Manufacturing Processes (RAZOR): KAI FACTORY: KAI Group.KAI FACTORY | KAI Group, www.kai-group.com/global/en/kai-factory/process/razor/. Washington, DC: U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, 2011, 16. Hedrick, Art. These benefits must be weighed against concerns regarding transmission of infection. In landfilling or incinerating this part, the large amount of energy and material value used in creating it is lost. Polystyrene. Wikipedia, Wikimedia Foundation, 2 Dec. 2019, en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Polystyrene. BIC put out a report detailing how they deal with the waste from their factories. Research about tungsten is ongoing and includes health effects and risks, degradation processes and an inventory of its use in the defense industry as a substitute for lead-based munitions (EPA). 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. 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. In addition, although this life cycle assessment study did not analyze health impacts during use of an LMA, intraoperative exposure to diethylhexyl phthalate (DEHP) is of some concern. The fewer LMAs placed in the autoclave, the larger the impacts on GHG emissions and global warming on each individual unit. PDF Life Cycle Assessments of Single- Versus Multiple-use Surgical Gowns Aj This was a cradle-to-grave study that included inputs and outputs for the manufacture, transport, use, and waste phases of the LMAs. What Is Tungsten Carbide or Hard Metal? AZoM.com, 2 Aug. 2009, https://www.azom.com/article.aspx?ArticleID=4827. 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). LCA's are completed particularly in relation to how to develop a sustainable world where less waste and more reuse is implemented. Life Cycle Assessment - GDRC The scope of our analysis, as is shown in Figure 1, includes extraction of material and energy resources, manufacturing, packaging and transport from the manufacturing site to the distribution center and the hospital, reprocessing, and eventual disposal. 2. Yet, tungsten has been found to deposit particles into the soil that causes some contamination, making it a recent concern to the United States Environmental Protection Agency. BIC may be doing as much as possible to lessen the impact of the production of disposable razors, but due to the massive production it will because unsustainable, because of the energy input, material consumptions, and unrecyclable nature of disposable razors. :396?Qkt)e. A Life Cycle Assessment is the systematic analysis of the environmental impact of products during their entire life cycle. #4. 1. Environmental Life-Cycle Assessment of Disposable Bioreactors It has been assumed that the only part recycled at the end of life is the packaging. Disposable and reusable nappies in the UK: life cycle assessment Lv, Andrea Lind, and Tigist Fetene. 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). Packaging is an . They have teamed up with Gillette to raise awareness about the massive waste of disposable razors by allowing users to mail their old razors in to be recycled. 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. 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 . The processes that contribute to these emissions differ markedly between the 2 LMA devices. 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. This obviously makes the results less accurate, but it can still be used as a general indicator of impact. 3 Ways to Recycle Safety Razor Blades - wikiHow Life your express consent. The reusable LMA was found to have a more favorable environmental profile than the disposable LMA as used at Yale New Haven Hospital. The tables didnt contain values for welding steel, so it has been assumed that the value is close to welding aluminium which is in the table. Redesigning the Razor Life Cycle Assessment.The Great Recovery, www.greatrecovery.org.uk/resources/3682/. Safety Razor.How Products Are Made, www.madehow.com/Volume-5/Safety-Razor.html. McGain F, McAlister S, McGavin A, Story D. The financial and environmental costs of reusable and single-use plastic anaesthetic drug trays. After the products are packaged, there has to be a way for them to get to the end consumer. Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) | Sustainable Agriculture Research A life cycle assessment or analysis according to ISO 14040/14044 is an instrument of environmental and sustainability management. Zhang TW, Dornfeld DA. The advantage of using this method compared to a more comprehensive LCA method is that its much simpler to carry out and to gather the required information because the data regarding the most common materials and processes has been collected in advance. 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. The life cycle assessment results shown here allow clinicians and health care administrators to understand the balance between direct benefits of a given LMA choice to local patient care and the environmental and human health impacts of that choice that occur far from the operating room. Life-cycle assessment - Ways of reducing the use of resources - AQA How One Facility Completely Eliminated the Use of TCE Schick Razor Blade Manufacturing in Knoxville, Tennessee. 2017. Siddle, Dave. Redesigning the Razor Life Cycle Assessment. The Great Recovery, http://www.greatrecovery.org.uk/resources/3682/. WC2N 6EZ, Redesigning the razor Life Cycle Assessment. What IS Life Cycle Assessment? It can be used to study the environmental impact of either a product or the function the product is designed to perform. BIC reported that every year around 2.6 billion of their razors are chosen by consumers every year (Shaver's). 2 offers from $9.92. U.S. Food and Drug Administration. use/disposable and multiple-use/washable surgical gowns. London In BIC factories they pride themselves in producing a quality product, so the blades go through a series of highly precise visual inspections with cameras which help with rejecting blades that do not meet BIC standards (Case Studies) After that they go through visual inspection is done be BIC employees to reject any blades that the cameras were not rejected by the inspection camera system, the blades are then send off to be coated and burned. 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. Next, the razors will be tested for flaws, strength, and razor hardness and sharpness (Safety Razor, madehow.com). Life cycle assessment is a "cradle-to-grave" approach for determining the financial and environmental costs of a product over its entire life. Anesth Analg 1998;87:921, 3. Terracycle is a company that was created to address the issue of recyclable products that often end up in landfills. After the parts are manufactured it is time for the final product assembly. Polyphenylene Oxides.Polyphenylene Oxides - an Overview | ScienceDirect Topics, 2013, www.sciencedirect.com/topics/chemical-engineering/polyphenylene-oxides. Bic USAs 2016 registration document provides information about the waste produced during the manufacturing of the razors. : Uses, Benefits, and Safety Facts.ChemicalSafetyFacts.org, 17 June 2019, www.chemicalsafetyfacts.org/polystyrene/. With such a fast accumulating waste and slow decomposition rate, there must be changes and incentive for companies to rethink the disposable razor. Life of a Razor Blade - GreatRazors.com BIC reported that the weight of one of their most popular disposable razors is 8.8 grams (Shavers). The use of LCA to introduce life-cycle thinking into decision-making for the purchase of medical devices in the NHS. This means that it takes around 1 BTU to heat a 0.035-ounce razor blade to the desired temperature (Julabo et.al). In their study of Life cycle assessment of wastewater treatment technologies treating petroleum process waters, Vlaopolous et al. During the research, I could not find how much energy BIC injection molding machines use, but I did find the energy usage of a common injection molding machine called the Babyplast. The number of times an LMA is reused is a particularly uncertain assumption, because there have been reports of premature disposal.16 Use in excess of the manufacturer recommended 40 times has also been reported,17 and 100 to 200 uses appears to be possible with proper handling and preuse checks.1821 Here, 10, 20, 30, 60, 80, and 100 cycles are considered as alternative assumptions. Di(2-ethylhexyl) phthalate (DEHP) Hazard Summary. International Sympsium on Sustainable Systems and Technology. The original LMA was a reusable device (Intavent International SA, Henley-on-Thames, UK). What is Life Cycle Assessment (LCA)? | iPoint-systems 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). Approximately 24 L/min of water are used by the autoclave for cooling, for a total of 960 L of water needed to sterilize an LMA 40 times. "Tungsten Processing." Sherman JD, Ryan S. Ecological responsibility in anesthesia practice. Premature disposal of reusable LMAs has significant environmental impacts (as well as costs, discussed below). %PDF-1.5 % (iii)What are the strategic lifecycle challenges for paramount's current products as well as for clean edge? The International Journal of Life Cycle Assessment. After the plastic body is manufactured it goes through inspections similar to ones the blades go through. to maintaining your privacy and will not share your personal information without Life Cycle Assessments - Diaper Answers Properties: Tungsten Carbide-An Overview. AZoM.com, 25 Nov. 2019, www.azom.com/properties.aspx?ArticleID=1203. Until now, we defined what we want to measure and collect in phase 1. Anesthesia & Analgesia114(5):1067-1072, May 2012. BIC Disposable Razor Design Life-Cycle Life Cycle Assessment - IPP - Environment - European Commission Municipal Solid Waste Generation, Recycling, and Disposal in the United States: Facts and Figures for 2010. There much environmentally friendly options when it comes to shavings, such as the traditional safety razor and straight razors, which can have a much longer life than disposable razors. 11,772. In order to carry out the Eco-Indicator analysis method, the methodology described below has to be followed: 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. They are resins that maintain a high dimensional stability, which helps create fast and cheap plastic razor handles (Safety Razor). The metal liquid then goes through a strengthening process called annealing. Max Soft Disposable Razor For Women - 3 Pcs In A Pack. Marine cargo ships use a fuel called heavy fuel oil which produces around 145,000 BTU per gallon (Energy Consumption by Mode of Transportation.). 5.Interpret and analyse the results. However, we can discuss the energy usage of different modes of transportation. LeBlanc, Rick. A Comparison Life Cycle Assessment between Razor Blade and Electric Shaver. Dec. 2012. For example, LCA results can tell us if one product is environmentally preferable to another . Several clinical trials comparing function and ease of placement demonstrated no significant difference between disposable and reusable versions,25 allowing hospitals to base purchase decisions on economic considerations alone. This is done on an assembly line by the robotic arm the inserts the razor blade into the small crevices in the plastic body. 15 - 21 Our group recently performed a life cycle assessment of anesthetic drug trays, finding that reusable trays were both environmentally and . Nash, Nathaniel C. HOW BIC LOST THE EDGE TO GILLETTE. The New York Times, The New York Times, 11 Apr. endstream endobj startxref U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. Disposable razors are made up of three components: a hollowed plastic handle, the razor blade, and the plastic head of the razor that holds the blade (Safety Razor). Reusable LMAs in general appear to be made largely of silicone, lacking these same concerns for PVC/DEHP. It has been assumed that the packaging contains cardboard, even though it has been made from other natural fibres like bamboo, as there is no info on those materials in the Eco-Indicator tables. This is only the operational energy consumption, but you still have to take into account all the energy used in the design and installation of the machinery. Choosing a less-green disposable will magnify your razor's manufacturing impact, but it won't change the overall picture very much. 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. Its aim is a comprehensive analysis of the environmental impact of products and services. 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. Most of those razors just end up in a landfill because most countries are not recycling them. After that, the metal is pressed down to the desired blade thickness which is around 1mm (Manufacturing Processes). The life cycle for disposable razors must first be assessed by the products design. The high waste from manufacturing and shipping such a small, and cheap product is one that is negatively impacting the planet. The 2 LMA options are nearly equivalent in terms of eutrophication impacts, but with different contributions.
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