This review describes the process of life cycle analysis in some detail. It describes the different organisations involved in researching and applying these techniques and the database resources being used to generate comparative reports. The overview explains the factors to be considered, the terminology, the organisations involved in developing these techniques and the legislation which is driving the whole process forward. The ISO standards relating to environmental management are also discussed briefly in the document. Design for the environment is covered in the report. This review is accompanied by summaries of selected papers on life cycle analysis and environmental impact from the Rapra Polymer Library database.

"This book adds much to the already evolving field of Design for Environment; but it goes far beyond most works on this subject by surrounding the central notions of life cycle assessment with a scientific body of knowledge and with a more practical slant reflecting the reality of the organizations in which product development occurs. Through a focus on plastic products, the authors show the importance of making ties between basic technical knowledge and the process of life cycle engineering. Their approach offers a practical, deliberate way to make ecologically and economically sensible decisions about product reuse and recycling and other critical dimensions of product life behavior. They demonstrate a positive approach to designing products that fits into a sustainable economy through down-to-earth cases. While the book focuses on the life cycle engineering of plastics, it is only a short step to other materials and products. Beyond contributing to the technology of life cycle engineering, this text adds to the growing body of knowledge that argues for an fundamentally new way of thinking about economic and social activity--a new paradigm for sustainable social and industrial problem solving. Industrial ecology is such a new system for thinking about and implementing sustainability that draws its core set of ideas from the ecological world. Industrial ecology brings to the surface the idea of interdependence among members of a community-- natural or economic, and notes the material cycles that are central to a stable ecosystem. The life cycle engineering framework, coupled with sound scientific knowledge of materials behavior as articulated in this book, makes a giant step towards bringing the model of industrial ecology into everyday practice." From the Preface by John R. Ehrenfeld Director, MIT Technology, Business and Environment Program Center for Technology, Policy, and Industrial Development

This book offers a detailed presentation of the principles and practice of life cycle impact assessment. As a volume of the LCA compendium, the book is structured according to the LCIA framework developed by the International Organisation for Standardisation (ISO)passing through the phases of definition or selection of impact categories, category indicators and characterisation models (Classification): calculation of category indicator results (Characterisation); calculating the magnitude of category indicator results relative to reference information (Normalisation); and converting indicator results of different impact categories by using numerical factors based on value-choices (Weighting). Chapter one offers a historical overview of the development of life cycle impact assessment and presents the boundary conditions and the general principles and constraints of characterisation modelling in LCA. The second chapter outlines the considerations underlying the selection of impact categories and the classification or assignment of inventory flows into these categories. Chapters three through thirteen exploreall the impact categories that are commonly included in LCIA, discussing the characteristics of each followed by a review of midpoint and endpoint characterisation methods, metrics, uncertainties and new developments, and a discussion of research needs. Chapter-length treatment is accorded to Climate Change; Stratospheric Ozone Depletion; Human Toxicity; Particulate Matter Formation; Photochemical Ozone Formation; Ecotoxicity; Acidification; Eutrophication; Land Use; Water Use; and Abiotic Resource Use. The final two chapters map out the optional LCIA steps of Normalisation and Weighting.

The aim of this book is to link demand and supply of environmental information in the field of Life Cycle Management. The book is based on the results of the CHAINET concerted action financed by EU-DGXII for the work period 1998-2000, and is intended to build bridges between the different scientific communities in the field of Life Cycle Management. A structured approach is followed, meaning that both demand and supply of environmental information are characterised, after which the two are linked.

Today we are experiencing a renaissance in the chemistry of polysaccharide materials. This is due in part to recognition of the importance of renewable-based materials in a society in which petroleum has become a much more expensive feedstock, with a cloudy future with respect to adequacy of supply. There are currently intense, global efforts to develop a biomass-based refinery process, intended to produce biofuel (ethanol or butanol being the top candidates) that will replace some or all of the petroleum-based fuel we now use. In parallel, scientists and non-scientists have become aware of the opportunities that this biofuel industry will create for biomass-based products. The utilization of waste from the biofuel process, along with the exploitation of the collection system for biomass that will serve the biofuel production process, to make other products from biomass, will create an unprecedented and revolutionary opportunity for the creation of integrated biorefineries. These biorefineries will have substantial resemblance to current petroleum refineries, in that they will convert a natural product (or more properly, products) into fuel by chemical transformations and separation processes, and simultaneously use co-products and main products as feedstocks for the production of more complex chemicals. In order to take advantage of the opportunities presented by a biorefinery-based economy, it is crucial that we develop new synthetic methods for polysaccharide derivatives, and new understanding of the structure-property-performance relationships of these versatile molecules. This symposium series book will describe new synthetic methods, novel polysaccharide derivatives, new applications of these derivatives in biomedicine and packaging applications, and numerous examples of the creation of new insight into the design of polysaccharide materials for performance. The articles in this symposium series book are good examples of the advances in polysaccharide chemistry being made in the current renaissance that will help to move us towards a biorefinery future.

Recycling von Kunststoffen, Gummi und anderen Polymeren: Wie beeinflussen solche Prozesse unsere Umwelt? Dieser Frage geht der vorliegende Band nach, wobei sich der Autor auf die neue Gesetzgebung in den USA, Japan und der EU bezieht, die Polymerhersteller zum Recycling zwingt. Vor- und Nachteile der Recyclingkreisläufe werden einander gegenübergestellt. Alle Kapitel enthalten Beispielfragen und -antworten.