Life Cycle Assessment of polyethylene terephthalate bottle

With increasing concerns over waste and the need for `greener´ products, it is necessary to carry out LCAs of products and this will help manufacturers take the first steps towards greener designs by assessing their product´s carbon output. Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) is a process to evaluate the environmental burdens associated with a product, process or activity by identifying and quantifying energy and materials used and wastes released to the environment, and to assess the impact of those energy and material used and released to the environment. This assessment includes the entire life cycle of the polyethylene terephthalate (PET) bottle, processes encompassing materials and energy acquisition, manufacturing, use and waste management. The following four major components of an LCA study as described in the International Organization for Standardization (ISO) 14040/44 were used: Goal definition and scoping; Life-cycle inventory (LCI), Life-cycle impact assessment (LCIA), and Interpretation of results. Developing and providing sound environmental data using a life-cycle assessment approach will assist those and the targeted audience to pursue environmentally preferable alternatives.