The EPA has said in their 2014 report: Currently, little information is available about the fate and transport of tungsten in the environment and its effects on human health. The aim of this paper is to analyse substitutes to disposable plastic tableware using the Life Cycle Assessment methodology. 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). A Life Cycle Assessment of Disposable Razors. There are three main materials used in the plastic handle and the cartridge of the disposable razor. Shavers. BICWorld, www.bicworld.com/en/our-products/shavers. In this paper, many details about the life cycle stages were not included. 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. The plastic and steel elements of the razor can be recycled, yet, because they are so lightweight and small it makes it hard to separate in the trash and unable to be recycled normally. Razor blades dull quickly after repeated use, and are recommended to be used only three to ten times, making them a cheap alternative to reusable cartridges. Bics direct emissions were from: a combustion of fossil fuels, primarily natural gas and fuel oil, mainly used to heat buildings. Hedrick, Art. Cited Here. This is because of the complexity of the life cycle, from the acquisition of materials to the management of a product at the end of its life. The main causes of the reusable LMA's environmental impacts are the steam used in the autoclave sterilizing machine and, to a lesser extent, the wastewater generated from washing the LMAs. This LCA is specific for surgical gowns used in the Twin Cities of Minneapolis and St Paul, Minnesota. Finally, the assessment will be carried out on the new design to assess if it has a lower impact than the other options analysed. The second component of the razor is the plastic body which is made of a fairly inexpensive plastic called polystyrene. But this is expected from a large brand like Gillette. BIC has done their best to deal with waste in an environmentally conscious manner. 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). climate change, summer smog, resource depletion, acidification, human health effects, etc. Safety Assessment of Di(2-ethylhexyl)phthalate (DEHP) Released from PVC Medical Devices. Such an analysis is commonly performed using life cycle assessment. The metal must be mined and extracted from the mountain causing an emission of fossil fuels and greenhouse gases (Wang). Waste is not only a problem when a product is disposed of, but also when it is initially manufactured. The use of disposable razors is unsustainable with our growing population and increased demand. Since then, around 60 billion razors have been produced, distributed, and sold worldwide. A Comparative Life Cycle Assessment of Disposable and Reusable Packaging for the Distribution of Italian Fruit and Vegetables. There is no public data entailing the details of this plastics recyclability. It has a low density and is quite flexible and heat resistant, therefore making it an easily moulded and extruded material. The blades and lubricating strip were too light to be measured with our equipment so their weights were rounded to 1g. The plastic, however stable for the user, remains stable long after it is thrown away as well. The remaining percentage is split up between energy consumption in their three facilities in: Clichy (France), Shelton (U.S.), and Cajamar (Brazil) (For You For Everyone: Registration Document, Bic). Each razor can last up to 12 gentle shaves. For You for Everyone Registration Document. 2011, Packaging Technology and Science. Poly(Phenylene Oxide). The Polymer Science Learning Center, www.pslc.ws/macrog/ppo.htm. The polypropylene is sorted during recycling using a float test that separates it from other materials based on its ability to float due to its weight, then it is often melted down and reused in other product manufacturing. Our team of experts has many years of experience in the ecological evaluation of products and services. A life cycle assessment (LCA) is used to identify the environmental risks of existing and planned products, services and manufacturing processes as well as identify strategic improvement opportunities. Thomas, G.P. Safety Razor.How Products Are Made, www.madehow.com/Volume-5/Safety-Razor.html. The carbon alloy allows for the metal to be strong enough to be exposed to high levels of moisture without corroding, yet brittle enough to be made into thin blades for a multiple blade razor (Safety Razor). 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. How Is Tungsten Carbide Formed? Chronicle, 20 Aug. 2015, chronicle.kennametal.com/how-is-tungsten-carbide-formed/. Eckelman, Matthew PhD*; Mosher, Margo; Gonzalez, Andres; Sherman, Jodi MD. An exact number for the energy use for BIC was not obtained. The Nation's Freight: U.S. Bureau of Transportation Statistics. 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. Life cycle assessment software I used GaBi 6 software, produced by PE International. The majority of life cycle human health impacts of disposable LMAs are caused by PVC use in packaging and the device itself. But what really goes into making one of these seemingly mundane disposable razors and what happens to it after its tossed in the trash? The environmental impacts of the 2 LMAs were estimated using SimaPro life cycle assessment software and the Building for Environmental and Economic Sustainability impact assessment method. Scope of the life cycle assessment for disposable and reusable laryngeal mask airways (LMAs). There are many detailed stages but the main ones are: extracting and. BIC is voicing their concern about the environmental impact that their large production goals can have. Most of those razors just end up in a landfill because most countries are not recycling them. However, they also affirmed that they strive to make their products with an eco-design approach by using recycled materials or bioplastics in their different products (For You for Everyone Registration Document). It all starts with the melting and combining of the desired metal. h[K#1}\$u@ In this paper, this will be exactly what we will discuss, from what materials go into making a disposable razor and how they are made, to what happens to it after its tossed out, and all the energy and waste that is used and expelled throughout its lifecycle. Using BEES to select cost-effective green products. The data collected through LCA helps organizations make conscious decisions that affect the environment. The Great Recovery was a project by the RSA working with Innovate UK which ran between 2012 and 2016. The carbon footprint reported was separated into two sections which are direct and indirect emissions. With such a fast accumulating waste and slow decomposition rate, there must be changes and incentive for companies to rethink the disposable razor. These included alternative routes and modes of transport from San Diego to New Haven, changes in autoclave loading practices and efficiency, and varied amounts of PVC in the disposable LMA. Shabecoff, Philip. Comparative environmental and human health (HH) impacts for disposable and reusable laryngeal mask airways (LMA), Building for Environmental and Economic Sustainability (BEES) impact assessment method. 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). After that, the metal is pressed down to the desired blade thickness which is around 1mm (Manufacturing Processes). However, because of the new awareness to their wasteful impact on the environment, some companies have begun to provide solutions to the disposable razor issue. The blade is made from a tungsten steel, and carbon alloy. The blades do eventually dissipate within the landfill, yet, it is not cost-free, as the tungsten waste can be ultimately harmful to the environment. Bic Disposable Razor (1975). Plastics News Europe, 19 Nov. 2009, www.plasticsnewseurope.com/article/20091119/PNE/311199986/bic-disposable-razor-1975. 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. This is the fourth installment in a series of blogs in which weexplore how to design a product for circularity. Figueredo E. Changes in the intracuff pressure of the laryngeal masks airway caused by repeated use. U.S. Food and Drug Administration. Life Cycle Assessment - definition & methodology. 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. Wang, Chun Tsin, and Alexander Sutulor. 13, 14 There are few published life cycle assessment studies of medical items (ref. Because the human health impacts of the disposable LMAs are dominated by plastics, increasing the amount of PVC by 10% leads to a significant (>5%) increase in cancer and noncancer effects. The autoclave was typically run with 5 LMAs, although loading varied significantly. 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. Safety Razor. How Products Are Made www.madehow.com/Volume-5/Safety-Razor.html. Eshwar Shop. This liquid material is then injected into moulds, or extruded through moulds, where it will cool and take the form of the desired cartridge and handle shape. 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 . Everything You Need To Know About Polypropylene (PP) Plastic. Everything You Need To Know About Polypropylene (PP) Plastic, https://www.creativemechanisms.com/blog/all-about-polypropylene-pp-plastic. BIC Comfort 3 Refillable Three-Blade Disposable Razors for Men, Sensitive Skin Razor for a Comfortable Shave, 1 Handle and 12 Cartridges With 3 Blades, 13 Piece Razor Kit. On the other hand, extending the number of uses to 80 (doubling the lifetime) reduces GHG emissions by 9%. Recommendations for Infection Control for the Practice of Anesthesiology. The number of BIC razors that are used by consumers is astounding. This was a cradle-to-grave study that included inputs and outputs for the manufacture, transport, use, and waste phases of the LMAs. Rogers, Tony. With the results we supply the basis for strategic decisions for sustainable action. Chu L, Mathur P, Trudell J, Brock-Utne J. The processes that contribute to these emissions differ markedly between the 2 LMA devices. use/disposable and multiple-use/washable surgical gowns. The cartridge-based razor had a slightly higher impact due to the rubber parts which cant be separated from the plastic body. Sensitivity and simple life cycle cost analyses were conducted to aid in interpretation of the results. Disposable razors are a product that can be found in almost any average bathroom. Max Soft Disposable Razor For Women - 3 Pcs In A Pack. Marvel Product Razor Lady Body Shaver Disposable Razore. Where regulations permit, disposal of LMA-related waste as regular municipal waste, as opposed to biohazardous waste, should also reduce the adverse health effects stemming from medical waste incineration. Life cycle assessment is a "cradle-to-grave" approach for determining the financial and environmental costs of a product over its entire life. Flying staff to meetings, shipping, and distributing the product is the highest offender for the planet. LCA is the most common tool for quantifying the environmental effects associated with a product, process, or service's entire life (Baumann and Tillman 2004).LCA was performed in accordance with the international standards of the ISO 14040 and ISO 14044 . Life cycle assessment (LCA) is a framework for assessing the environmental impacts of product systems and decisions. 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. 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 Innovative and strategic advisor to leading philanthropies, corporates, governments, international institutions and NGOs. After the parts are manufactured it is time for the final product assembly. 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. Polystyrene. Wikipedia, Wikimedia Foundation, 2 Dec. 2019, en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Polystyrene. For both environmental and cost considerations, management and operating procedures should be put in place to ensure that reusable LMAs are not discarded prematurely. 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. The biggest impact during the cartridge-based razor life-cycle is manufacturing the cartridge as this is the part which is hardest to make. For example, LCA results can tell us if one product is environmentally preferable to another . The actual making of the razors, and printing paper for their packaging has a lower environmental impact, than the waste from the factories high energy use. 3 in Table 1). Despite manufacturer-recommended cleaning processes, and various modifications thereof, proteinaceous material may remain on reusable LMAs.27 Of particular concern, these residues may expose patients to prions causing transmissible spongiform encephalopathy, CreutzfeldtJakob disease. Sensor3 disposable razors for men feature an enhanced Lubrastrip with water activated Comfortgel technology for ultra-gentle shaving on your sensitive skin. Once extracted, the tungsten is then shipped to a desired location for it to be manufactured into the metal compound. Decision makers have typically favored disposable LMAs because the purchase price is perceived to be less for a comparable quantity of disposable LMAs, in comparison with 1 reusable LMA with its associated labor costs for in-house reprocessing.6. DEHP is a plasticizer routinely added to impart flexibility to PVC-based products, such as IV bags, tubing, and endotracheal tubes. Their carbon footprint was reported with the highest offender being air travel for the product, and staff transportation coming from France: accounting for 73% of the companys annual greenhouse gas emissions (Bic). 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. (ii)Access paramount's competitive position? Anaesthesia 2000;55:7001, 18. Phenylene oxide, or PPO, is another common plastic material used in disposable razors. 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. Camera visual inspection is performed and This is all to ensure BICs quality standards are being met and ensure a quality product. The 1% of the material that is recycled however, goes through a 5 step recycling process which is collecting, sorting, cleaning, reprocessing, and producing new products. These results will then be used to inform the design process and improve the redesigned razor. 1982, www.nytimes.com/1982/04/11/business/how-bic-lost-the-edge-to-gillette.html. Washington, DC: U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, 2000 rev, 25. 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. However, of the 2 billion razors disposed of annually, about 32% end up in the ocean (Kaplan). Choosing models that use alternate materials is recommended, particularly because the American Medical Association is urging hospitals and health systems to reduce their use of PVC products, especially those containing DEHP.26 The shipment of LMAs by air also greatly increased overall impacts, pointing to a strategy of bulk ordering from local distributors well in advance of use, and avoiding overnight shipment whenever possible. Anesthesia & Analgesia114(5):1067-1072, May 2012. The body of both razors had similar impact as their weights were also quite similar. U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. Sustainable Development at BIC . 6 Jan. 2011. Kelly, John. Criteria for the selection and purchase of medical devices typically include safety for patients and staff, efficacy and ease of use, and purchase and handling prices. 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. Assessing all steps in that life cycle provides insight into individual stresses and burden shifts from one step to another and enables understanding of both the cumulative environmental impacts and related trade-offs in each area, throughout the lifespan of both a facility and its manufactured products.
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