Life Cycle Assessment of Stone Paper, Polypropylene Film, and Coated Paper for Use as Product Labels Prepared by Chris Affeldt, Austin Leung, and Ke Yang A project submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Science (Natural Resources and Environment) at the University of Michigan April 18, 2016 Faculty advisor: Professor Ming Xu Abstract: Environmental concerns are growing in today’s societies, and governments, companies, and other organizations are looking to decrease the impacts on the environment from their products and the products they source. In order to do this, they need to know how a product is impacting the environment, and a life cycle assessment can help to understand the impacts of products and identify areas for potential environmental improvement. This life cycle assessment analyzed the life cycle of three materials: coated paper, PP film, and Stone Paper, in the function of a product label. The aim was to perform comparative analysis of the materials by evaluating performance on multiple impact categories. From this analysis, information can be provided to decision makers and preliminary recommendations can be made to improve the life cycle of Stone Paper. The results found that no material clearly dominated the other materials across all impact categories, but some general trends were identified. PP Film performed relatively poorly in fossil fuel related impact categories, whereas coated paper performed relatively poorly in land use and water depletion categories. Stone Paper fared relatively poorly in two human and environmental health impact categories. Strong general conclusions about the other impact categories cannot be made. Sensitivity analysis for transportation and end of life scenarios were carried out, and found a preference for short transportation distances for Stone Paper, landfilling for coated paper, and incineration for PP film were found. Acknowledgements: We would like to thank the following for support and advice conducting this analysis: our advisor Professor Ming Xu, Helaine Hunscher, Nolan Orfield, PhD, and the Center for Sustainable Systems. This student project was prepared for the client sponsor Taiwan Lung Meng Technology Co., Ltd. 1 Table of Contents 1 Executive Summary ......................................................................................................... 5 1.1 Introduction .........................................................................................................................5 1.1.1 Project Background ................................................................................................................. 5 1.1.2 LCA Overview .......................................................................................................................... 5 1.1.3 Materials Studied .................................................................................................................... 7 1.1.3.1 Paper ................................................................................................................................ 7 1.1.3.2 PP Film .............................................................................................................................. 8 1.1.3.3 Stone Paper ...................................................................................................................... 9 1.2 Key Findings ....................................................................................................................... 10 2 Goal and Scope Definition ............................................................................................. 10 2.1 Goal ................................................................................................................................... 10 2.2 Scope Definition ................................................................................................................. 10 2.2.1 Function ................................................................................................................................. 10 2.2.2 Functional Unit ...................................................................................................................... 11 2.2.3 Product Systems .................................................................................................................... 11 2.2.3.1 Label Conversion ............................................................................................................ 11 2.2.3.2 Stone Paper .................................................................................................................... 12 2.2.3.3 Coated Paper .................................................................................................................. 12 2.2.3.4 Polypropylene Film ........................................................................................................ 13 2.2.3.5 Products Modeled .......................................................................................................... 13 2.2.4 System Boundary .................................................................................................................. 13 2.2.4.1 Stone Paper System ....................................................................................................... 14 2.2.4.2 Coated Paper System ..................................................................................................... 15 2.2.4.3 Polypropylene Film System ............................................................................................ 16 2.2.5 Allocation Procedures ........................................................................................................... 17 2.2.6 End-of-Life Methodology ...................................................................................................... 17 2.2.7 Excluded Processes ............................................................................................................... 18 2.2.8 Modeling Approach and Sensitivity Analysis ........................................................................ 18 2.2.8.1 Transportation Scenarios ............................................................................................... 18 2.2.8.2 End-of-life Scenarios ...................................................................................................... 19 2.2.9 Data Requirements ............................................................................................................... 20 2.2.10 Data Sources .......................................................................................................................... 21 2.2.11 Life Cycle Impact Assessment Methodology ......................................................................... 22 2.2.12 Assumptions and Limitations ................................................................................................ 23 2.2.13 Critical Review ....................................................................................................................... 23 3 Life Cycle Inventory ....................................................................................................... 24 3.1 Introduction/Overview ....................................................................................................... 24 3.1.1 Data Collection Procedure and Methodology ....................................................................... 24 3.2 Baseline Inventory .............................................................................................................. 24 3.2.1 Baseline Scenario for Product Labels .................................................................................... 24 3.2.1.1 Baseline Production Life Cycle Inventory....................................................................... 24 3.2.1.2 Baseline Transportation ................................................................................................. 26 3.2.1.3 Baseline End-of-Life ....................................................................................................... 27 3.2.1.4 Life Cycle Inventory Output ........................................................................................... 27 3.2.2 Transportation Scenario Modeling ....................................................................................... 27 2 3.2.2.1 High Transportation Scenario ........................................................................................ 27 3.2.2.2 Low Transportation Scenario ......................................................................................... 28 3.2.3 End-of-Life Scenarios ............................................................................................................. 28 3.2.3.1 Scenario A - Japan .......................................................................................................... 28 3.2.3.2 Scenario B - Spain ........................................................................................................... 28 4 Life Cycle Impact Assessment ........................................................................................ 29 4.1 LCIA Methodology .............................................................................................................. 29 4.2 LCIA Results ........................................................................................................................ 30 4.2.1 Product System LCIA Results by Life Cycle Stage .................................................................