Clean Seas - Plastic Pollution - Marine Pollution - Flushable Wipes - LIfe Cycle Assessment = kgCO2 equivalent?

Environment   Mar 3, 2017 by Scott Howe

One question we are currently grappling with: how do you measure the climate change caused by Flushable wipes? 

Secondary question: What is the carbon impact of polypropylene on our climate? 

Tertiary: what is the carbon cost of our plastic oceans? 

One conclusion: further research is needed. 

Further research is needed to determine if all wipes contain plastic? Do flushable wipes contain plastic? How many wipes are flushed per year? Do wipes increase marine pollution? Is plastic pollution of our ocean water a concern? To the final question: yes. 

United Nations agrees. Source: UN - Turn the Tide - Clean Seas

“More than 8 million tons of plastic are dumped in our oceans every year.”

"23 February 2017 – Launching an unprecedented global campaign, the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) is urging everyone to eliminate the use of microplastics and stop the excessive, wasteful use of single-use plastic, to save the world’s seas and oceans from irreversible damage before it’s too late.

“Plastic pollution is surfing onto Indonesian beaches, settling onto the ocean floor at the North Pole, and rising through the food chain onto our dinner tables,” Erik Solheim, the Executive Director of UNEP, said in a news release announcing the campaign.

“We’ve stood by too long as the problem has gotten worse. It must stop,” he added."

Possible solutions:  8 million

Math challenge: if 0.1% of the 8 million tons of plastic in the world's oceans may be caused by wipes what is the carbon impact? 

Life cycle assessment offers some insight.

Supporting links: plastic = fossil fuel = CO2 emmissions; Edana - wipes - life cycle assessment; INDA life cycle powerpoint

From INDA report: For every 100000 wipes created the kgCO2 equivalent is between 800 to 1500.

Question: what does this mean? We figure we need to find out the total number of wipes in one year and then divide by 100000 and then multiply by  800, 1100, and 1500 to get a kgCO2 equivalent using numbers supplied by the wipes industry association - INDA.

What was considered in the INDA report:

Impact Categories Abiotic depletion Acidification Eutrophication Fresh water ecotoxicity Global warming potential Human toxicity Marine ecotoxicity Photochemical oxidation Terrestrial ecotoxicity

Resource Indicators Energy Use Water Use Waste Indicators Consumer Waste Total Solid Waste

Life Cycle Phases Material Prod. Manufacturing Retail/ Use End‐of‐ Life PP & PE Prod. Corrugated Production Wipe Mfg. Tub & Film Mfg. Wipe Disposal Packaging Disposal Transport Materials to Mfg. Transport Product to Dist. Ctr. Fiber Case Disposal

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