during the cartridge-based razor life-cycle is manufacturing the cartridge as this is the part which is hardest to make. Direct emissions refer to any emissions that resulted from the burning of fossil fuels and Indirect emissions refer to any emissions that resulted from the generation of electricity. Finally, the assessment will be carried out on the new design to assess if it has a lower impact than the other options analysed.