Product life cycle. benefits and their impact

At the end of the 60's and beginning of the 70's, the first studies of the Life Cycle Analysis of some products began with the purpose of evaluating their consumption of raw materials for their final elaboration, energy consumption and where did it come from, how efficient is the product and lastly, the amount of waste generated once it has reached its useful life.

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Introduction

Day by day, it is more common to hear in the media, social networks or in conversations with our acquaintances, the serious pollution problems that exist around the world, as the generation of garbage or waste increases rapidly and damages the environment.

“In Mexico, according to the most recent figure published in 2015, the generation of solid waste reached 53.1 million tons, which represented an increase of 61.2% compared to 2003 (10.24 million tons more generated in that period). If expressed per inhabitant, it reached 1.2 kilograms on average daily in the same year. " (SEMARNAT, 2016)

The increase in the reproduction of solid waste can be translated as a result of various components, recognizing among the most significant urban growth, industrial progress, technological innovations and changes in the consumption patterns of the population, among others.

With the aforementioned data, we can see the great problem that the generation of waste means, which is why the use of various techniques or tools that help to decrease these statistics is increasingly popular. The one I will write in this article is the ACV, an important tool that will help us to know the impact that products have on the environment, throughout their life span, from their elaboration to their disposal.

Key concepts

Here are some key concepts to make the reading as pleasant as possible for the reader:

Analysis.- “It is a deep study of a subject, object or situation in order to know its foundations, its bases and reasons for its emergence, creation or original causes.” (Definista, 2017).

Life cycle.- “Consecutive and interrelated stages of a product system, from the acquisition of raw material or its generation from natural resources to final disposal.” (Online Browsing Platform, 2006).

Life cycle analysis.- “Collection and evaluation of the inputs, outputs and potential environmental impacts of a product system throughout its life cycle”. (Online Browsing Platform, 2006).

Origins of Life Cycle Analysis.

The first LCA was performed in 1969 by MRI for the Coca-Cola company, where the main focus was to reduce the consumption of resources and therefore reduce the amount of emissions that contributed to the environment.

Post-Coca-Cola studies continued, the MRI in collaboration with Franklin Associates Ltd conducted more than 60 studies on different products using input / output balance calculations and adding the energy calculations needed to perform it.

Almost at the same time, in Europe they were conducting their own LCA studies, in 1972, in the United Kingdom, Lan Boustead set out to calculate the total energy required to manufacture different types of packaging (plastic, glass, steel, among others) for drinks.

At the beginning, the LCA study was more focused on the amount of energy used to make the product and not so much on the amount of waste and emissions caused by its manufacture, mainly because at that time the price of energy fuels had increased. elevated its cost in a significant way. But once this energy crisis was over, the LCA could focus on other equally important factors related to the production of the product.

Various specialists agree that LCA is currently still at an early stage of development and therefore there is still much to contribute on this matter. (Natalia Rieznik Lamana, 2005)

Stages of LCA

The primary function of Life Cycle Analysis is to provide information that helps to identify opportunities for improvement in favor of the environment, analyzing everything involved in the realization of the product in order to make a sound decision that is beneficial to all. those involved.

The information obtained will serve for decisions on product design and development, continuous process improvement, planning of new strategies, green marketing and in the development of public policies, among other uses.

The ISO 14040: 2006 regulation indicates that there are four stages of LCA:

Definition of objectives and scope: In this phase, the reasons why the study should be carried out are shown and the transcendence is established, where the extension, depth and detail of the study are defined. Analysis of the Life Cycle Inventory: In this stage, all inputs (consumption of resources and materials) and outputs (emissions to air, soil, water and waste generation, among others) that can cause damage to the environment are identified and measured. environment during the life cycle of a product. The data derived from this stage is the beginning for the evaluation of life cycle impacts. Evaluation of the Life Cycle Impacts: In the process of this stage, the inputs and outputs chosen in the inventory are related to the possible impacts towards the environment, human health and resources,in order to classify, characterize and assess the importance of the potential impacts that may arise. Interpretation of results: Interpretation is the combination of the results of stage 2 and stage 3, with the purpose of drawing, in accordance with the objectives and scope set, the conclusions and recommendations that allow making sound decisions.

Occasionally, it may involve a dynamic process of scope review and readjustment, as well as the nature and quality of the data compiled to be consistent with the objective and scope set.

Diagram of the stages of the LCA, own elaboration with information from (Rodriguez, 2009)

LCA benefits for the industry.

LCA is a beneficiary for all people, but in this section of the article the specific advantages for the instructor were mentioned, which according to the author (Estévez, 2013) are as follows:

Internally:

Application as a tool for planning environmental strategies, policies and programs, as well as their subsequent monitoring. Selection of alternatives for correct waste management. Instrument for decision-making during the design phase of new products, or improvement of existing ones. Comparison between the functionality of products with similar characteristics. Comparison between different choices within a new process in order to minimize environmental impacts. Tool for the identification of processes, elements and systems whose contribution to the environmental impact is considerably high, and support for the implementation of measures to reduce it. Evaluation of the effects produced by the consumption of resources in the facilities.

Externally we find the following:

Improvement of the image of the organization and green marketing. Creation of the development of future research programs. Supply of complementary information to the administration for the regulation and reduction of certain products. Selection of suppliers and supply chain management.

LCA Benefits for the Administration

The author (Estévez, 2013) indicates that we can also find areas of opportunity within the administrative area.

Tool to collaborate in the creation and development of environmental legislation and policies that, in the long term, can benefit the conservation of resources and the reduction of the environmental impact associated with products and processes. Institute evaluation criteria and product differentiation in label programs ecological.Valuation of different waste management alternatives.Provide the consumer with information on the environmental characteristics of the products and materials used for its elaboration.Detection of needs that merit an investigation and establish priorities in which action can already be taken.

Stages of a product

The life cycle of a product begins with its development and design and ends with its recycling or reuse process, for this, according to (Estévez, 2013), the following stages must be followed:

Acquisition of raw materials: Activities necessary for obtaining raw materials and providing energy from the environment, as well as transportation prior to production.The process and manufacturing: These are the essential activities for the transformation of raw materials. and the energy in the product to be obtained. Distribution and transportation: The way in which the desired product will be delivered to the customer. Use, maintenance and reuse: Proper handling of the finished product throughout its service life cycle Recycling: Recycling starts when the initial function of the product has ended and therefore it is recycled through the same product system (closed recycling cycle) or, conversely, enters a new one (open recycling cycle Waste management: East,It starts when the product has been used for its function and is returned to the environment as a waste.

Environmental impacts in a LCA

Here are some examples of the damage that a product can cause during its life cycle to the environment, to take a little more awareness of this:

Excessive use of water. Toxicity (aquatic, terrestrial and human). Use of energy. Impacts on renewable resources. Impacts on non-renewable resources. The potential for global warming. The potential for acidification. The potential for photo-creation. ozone chemistry The potential for ozone layer deterioration.

Weaknesses, complexity and subjectivity.

LCA, like everything, has its weak points, which will emphasize the complexity and subjectivity that it could have, according to (Natalia Rieznik Lamana, 2005) these are some points that could damage the Life Cycle Analysis.

Complexity: It is the process in which LCAs are developed as evaluation stages.

When conducting a life cycle analysis, it is necessary to consider that this can be complicated, this is the reason why it requires so much time and material or human resources and even disagreements with the potential of the industry to achieve these initiatives. The data referring to the information collected on the environmental impacts in the analyzes aims to obtain a high level of information about the materials and the processes, in some occasions the situation may arise that there is no availability for the range of situations. The use of analyzes in products with a high degree of confusion or entanglement, in which the limits cover a composition of activities, may yield a degree of complexity incompatible with reliable estimates of the life cycle of the products.This is where the complexity is evident. Life cycle analyzes have a wide number of variables but this does not mean that they all have the same meaning, this means that perhaps the best energy option is not the one that produces the least waste or contamination. In addition, it is necessary to keep in mind the topics as definition of scales between different and variable situations.

Subjectivity: Known as one of the weak points of life cycle analysis, one of the disadvantages of subjectivity is that it depends on the steps of each of the calculations made.

LCA uses a method to be objective and transparent. At the time of the inventory, the parameters of the environmental loads correspond to the effort to select the set of data and parameters used; These can vary due to the accuracy of the data, both their identification and evaluation, and the weighting can answer the subjective criteria.

One of the sources of subjectivity is the use of models to calculate impacts. A simplified presentation of the phenomena and components that can occur in reality is known as a model. The selection of where and what simplification to implement remains subjective.

The use of different models that belong to different deductions is valid, this is the case of some researchers.

The form of hypotheses and choices made in a LCA, the establishment that the system imposes on limits, the choice of data sources and the impact, can be subjective (ISO14040). The presence of differences in the input data can lead to differences in scope or geographic terms; These can be caused by attitudes related to the concept of nature or by interests: environmental movement, industrial sector.

Thesis proposal.

Analysis of the Life Cycle of beer brewed at Cervecería Cuauhtémoc

Moctezuma SA de CV in Orizaba, Veracruz

Objective.

Carry out the beer LCA, in order to find areas where the environmental impact that it has throughout its life cycle can be reduced.

Thanks.

I thank my family, for giving me all the support and the drive to continue day by day, the Orizaba Technological Institute for opening its doors to me and allowing me to continue my studies with the Master in Administrative Engineering and Doctor Fernando Aguirre y Hernández for motivating me with their Knowledge in the Administrative Engineering Foundations seminar to carry out each of the assigned articles.

Conclusion.

With this article we get to know the importance of LCA, it is used as a tool that serves to provide support in decision-making related to services or products, in addition to identifying and evaluating the environmental impacts they cause; With this it is possible to indicate the possible areas of improvement or auxiliary in the designs of new products or the innovations of the existing ones.

LCA is very useful to help when making decisions by those who are in charge of companies, whether it is used alone or together with other tools such as risk assessment and environmental impact.

Likewise, the fact that, in the short term, LCA will be the basis for valuing different products that are competent to enter international trade, this does not depart from the fact that developed countries will not allow financing pollution when they they are making heavy investments in this regard.

References.

Definite. (2017). Concept Definition. Obtained from

Estévez, R. (February 4, 2013). Echo Intelligence. Obtained from

www.ecointeligencia.com/2013/02/analisis-ciclo-vida-acv/

Leiva, EH (2016). Life cycle analysis. School of Industrial Organization, 16-

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Natalia Rieznik Lamana, AH (July 2005). Cities for a More Sustainable Future. Obtained from

Online Browsing Platform. (2006). Online Browsing Platform. Obtained from

Rodríguez, BI (2003). Life Cycle Analysis and Environmental Management. Technological trends, 91-97.

Rodriguez, M. (2009). Geo innovates. Obtained from

SEMARNAT. (2016). semarnat.gob.mx. Obtained from

apps1.semarnat.gob.mx/dgeia/informe15/tema/cap7.html