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Download fileImpact of the use of renewable materials on ecoefficiency of manufacturing processes
journal contribution
posted on 2013-10-09, 14:11 authored by James ColwillJames Colwill, Shahin RahimifardShahin RahimifardThe use of renewable materials has attracted interest from a wide range of manufacturing
industries looking to reduce their environmental and carbon footprints. As such, the development
and use of biopolymers has been largely driven by their perceived environmental benefits over
conventional polymers. However, often these environmental claims, when challenged, are lacking
in substance. One reason for this is the lack of quality data for all life cycle stages. This applies to
the manufacturing stages of packaging, otherwise known as ‘packaging conversion’, where for
certain product/production types, a reduction in energy consumption of 25–30% from lower
processing temperatures can be offset by an increase in pressure, cycle times and reject rates.
The ambiguity of the overall environmental benefit achieved during this stage of the life cycle,
when this is the main driver for their use, highlights the need for a clearer understanding of impact
that such materials have on the manufacturing processes.
History
School
- Mechanical, Electrical and Manufacturing Engineering
Citation
COLWILL, J. and RAHIMIFARD, S., 2013. Impact of the use of renewable materials on ecoefficiency of manufacturing processes. Plastics, Rubber and Composites, 42 (3), pp. 129 - 133 (5)Publisher
Maney © Institute of Materials, Minerals and MiningVersion
- AM (Accepted Manuscript)
Publication date
2013Notes
This article was published in the journal, Plastics, Rubber and Composites [© Institute of Materials, Minerals and Mining] and the definitive version is available at: http://www.ingentaconnect.com/content/maney/prc/2013/00000042/00000003/art00007ISSN
1465-8011Publisher version
Language
- en