Page 164 - Materials Chemistry, Second Edition

System boundary Accelerating life cycle assessment uptake: life cycle management and ‘quick’ LCA tools 151
1. Raw material
extraction
2. Packaging
material
manufacture
Electricity 3. Packaging
material
generation converting
Fossil fuels 4. Empty packaging
extraction and transport to filler
refining
5. Filling of
packaging
6. Packaging
transport from
filler to retailer
Disposal of
packaging

Waste to energy Landfill Composting
incineration Recycling

Figure 11.3 The Packaging Impact Quick Evaluation Tool (PIQET) system boundary.

The user enters data for the packaging life cycle stages presented in Figure 11.3. The need
for the user to enter data is minimised through the optimisation of calculators and algorithms
to convert mass to volume and so on, while drop-down menus facilitate selections and provide
a quick, intuitive interface (Fig. 11.4).

Figure 11.4 Screen shot indicating selection of component type and material in the Packaging
Impact Quick Evaluation Tool (PIQET).

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