International Journal of Life Cycle Assessment

Comparative Life Cycle Assessment of Conventional and Green Seal-Compliant Industrial and Institutional Cleaning Products

International Journal of Life Cycle Assessment

Amit Kapur, Cheryl Baldwina,Nana Wilberforce, Giovanna McClenachan, Mark Rentschler

aCheryl Baldwin PhD

Green Seal,

1001 Connecticut Ave, NW, 20036 DC, USA

email:

fax: 1-202-872-4324

Restroom cleaner

The life cycle impact assessment results of the restroom cleaner are shown in Table 1. Similar to general-purpose and glass cleaners, the RTU restroom cleaner has higher environmental burdens in most impact categories as compared to compliant and conventional concentrate restroom cleaners. The terrestrial ecotoxicity and land use impacts are higher for the compliant product on account of use of biobased ingredients (i.e. coconut and palm).

Table 1Life cycle impact assessment results of Restroom cleaners (baseline scenario)

Impact category / Unit / Compliant / RTU / Conventional concentrate
Climate change / kg CO2 eq / 3.90E+00 / 3.08E+01 / 5.00E+00
Ozone depletion / kg CFC-11 eq / 1.49E-07 / 1.83E-07 / 1.49E-07
Human toxicity / kg 1,4-DB eq / 1.21E+00 / 1.23E+01 / 2.38E+00
Photochemical oxidant formation / kg NMVOC / 1.88E-02 / 1.83E-01 / 2.71E-02
Particulate matter formation / kg PM10eq / 5.87E-03 / 5.05E-02 / 1.26E-02
Ionising radiation / kg U235 eq / 2.59E-01 / 6.00E-01 / 4.42E-01
Terrestrial acidification / kg SO2eq / 1.75E-02 / 1.50E-01 / 4.22E-02
Freshwater eutrophication / kg P eq / 6.73E-04 / 5.62E-03 / 5.21E-03
Marine eutrophication / kg N eq / 9.74E-03 / 6.19E-02 / 1.09E-02
Terrestrial ecotoxicity / kg 1,4-DB eq / 1.08E-02 / 8.00E-04 / 6.67E-04
Freshwater ecotoxicity / kg 1,4-DB eq / 2.92E-02 / 4.83E-01 / 7.02E-02
Marine ecotoxicity / kg 1,4-DB eq / 2.63E-02 / 4.74E-01 / 6.96E-02
Agricultural land occupation / m2a / 8.39E-01 / 6.47E-02 / 5.61E-02
Urban land occupation / m2a / 1.69E-02 / 2.92E-01 / 2.68E-01
Natural land transformation / m2 / 7.30E-03 / 1.65E-04 / 3.72E-04
Water depletion / m3 / 1.56E-01 / 2.64E-01 / 2.43E-01
Metal depletion / kg Fe eq / 1.25E-01 / 2.35E-01 / 2.07E-01
Fossil depletion / kg oil eq / 2.35E+00 / 1.62E+01 / 2.13E+00

Table 2Breakdown of life cycle impact assessment results by life cycle stage for compliant restroom cleaner

Impact category / Formula / Packaging / Distribution / Use / EoL Packaging / EoL Wastewater
Climate change / 62.5% / 9.9% / 25.9% / 1.1% / -0.7% / 1.4%
Ozone depletion / 95.9% / 0.1% / 0.0% / 1.0% / 0.6% / 2.4%
Human toxicity / 46.0% / 0.3% / 42.5% / 1.8% / 6.6% / 2.8%
Photochemical oxidant formation / 49.8% / 9.2% / 40.2% / 0.6% / -1.0% / 1.2%
Particulate matter formation / 58.7% / 6.7% / 31.5% / 1.2% / -0.5% / 2.3%
Ionising radiation / 89.5% / 0.1% / 0.0% / 4.8% / 1.8% / 3.9%
Terrestrial acidification / 60.5% / 6.8% / 29.2% / 1.3% / -0.3% / 2.5%
Freshwater eutrophication / 77.2% / 0.8% / 0.0% / 3.0% / 1.0% / 18.0%
Marine eutrophication / 45.2% / 2.6% / 26.6% / 0.4% / 2.0% / 23.2%
Terrestrial ecotoxicity / 99.7% / 0.0% / 0.0% / 0.1% / 0.0% / 0.2%
Freshwater ecotoxicity / 45.4% / 0.7% / 11.4% / 2.2% / 37.7% / 2.6%
Marine ecotoxicity / 41.0% / 0.5% / 13.1% / 1.6% / 41.0% / 2.8%
Agricultural land occupation / 99.6% / 0.0% / 0.0% / 0.3% / 0.0% / 0.1%
Urban land occupation / 80.6% / 0.2% / 0.0% / 10.0% / 4.3% / 4.9%
Natural land transformation / 99.9% / 0.0% / 0.0% / 0.1% / -0.1% / 0.0%
Water depletion / 24.8% / 0.4% / 0.0% / 74.3% / 0.0% / 0.5%
Metal depletion / 88.8% / 0.2% / 0.0% / 1.6% / 0.4% / 8.9%
Fossil depletion / 72.6% / 14.5% / 14.0% / 0.5% / -2.1% / 0.5%
Non-renewable energy / 73.0% / 14.7% / 13.2% / 0.6% / -2.1% / 0.6%
Renewable energy / 97.5% / 1.9% / 0.0% / 0.6% / -0.2% / 0.3%

Table 3Breakdown of life cycle impact assessment results by life cycle stage for RTU restroom cleaner

Impact category / Formula / Packaging / Distribution / Use / EoL Packaging / EoL Wastewater
Climate change / 7.2% / 43.4% / 52.5% / 0.0% / -3.2% / 0.2%
Ozone depletion / 78.2% / 2.7% / 0.3% / 0.0% / 16.9% / 1.9%
Human toxicity / 9.3% / 1.2% / 66.9% / 0.0% / 22.3% / 0.3%
Photochemical oxidant formation / 4.7% / 32.7% / 66.1% / 0.0% / -3.7% / 0.1%
Particulate matter formation / 15.8% / 27.1% / 58.7% / 0.0% / -1.9% / 0.3%
Ionising radiation / 70.5% / 1.5% / 0.0% / 0.0% / 26.3% / 1.7%
Terrestrial acidification / 19.5% / 27.2% / 54.4% / 0.0% / -1.4% / 0.3%
Freshwater eutrophication / 90.2% / 3.3% / 0.0% / 0.0% / 4.3% / 2.2%
Marine eutrophication / 4.2% / 14.2% / 66.9% / 0.0% / 11.1% / 3.6%
Terrestrial ecotoxicity / 79.9% / 5.6% / 2.4% / 0.0% / 10.0% / 2.2%
Freshwater ecotoxicity / 8.4% / 1.4% / 11.1% / 0.0% / 79.0% / 0.2%
Marine ecotoxicity / 8.5% / 1.0% / 11.6% / 0.0% / 78.8% / 0.2%
Agricultural land occupation / 84.9% / 0.7% / 0.0% / 0.0% / 13.3% / 1.0%
Urban land occupation / 90.8% / 0.3% / 0.0% / 0.0% / 8.6% / 0.3%
Natural land transformation / 231.8% / 0.6% / 0.0% / 0.0% / -133.5% / 1.2%
Water depletion / 91.3% / 8.7% / 0.0% / 0.0% / -0.3% / 0.3%
Metal depletion / 82.8% / 4.4% / 0.0% / 0.0% / 8.1% / 4.8%
Fossil depletion / 5.5% / 72.7% / 32.3% / 0.0% / -10.6% / 0.1%
Non-renewable energy / 5.9% / 73.8% / 30.7% / 0.0% / -10.6% / 0.1%
Renewable energy / 18.7% / 91.7% / 0.0% / 0.0% / -10.9% / 0.4%

Table 4Breakdown of normalized life cycle impact assessment results by life cycle stage for compliant restroom cleaner

Impact category / Formula / Packaging / Distribution / Use / EoL Packaging / EoL Wastewater
Climate change / 3.56E-04 / 5.63E-05 / 1.48E-04 / 6.13E-06 / -4.13E-06 / 7.87E-06
Ozone depletion / 3.82E-06 / 3.79E-09 / 9.39E-10 / 3.92E-08 / 2.40E-08 / 9.58E-08
Human toxicity / 4.66E-03 / 3.44E-05 / 4.31E-03 / 1.80E-04 / 6.64E-04 / 2.86E-04
Photochemical oxidant formation / 1.89E-04 / 3.48E-05 / 1.52E-04 / 2.42E-06 / -3.91E-06 / 4.60E-06
Particulate matter formation / 2.47E-04 / 2.82E-05 / 1.33E-04 / 5.04E-06 / -1.95E-06 / 9.57E-06
Ionising radiation / 1.77E-04 / 2.05E-07 / 0.00E+00 / 9.52E-06 / 3.49E-06 / 7.66E-06
Terrestrial acidification / 2.79E-04 / 3.12E-05 / 1.35E-04 / 6.21E-06 / -1.61E-06 / 1.16E-05
Freshwater eutrophication / 4.12E-03 / 4.27E-05 / 0.00E+00 / 1.59E-04 / 5.57E-05 / 9.62E-04
Marine eutrophication / 4.93E-04 / 2.84E-05 / 2.90E-04 / 4.27E-06 / 2.22E-05 / 2.53E-04
Terrestrial ecotoxicity / 1.67E-03 / 2.00E-07 / 1.84E-07 / 1.10E-06 / 3.57E-07 / 2.69E-06
Freshwater ecotoxicity / 3.12E-03 / 4.59E-05 / 7.85E-04 / 1.51E-04 / 2.59E-03 / 1.77E-04
Marine ecotoxicity / 8.15E-03 / 1.02E-04 / 2.60E-03 / 3.26E-04 / 8.15E-03 / 5.47E-04
Agricultural land occupation / 1.55E-04 / 2.58E-09 / 0.00E+00 / 4.38E-07 / 4.62E-08 / 1.23E-07
Urban land occupation / 1.77E-05 / 3.54E-08 / 0.00E+00 / 2.19E-06 / 9.43E-07 / 1.08E-06
Natural land transformation / 6.10E-04 / 2.22E-09 / 0.00E+00 / 8.67E-07 / -5.32E-07 / 1.68E-07
Water depletion / 0.00E+00 / 0.00E+00 / 0.00E+00 / 0.00E+00 / 0.00E+00 / 0.00E+00
Metal depletion / 2.51E-04 / 6.66E-07 / 0.00E+00 / 4.51E-06 / 1.24E-06 / 2.52E-05
Fossil depletion / 1.25E-03 / 2.50E-04 / 2.40E-04 / 8.12E-06 / -3.64E-05 / 8.60E-06

Table 5Breakdown of normalized life cycle impact assessment results by life cycle stage for RTU restroom cleaner

Impact category / Formula / Packaging / Distribution / Use / EoL Packaging / EoL Wastewater
Climate change / 3.22E-04 / 1.95E-03 / 2.36E-03 / 0.00E+00 / -1.43E-04 / 7.87E-06
Ozone depletion / 3.84E-06 / 1.31E-07 / 1.50E-08 / 0.00E+00 / 8.31E-07 / 9.58E-08
Human toxicity / 9.61E-03 / 1.19E-03 / 6.89E-02 / 0.00E+00 / 2.30E-02 / 2.86E-04
Photochemical oxidant formation / 1.75E-04 / 1.21E-03 / 2.44E-03 / 0.00E+00 / -1.36E-04 / 4.60E-06
Particulate matter formation / 5.71E-04 / 9.78E-04 / 2.12E-03 / 0.00E+00 / -6.74E-05 / 9.57E-06
Ionising radiation / 3.24E-04 / 7.12E-06 / 0.00E+00 / 0.00E+00 / 1.21E-04 / 7.66E-06
Terrestrial acidification / 7.73E-04 / 1.08E-03 / 2.16E-03 / 0.00E+00 / -5.59E-05 / 1.16E-05
Freshwater eutrophication / 4.02E-02 / 1.48E-03 / 0.00E+00 / 0.00E+00 / 1.93E-03 / 9.62E-04
Marine eutrophication / 2.88E-04 / 9.84E-04 / 4.64E-03 / 0.00E+00 / 7.71E-04 / 2.53E-04
Terrestrial ecotoxicity / 9.91E-05 / 6.93E-06 / 2.94E-06 / 0.00E+00 / 1.24E-05 / 2.69E-06
Freshwater ecotoxicity / 9.49E-03 / 1.59E-03 / 1.26E-02 / 0.00E+00 / 8.97E-02 / 1.77E-04
Marine ecotoxicity / 3.03E-02 / 3.52E-03 / 4.17E-02 / 0.00E+00 / 2.82E-01 / 5.47E-04
Agricultural land occupation / 1.02E-05 / 8.95E-08 / 0.00E+00 / 0.00E+00 / 1.60E-06 / 1.23E-07
Urban land occupation / 3.45E-04 / 1.23E-06 / 0.00E+00 / 0.00E+00 / 3.27E-05 / 1.08E-06
Natural land transformation / 3.20E-05 / 7.68E-08 / 0.00E+00 / 0.00E+00 / -1.85E-05 / 1.68E-07
Water depletion / 0.00E+00 / 0.00E+00 / 0.00E+00 / 0.00E+00 / 0.00E+00 / 0.00E+00
Metal depletion / 4.39E-04 / 2.31E-05 / 0.00E+00 / 0.00E+00 / 4.30E-05 / 2.52E-05
Fossil depletion / 6.49E-04 / 8.65E-03 / 3.85E-03 / 0.00E+00 / -1.26E-03 / 8.60E-06

Table 6Changes in life cycle impact assessment results from restroom cleaner baseline scenario (finished product distance reduced to 160 km)

Impact category / Compliant / RTU
Climate change / -23.3% / -47.2%
Ozone depletion / 0.0% / -0.3%
Human toxicity / -38.2% / -60.2%
Photochemical oxidant formation / -36.2% / -59.5%
Particulate matter formation / -28.4% / -52.9%
Ionising radiation / 0.0% / 0.0%
Terrestrial acidification / -26.3% / -48.9%
Freshwater eutrophication / 0.0% / 0.0%
Marine eutrophication / -23.9% / -60.2%
Terrestrial ecotoxicity / 0.0% / -2.1%
Freshwater ecotoxicity / -10.3% / -10.0%
Marine ecotoxicity / -11.8% / -10.5%
Agricultural land occupation / 0.0% / 0.0%
Urban land occupation / 0.0% / 0.0%
Natural land transformation / 0.0% / 0.0%
Water depletion / 0.0% / 0.0%
Metal depletion / 0.0% / 0.0%
Fossil depletion / -12.6% / -29.1%
Non-renewable energy / -11.9% / -27.7%
Renewable energy / 0.0% / 0.0%

Table 7Changes in life cycle impact assessment results from compliant restroomcleaner baseline scenario (higher number of bio-based ingredients)

Impact category / Compliant
Climate change / -2.2%
Ozone depletion / -0.8%
Human toxicity / 0.2%
Photochemical oxidant formation / -2.2%
Particulate matter formation / 0.6%
Ionising radiation / 0.9%
Terrestrial acidification / -0.4%
Freshwater eutrophication / 0.2%
Marine eutrophication / 4.1%
Terrestrial ecotoxicity / 0.0%
Freshwater ecotoxicity / 0.1%
Marine ecotoxicity / 0.3%
Agricultural land occupation / 108.5%
Urban land occupation / 0.5%
Natural land transformation / 175.6%
Water depletion / 0.0%
Metal depletion / 0.2%
Fossil depletion / -4.9%
Non-renewable energy / -4.7%
Renewable energy / 84.1%