What Is Polystyrene? With such a fast accumulating waste and slow decomposition rate, there must be changes and incentive for companies to rethink the disposable razor. Phoenix: IEEE, 2008, 23. BIC Group, 2016, Sustainable Development Report. Premature disposal of reusable LMAs has significant environmental impacts (as well as costs, discussed below). Gillette Mach3 Men's Disposable Razor for Sensitive Skin - Best Cartridge Razor for Sensitive Skin. Life cycle assessment (LCA) is a framework for assessing the environmental impacts of product systems and decisions. Upgrading to a new, energy-efficient autoclave machine leads to a nearly equal reduction in life cycle GHG emissions and may be considered particularly in instances in which older equipment is being used. 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. 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. Using BEES to select cost-effective green products. Sustainable Development Report. Polystyrene is a naturally transparent thermoplastic that is available as both a typical solid plastic as well in the form of a rigid foam material (Rodgers, Everything You Need To Know About Polystyrene (PS).). Another material used is polystyrene. 21 offers from $5.20. 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. Contrary to common expectation, hair is actually pretty hard. The Nation's Freight: U.S. Bureau of Transportation Statistics. The blade is made from a tungsten steel, and carbon alloy. 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. This obviously makes the results less accurate, but it can still be used as a general indicator of impact. 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 The biggest impact during the cartridge-based razor life-cycle is manufacturing the cartridge as this is the part which is hardest to make. Policy H-135.945: Encouraging Alternatives to PVC/DEHP Products in Health. The autoclave was typically run with 5 LMAs, although loading varied significantly. 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. McGain F, McAlister S, McGavin A, Story D. The financial and environmental costs of reusable and single-use plastic anaesthetic drug trays. Saudi J Anaesth 2008;2:58. The LMAs were first rinsed in tap water, scrubbed externally with a Hibiclens sponge and internally with a small scrub brush, and rinsed again. Chain Management by Life Cycle Assessment (CMLCA) software has been used to conduct the LCA and Ecoinvent 2.01 has been used for life cycle inventory data. DEHP leaches out upon exposure to heat and lipids, as would be the case in contact with mucous membranes. Metal materials are sent for smelting and conversion to new alloys (Terracycle). 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. 13, 14 There are few published life cycle assessment studies of medical items (ref. It is resistant to fats and almost all organic solvents which helps it hold up in the damp and warm conditions of a bathroom and shower (Polypropylene. Wikipedia.org). The Potential of Polypropylene.Recycling Today, Recycling Today, 17 July 2019, www.recyclingtoday.com/article/the-recycling-potential-of-polypropylene/. This break-even point will change depending on the category of environmental impact being considered. On the Venus Gillette company website, they provide the buyer with a guide for choosing which razor is best by asking: When it comes to choosing a razor, how do you know if a disposable or reusable razor is right for you? (What's the Difference Between Disposable and Reusable Razors for Women? Venus)This question, however, only affects the buyers short usage time, and does not provide any information as to the rest of the razors life-cycle after they are ready for a new razor blade and they: throw away the entire razor and grab a new one as recommended by the manufacturer (Venus). The EPA has now stopped tracking the: impact of disposable razors on the environment and has no update on the figure (Olsen). 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. Comparison of disposable and reusable laryngeal mask airways in spontaneously ventilating adult patients. Until now, we defined what we want to measure and collect in phase 1. 2019, science.howstuffworks.com/environmental/green-science/polystyrene-recycling.htm. Highlights There are three main materials used in the plastic handle and the cartridge of the disposable razor. Some error has occurred while processing your request. More immediate levels of waste, however, happen during the processing of disposable razors before they are even brought to the buyer and the landfill. The International Journal of Life Cycle Assessment. The GTG LCIs are added together to give a cradle-to-gate (CTG) life cycle inventory . The metal and plastic components of the cartridges will be assembled, where they will then go to the next station where the blades will be inserted. Technical Fact Sheet-Tungsten.Technical Fact Sheet- Tungsten, EPA, Jan. 2014, www.epa.gov/sites/production/files/2014-03/documents/ffrrofactsheet_contaminant_tungsten_january2014_final.pdf. From the *Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, College of Engineering, Northeastern University, Boston, MA; School of Forestry and Environmental Studies, Yale University, New Haven, CT; Department of Anesthesiology, Yale School of Medicine/YaleNew Haven Hospital, New Haven, CT. Funding: Department of Anesthesiology, Yale School of Medicine. Ecoinvent 2.2. 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. Chu L, Mathur P, Trudell J, Brock-Utne J. The laryngeal mask airway (LMA) was introduced into clinical use in the late 1980s and approved by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for use in the US in 1991. 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). RSA The alternatives are objects made of bio compostable plastic,. Terracycle. 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. Gillette Plastic Disposable Shaving Kit supermax, for Hotel. There is no public data entailing the details of this plastics recyclability. Brimacombe J, Keller C, Morris R, Mecklem D. A comparison of the disposable versus the reusable laryngeal mask airway in paralyzed adult patients. DEHP is a plasticizer routinely added to impart flexibility to PVC-based products, such as IV bags, tubing, and endotracheal tubes. 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. The human-health-related impact categories are pertinent to those developing standards for the delivery of health care. 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. The newest effort to recycle disposable razors is being done in France by BIC, but the company has said that they do not plan on unveiling a recycling program anywhere else yet (Powers). 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. This practice meets American Society of Anesthesiologists' recommendations for infection control for equipment requiring high-level disinfection.14. Case Studies. Case Studies : Reducing BIC's Rejection Rates | KEYENCE America, www.keyence.com/solutions/case-studies/bic.jsp. Plastics are cleaned and pelletized to be recycled into new products, such as picnic tables and park benches. For a number of perioperative textiles, surgical instruments, and anesthetic devices, a life cycle assessment (LCA) has been done and has shown reusables to be environmentally favorable to disposables [ 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23 ]. Such an analysis is commonly performed using life cycle assessment. Since BICs products do not go to a single location it is impossible to give an exact number for BICs energy usage in transportation. In phase 3, we evaluate how significant the impacts are. Recommendations for Infection Control for the Practice of Anesthesiology. Cad M, Webb T, Bjorksten A. The long and harmful life-cycle of disposable razors is not reflected to the buyer browsing aisles of fully stocked razor shelves. All of these software packages and models are in widespread use by life cycle assessment practitioners in the US and internationally. This was a cradle-to-grave study that included inputs and outputs for the manufacture, transport, use, and waste phases of the LMAs. One of their most popular products is the disposable razor, which they started to manufacture in 1975. Enter the email address you signed up with and we'll email you a reset link. Poly(Phenylene Oxide). The Polymer Science Learning Center, www.pslc.ws/macrog/ppo.htm. 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). Individually autoclaving the reusable LMA (because of stock shortages, for example) increased life cycle GHG emissions by >400%, whereas loading with 10 LMAs per cycle decreased emissions by nearly 25%. J Environ Assess Policy Manage 2000;2:45376, 2. The study found that: Staff, Creative Mechanisms. The total amount of indirect emissions was 89,762 tonnes of carbon dioxide (For You For Everyone Registration Document). The Bic corporation considers their environmental impact and takes steps to reduce as much waste as possible. The hardest part of this whole process is the data gathering. Anesth Analg 1993;77:1079, 21. The razors are mainly made of plastic, so they will be decomposing at a very slow rate in the landfill. 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. Thomas, G.P. A life-cycle assessment or LCA is a 'cradle to grave' analysis of the impact of a manufactured product on the environment. The major problem with recycling this plastic however, is that during the heating process, the plastic degrades in quality making it less valuable (What Is Tungsten Carbide or Hard Metal?, AZoM.com). 1. The Eco-Indicator method is a tool developed to help designers conduct a simplified LCA study. Any extra plastic will be discarded, remelted, and reused (Safety Razor, madehow.com). Its aim is a comprehensive analysis of the environmental impact of products and services. Not all form of impacts are valued the same, so the ones with the largest impact should be tackled first in order to produce the maximum overall improvement. There are land, air, and water-based transportation methods. Goodman EJ, Haas AJ. Manufacturing Processes (RAZOR): KAI FACTORY: KAI Group.KAI FACTORY | KAI Group, www.kai-group.com/global/en/kai-factory/process/razor/. h[K#1}\$u@ 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). The plastic handle and head of the disposable razor consists of a hybrid of polypropylene, polystyrene, and phenylene oxide, also known as PPO. Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) is a modeling tool for quantifying the environmental impacts of products and processes. BIC has reported their total energy usage and carbon footprint in their factories around the world, this was all however for the year 2016. Flying staff to meetings, shipping, and distributing the product is the highest offender for the planet. The extraction and consumption of resources (including energy), as well as releases to air, water, and soil, are quantified throughout all stages. 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. The second component of the razor is the plastic body which is made of a fairly inexpensive plastic called polystyrene. The LMA was then dried with a cotton towel. Int Anesthesiol Clin 2010;48:139, 24. Reusable LMAs in general appear to be made largely of silicone, lacking these same concerns for PVC/DEHP. You Asked, We Answered. Chronicle, 12 June 2015, chronicle.kennametal.com/what-is-tungsten-carbide-you-asked-we-answered/. The Great Recovery was a project by the RSA working with Innovate UK which ran between 2012 and 2016. In this post I havent shown the whole process, but there are downloadable links to my full Eco-Indicator results, and to the template form if youd like to carry out an assessment yourself. Whereas transportation has a relatively significant GHG impact for the disposable LMAs, by comparison the transportation of reusable LMAs has little impact on GHG emissions, because 40 disposable LMAs must be shipped to provide an equivalent function to 1 reusable LMA. How One Company Keeps Used Razors Out Of Oceans.Green Matters, Green Matters, 25 Sept. 2017, www.greenmatters.com/news/2017/09/25/Z1oInGt/razors-ocean. With the recommended use of three to ten uses for disposable razors, they quickly end up in the landfill to decompose. These impacts are quantified here in terms of energy use, water use, and greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions using general factors for US labor.22. Differences in environmental impacts between devices may present a compelling consideration in their selection. Everything You Need To Know About Polystyrene (PS). Everything You Need To Know About Polystyrene (PS), 5 Nov. 2015, https://www.creativemechanisms.com/blog/polystyrene-ps-plastic. endstream endobj startxref Hedrick, Art. Choosing a less-green disposable will magnify your razor's manufacturing impact, but it won't change the overall picture very much. Because of its high stability, PPO is a very widely used plastic for many different household items. 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 . Polystyrene is not biodegradable and takes hundreds of years to break down. Life cycle impact assessment (LCIA) covers all relevant inputs from the environment (e.g., ores and crude oil, water, land use) as well as emissions into air, water and soil (e.g., carbon dioxide and nitrogen oxides). Once the plastic has cooled, the pieces are released from the moulds. We perform Life Cycle Assessments (LCA) and Critical Reviews in accordance with ISO 14040/44 for products and services. By not using air travel and transport, BIC greatly reduces their energy usage and carbon footprint at the same time. Int J Life Cycle Assess 2001;6:7680, 13. The next step the blade goes through is called polishing in which is done using strops made out of cowhide to get the desired blade edge shape, the blade is then cut into the sizes of the individual blades, which are then sent off to be inspected. The body of both razors had similar impact as their weights were also quite similar. Di(2-ethylhexyl) phthalate (DEHP) Hazard Summary. Anaesthesia 2000;55:7001, 18. The mixed plastics used in most of the razor take hundreds of years to break down in landfill, and the blades, while the metal is recyclable if separated from the rest of the product, poses a safety hazard for both the consumer and the employees who handle recyclables. Environmental Life-Cycle Assessment of Disposable Bioreactors - BioProcess InternationalBioProcess International Upstream Processing Bioprocessing begins upstream, most often with culturing of animal or microbial cells in a range of vessel types (such as bags or stirred tanks) using different controlled feeding, aerating, and process strategies. For You For Everyone: Registration Document.Bic World, Bic, 2016, www.bicworld.com/sites/default/files/2017-03/BIC_DRF2016_EN.pdf. Contamination problems with reuse of laryngeal mask airways and laryngoscopes. Soulias M, Martin L, Garnier N, Juniot A, Aho L, Freysz M. Disposable vs reusable laryngeal mask airway: a cost-minimization analysis. Each manufacturing plant or node in the supply chain is referred to as agate-to-gate (GTG) life cycle inventory. Die Basics 101: Intro to Stamping. The Fabricators, 18 July 2018, www.thefabricator.com/thefabricator/article/stamping/die-basics-101-intro-to-stamping. In order to carry out the Eco-Indicator analysis method, the methodology described below has to be followed: 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. 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. 2. The life cycle of plastics Life cycle assessment (LCA) considers the environmental aspects associated with a product over its lifespan. Erosion time for the blades was difficult to find, yet tungsten steel does erode faster than the plastic elements to the disposable razor due to the carbon alloys brittle makeup. They report their waste production being at 340 tons, which represented an increase of 22% from 2015 (Bic). Reprints will not be available from the authors. In the late 1990s, disposable LMAs became available. This is done on an assembly line by the robotic arm the inserts the razor blade into the small crevices in the plastic body. The specific type or blend of plastic for BIC razors is used is called polystyrene (Europe). The product fails to include proper instructions for its waste management, causing it to be disposed of, as the name suggests. Select patients who are highly infective warrant the choice of disposable devices; however, data do not support selecting disposables for all patients to avoid any possible risk of infection. If you count the actual razor cover (if you haven't lost it long ago) then it will be four pieces for recycling. 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. Anyone can send in razors of any kind, and the plastic and cardboard packaging as well. Life Cycle Assessment of Disposable and Reusable Nappies in the UK Ref: ISBN 1844324273, LIT 2080 PDF, 1.83 MB, 203 pages This file may not be suitable for users of assistive technology.. From San Diego, both LMAs were assumed to be transported 4700 km by truck to New Haven, CT (70% of shipments in the US are made by truck).13. The Life Cycle Impact Assessment (LCIA) is where the impacts on the environment are calculated. 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. BIC is a French manufacturing company that produces a variety of disposable consumer products like pens, lighters and disposable razors. :396?Qkt)e. I found information about the whole blade manufacturing process, but could not find details about energy consumption in every step of the process. Ask a worker if you can put them in the bin by themselves or if they need to be in a recyclable container to protect sanitation workers from being cut. BIC Group, 2016, For You For Everyone Registration Document. E.P.A. It is a thermoplastic that exhibits high heat resistance, dimensional stability, and accuracy and is often combined with other plastics, such as polystyrene, due to various problems in its processing (Poly(p-Phenylene Oxide, Wikipedia.org). The blades and lubricating strip were too light to be measured with our equipment so their weights were rounded to 1g. The purpose of this assessment is to compare two different types of razors: cartridge based vs. double edge safety razor. It can be used to study the environmental impact of either a product or the function the product is designed to perform. On the basis of observation at Yale New Haven Hospital, it takes approximately 10 minutes to conduct all cleaning processes for 1 LMA, which is equivalent to roughly $3 in wages. BIC currently holds around 11 percent market share in disposable razors (Nash). 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. Gathering all the data for the LCA is the most difficult part of the task, and normally assumptions have to be made where its impossible to gather all the knowledge required, thus not all the relevant impacts are considered. The high levels of pollution from disposable razor blades alone caused the EPA to claim a national garbage crisis in the late 1980s, and the actual figure of 2 billion razors thrown away every year dates back to the 1990s. The number of BIC razors that are used by consumers is astounding. Powers, Matt, and Amanda M. Can You Recycle Disposable Razors? Earth911.Com, 30 July 2019, earth911.com/living-well-being/health/can-you-recycle-disposable-razors/. 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. Gillette Razor Local Recycling Solutions.TerraCycle, www.terracycle.com/en-US/brigades/gillette-local-recycling. Finally, the razors are packaged in cardboard and plastic, and shipped out to stores and markets globally for customers to purchase and use. Anaesth Intensive Care 2004;32:5304, 4. 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 #3. 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 [] endstream endobj 752 0 obj <>stream CASE STUDY ANALYSIS - CLEAN EDGE, NON DISPOSABLE RAZOR Q1. To begin the process of creating the razor blades, tungsten carbide, which is the metal that the blades and other optional components are made of, must first be manufactured. In this case its much harder for me to carry out an LCA on a Gillette razor than if Gillette did the LCA themselves, as they would have all the correct info required first-hand (reducing the number of assumptions needing to be used). What does a business area's assessment of agreements, income, and value implicate? Innovative and strategic advisor to leading philanthropies, corporates, governments, international institutions and NGOs. Depending upon on how the razor is packaged, the finished cartridge may or may not be assembled onto the handle of the razor, as some companies choose to package the handle detached the cartridge(s).