United States EPA 744­R­08­001 Environmental Protection June 2008 Agency Wire and Cable Insulation and Jacketing: Life­Cycle Assessments for Selected Applications EPA 744-R-08-001 June 2008 WIRE AND CABLE INSULATION AND JACKETING: LIFE-CYCLE ASSESSMENTS FOR SELECTED APPLICATIONS Disclaimer This document has not been through a formal U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) external peer review process and does not necessarily reflect all of the most recent policies of the U.S. EPA, in particular those now under development. The use of specific trade names or the identification of specific products or processes in this document is not intended to represent an endorsement by EPA or the U.S. Government. Discussion of environmental statutes is intended for informational purposes only; this is not an official guidance document and should not be relied upon to determine applicable regulatory requirements. For More Information To learn more about the Design for the Environment (DfE) Wire and Cable Partnership or the DfE Program, please visit the DfE Program web site at: www.epa.gov/dfe. Acknowledgements Maria Leet Socolof, Jay Smith, David Cooper, and Shanika Amarakoon of Abt Associates, Inc. prepared this life-cycle assessment (LCA) under contract to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) Design for the Environment (DfE) Program in the Economics, Exposure, and Technology Division (EETD) of the Office of Pollution Prevention and Toxics (OPPT). This document was produced as part of the DfE Wire and Cable Partnership, under the direction of the project’s Core Group members, including: Kathy Hart, DfE Project Co-Chair, U.S. EPA OPPT, DfE Branch; Liz Harriman, Project Co-Chair, Toxics Use Reduction Institute; Maria Leet Socolof, David Cooper, Jay Smith, Shanika Amarakoon, Christopher Guyol, and Brian Segal, Abt Associates, Inc.; Susan Landry, Albemarle Corporation; Dave Kiddoo, Gary Nedelman, and Troy Brantley, AlphaGary Corporation; Charlie Glew, Cable Components Group, LLC; Joe Daversa, Chemson, Inc.; Rob Wessels, CommScope; Ralph Werling and Gary Stanitis, Daikin America, Inc.; Stacy Cashin and James Hoover, DuPont; Fred Dawson, DuPont Canada; Brenda Hollo and Paul Kroushl, Ferro Corporation; Dr. Henry Harris, Georgia Gulf; Akshay Trivedi, Judd Wire; Richard Shine, Manitoba Corporation; Richard H. LaLumondier, National Electrical Manufacturers Association (NEMA); Tim Greiner, Pure Strategies, Inc.; J. Brian McDonald, SGS–US Testing–CTS; Melissa Hockstad, Society of the Plastics Industry (SPI); Paul Sims, Southwire Company; Stefan Richter, Sud-Chemie, Inc; Dr. Jim Tyler, Superior Essex; Mike Patel, Chuck Hoover, and David Yopak, Teknor Apex Company; Scott MacLeod and Steve Galan, Underwriters Laboratories; HJ (Bud) Hall and Frank Borrelli, Vinyl Institute of the American Plastics Council. The authors gratefully acknowledge the contributions of James Murphy and of the late J. Vincent Nabholz of EPA’s Risk Assessment Division, OPPT. Their assistance in reviewing and providing health and environmental toxicity information for the project was greatly appreciated. The authors would like to acknowledge the outstanding contributions of the Abt Associates staff who assisted the authors, including: Alice Tome for her technical quality review; Van Smith, Emily Connor, Kavita Macleod, and Sue Greco for their technical support; Suzanne Erfurth for editorial assistance; and Stefanie Falzone, who assisted with document production. Table of Contents Abstract i Executive Summary................................................................................................................ iii CHAPTER 1. SCOPE AND BOUNDARIES.............................................................................. 1 1.1 Purpose and Goals ............................................................................................. 1 1.1.1 Background ................................................................................................................ 1 1.1.2 Purpose ...................................................................................................................... 2 1.1.3 Previous research ...................................................................................................... 2 1.1.4 Market trends.............................................................................................................. 5 1.1.5 Need for the project.................................................................................................... 6 1.1.6 Targeted audience and use of the study.................................................................... 7 1.2 Product Systems................................................................................................. 8 1.2.1 Functional unit ............................................................................................................ 8 1.2.2 Cable systems and alternatives ................................................................................. 9 1.3 Assessment Boundaries ....................................................................................11 1.3.1 Life-cycle assessment (LCA).................................................................................... 11 1.3.2 Life-cycle stages and unit processes ....................................................................... 13 1.3.3 Spatial and temporal boundaries ............................................................................. 14 1.3.4 General exclusions................................................................................................... 14 1.3.5 Impact categories ..................................................................................................... 15 1.4 Data Collection Scope .......................................................................................15 1.4.1 Data categories ........................................................................................................ 15 1.4.2 Decision rules........................................................................................................... 17 1.4.3 Data collection and data sources ............................................................................. 17 1.4.4 Allocation procedures............................................................................................... 18 1.4.5 Data management and analysis software ................................................................ 18 1.4.6 Data quality............................................................................................................... 19 1.4.7 Critical review ........................................................................................................... 19 CHAPTER 2 LIFE-CYCLE INVENTORY ................................................................................21 2.1 Upstream Materials Extraction & Processing Life-Cycle Stages.........................21 2.1.1 Materials selection.................................................................................................... 21 2.1.2 Data collection.......................................................................................................... 27 2.1.2.1 Resin manufacturing.......................................................................................... 27 2.1.2.2 Plasticizer manufacturing .................................................................................. 29 2.1.2.3 Flame-retardant manufacturing ......................................................................... 30 2.1.2.4 Heat stabilizer manufacturing ............................................................................ 31 2.1.2.5 Fillers ................................................................................................................. 32 2.1.2.6 Fuels and process materials.............................................................................. 32 2.1.3 Limitations and uncertainties.................................................................................... 32 2.2 Manufacturing Life-Cycle Stage .........................................................................34 2.2.1 Data collection.......................................................................................................... 34 i 2.2.2 Telecommunications cables..................................................................................... 35 2.2.2.1 Compounding .................................................................................................... 36 2.2.2.2 Crossweb manufacturing................................................................................... 37 2.2.2.3 Cable manufacturing ......................................................................................... 37 2.2.3 Low-voltage power cables........................................................................................ 38 2.2.3.1 Compounding .................................................................................................... 39 2.2.3.2 Cable manufacturing ......................................................................................... 40 2.2.4 Data collection summary.......................................................................................... 41 2.2.5 Limitations and uncertainties.................................................................................... 41 2.3 Use Life-Cycle Stage .........................................................................................42 2.3.1 Installation ...............................................................................................................