1 Introduction
2 Methods
2.1 Goal and scope
2.2 Life cycle inventory analysis
+PLUSPAK™ waste disposal scenarios | |
Cutoff allocation | Market-based allocation |
Municipal waste | Municipal waste |
80 % to landfill; 20 % to municipal incineration. | Incineration includes credit for electricity and heat generation as avoided burden: Polypropylene: 3.74 MJ electricity/kg; 7.54 MJ heat/kg Rubber: 3.02 MJ electricity/kg; 6.11 MJ heat/kg |
Autoclave and incineration | Autoclave and incineration |
All materials autoclaved and then sent to municipal incineration. | Incineration includes credit for electricity and heat generation as above. |
Incineration | Incineration (waste-to-energy) |
All materials sent to municipal incineration. | Incineration includes credit for electricity and heat generation as above. |
Pre-shred, autoclave, and incineration | Pre-shred, autoclave, and incineration |
All materials shredded, autoclaved, and sent to municipal incineration. | Incineration includes credit for electricity and heat generation as above. |
Recycle | Recycle |
Polypropylene to recycling (no impact or benefit). All other materials 80 % landfill/20 % municipal incineration. | Polypropylene to recycling (transport and shredding impacts included). Full credit for virgin polypropylene as avoided burden. All other materials 80 % landfill/20 % municipal incineration. |
Glass bottle waste disposal scenarios | |
Cutoff allocation | Market-based allocation |
Autoclave and landfill | Autoclave and landfill |
All materials autoclaved and then landfilled. Allocated portion of sharps container (polypropylene) included in disposal of glass and aluminum materials. | No difference from cutoff method. |
Autoclave and incineration | Autoclave and incineration |
All materials autoclaved and then sent to municipal incineration. Allocated portion of sharps container (polypropylene) included in disposal of glass and aluminum materials. | Incineration includes credit for electricity and heat generation from rubber and polypropylene as above, but not from glass or aluminum. |
Incineration | Incineration (waste-to-energy) |
All materials sent to municipal incineration. | Incineration includes credit for electricity and heat generation from rubber and polypropylene as above, but not from glass or aluminum. |
Pre-shred, autoclave, and incineration | Pre-shred, autoclave, and incineration |
All materials shredded, autoclaved, and sent to municipal incineration. Allocated portion of sharps container (polypropylene) included in disposal of glass and aluminum materials. | Incineration includes credit for electricity and heat generation from rubber and polypropylene as above, but not from glass or aluminum. |
Recycle | Recycle |
Glass to recycling (no impact or benefit). All other materials to 80 % landfill/20 % municipal incineration. | 68 % of glass is recycled, with autoclaving and cullet sorting impacts included. Remaining glass is sent to municipal incineration. Other materials sent to 80 % landfill/20 % incineration. |
2.3 Life cycle impact assessment
2.4 Sensitivity and uncertainty analyses
3 Results and discussion
+PLUSPAK™ | |||||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Damage category | Climate change | Ozone depletion | Human toxicity | Photochemical oxidant | Particulate matter | Ionizing radiation | Ecosystems | Resources | CED |
Unit | kg CO2eq | kg CFC-11eq | kg 1,4-DBeq | kg NMVOC | kg PM10eq | kg U235eq | Species.yr | Economic unit | MJ |
Raw material transport | 2.45E-05 | 1.65E-12 | 5.96E-06 | 8.57E-08 | 2.75E-08 | 6.03E-06 | 3.23E-13 | 2.29E-04 | 7.38E-04 |
Vial body | 5.20E-02 | 9.29E-10 | 1.13E-02 | 1.77E-04 | 5.85E-05 | 1.28E-02 | 5.64E-10 | 5.53E-01 | 1.76E+00 |
Vial cap | 1.53E-02 | 2.73E-10 | 3.32E-03 | 5.21E-05 | 1.72E-05 | 3.76E-03 | 1.66E-10 | 1.63E-01 | 5.19E-01 |
Rubber stopper | 1.38E-02 | 2.54E-09 | 4.37E-03 | 4.63E-05 | 1.90E-05 | 3.19E-03 | 1.37E-10 | 1.35E-01 | 4.14E-01 |
Depyrogenation | 2.60E-03 | 1.28E-10 | 1.68E-03 | 5.43E-06 | 3.42E-06 | 2.05E-03 | 2.18E-11 | 1.21E-02 | 5.59E-02 |
Autoclaving | 4.57E-04 | 2.24E-11 | 2.96E-04 | 9.54E-07 | 6.00E-07 | 3.60E-04 | 3.82E-12 | 2.13E-03 | 9.81E-03 |
QC rejects | 4.53E-04 | 1.50E-11 | 8.70E-05 | 1.12E-06 | 3.82E-07 | 7.88E-05 | 4.49E-12 | 3.40E-03 | 1.08E-02 |
Secondary packaging | 1.68E-02 | 2.30E-09 | 4.63E-03 | 6.49E-05 | 1.67E-05 | 4.35E-03 | 3.57E-10 | 9.61E-02 | 3.42E-01 |
Shipping container | 8.45E-03 | 1.15E-09 | 2.32E-03 | 3.26E-05 | 8.35E-06 | 2.18E-03 | 1.79E-10 | 4.82E-02 | 1.72E-01 |
Broken and frozen bottles | 2.22E-03 | 3.55E-10 | 2.97E-04 | 1.65E-05 | 4.84E-06 | 2.13E-04 | 1.95E-11 | 1.36E-02 | 3.81E-02 |
Contrast media lost | 1.62E-05 | 1.19E-12 | 3.18E-06 | 5.10E-08 | 1.83E-08 | 1.78E-06 | 1.35E-13 | 1.85E-04 | 5.21E-04 |
Distribution | 3.62E-02 | 4.57E-09 | 1.83E-03 | 2.14E-04 | 6.14E-05 | 1.40E-03 | 3.17E-10 | 2.02E-01 | 5.46E-01 |
Incubation | 1.78E-04 | 5.03E-12 | 8.17E-05 | 4.52E-07 | 2.86E-07 | 5.18E-05 | 1.50E-12 | 8.00E-04 | 2.96E-03 |
Municipal waste treatment | 3.26E-02 | 1.26E-10 | 1.08E-02 | 1.74E-05 | 2.62E-06 | 2.72E-04 | 2.60E-10 | 4.79E-03 | 1.58E-02 |
Glass bottle | |||||||||
Raw material transport | 1.20E-02 | 1.92E-09 | 1.61E-03 | 8.95E-05 | 2.62E-05 | 1.15E-03 | 1.06E-10 | 7.33E-02 | 2.06E-01 |
Vial body | 1.36E-01 | 1.41E-08 | 5.14E-02 | 6.31E-04 | 4.55E-04 | 2.83E-02 | 1.54E-09 | 7.61E-01 | 2.50E+00 |
Al crimp | 2.32E-02 | 2.52E-09 | 9.19E-03 | 6.02E-05 | 3.96E-05 | 6.07E-03 | 1.99E-10 | 1.26E-01 | 4.48E-01 |
Rubber stopper | 2.60E-02 | 4.78E-09 | 8.23E-03 | 8.72E-05 | 3.57E-05 | 6.01E-03 | 2.59E-10 | 2.55E-01 | 7.80E-01 |
Depyrogenation | 8.02E-03 | 3.94E-10 | 5.19E-03 | 1.67E-05 | 1.05E-05 | 6.32E-03 | 6.70E-11 | 3.73E-02 | 1.72E-01 |
Autoclaving | 1.18E-03 | 5.80E-11 | 7.65E-04 | 2.47E-06 | 1.55E-06 | 9.31E-04 | 9.88E-12 | 5.50E-03 | 2.54E-02 |
QC rejects | 1.30E-03 | 1.50E-10 | 4.91E-04 | 5.49E-06 | 3.72E-06 | 2.83E-04 | 1.40E-11 | 8.01E-03 | 2.61E-02 |
Secondary packaging | 5.12E-02 | 7.00E-09 | 1.49E-02 | 2.10E-04 | 5.91E-05 | 1.51E-02 | 1.63E-09 | 2.91E-01 | 1.28E+00 |
Shipping container | 1.09E-02 | 1.48E-09 | 3.17E-03 | 4.45E-05 | 1.25E-05 | 3.20E-03 | 3.46E-10 | 6.17E-02 | 2.71E-01 |
Broken and frozen bottles | 1.91E-04 | 2.31E-11 | 6.73E-05 | 8.00E-07 | 4.66E-07 | 4.54E-05 | 3.08E-12 | 1.16E-03 | 4.08E-03 |
Contrast media lost | 5.42E-05 | 4.00E-12 | 1.06E-05 | 1.71E-07 | 6.12E-08 | 5.97E-06 | 4.51E-13 | 6.21E-04 | 1.75E-03 |
Distribution | 7.87E-02 | 9.77E-09 | 4.08E-03 | 4.98E-04 | 1.50E-04 | 3.24E-03 | 6.88E-10 | 4.37E-01 | 1.18E+00 |
Incubation | 4.61E-04 | 1.30E-11 | 2.11E-04 | 1.17E-06 | 7.40E-07 | 1.34E-04 | 3.87E-12 | 2.07E-03 | 7.65E-03 |
Autoclave and landfill | 5.17E-02 | 9.02E-10 | 1.16E-02 | 5.00E-05 | 1.15E-05 | 1.52E-03 | 4.11E-10 | 4.84E-02 | 1.49E-01 |
Damage category | Climate change | Ozone depletion | Human toxicity | Photochemical oxidant | Particulate matter | Ionizing radiation | Ecosystems | Resources | CED |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Secondary packaging (multi-pack) | |||||||||
Glass, from Shanghai for ROW (default) | 100 % | 100 % | 100 % | 100 % | 100 % | 100 % | 100 % | 100 % | 100 % |
Glass, from Shanghai for US | 104 % | 104 % | 103 % | 103 % | 102 % | 104 % | 106 % | 103 % | 104 % |
Glass, from Cork for US | 87 % | 89 % | 91 % | 90 % | 94 % | 89 % | 81 % | 91 % | 89 % |
+PLUSPAK™, from Shanghai for ROW (default) | 46 % | 29 % | 37 % | 37 % | 24 % | 43 % | 39 % | 59 % | 55 % |
+PLUSPAK™, from Shanghai for US | 39 % | 23 % | 33 % | 31 % | 21 % | 38 % | 32 % | 54 % | 50 % |
+PLUSPAK™, from Cork for US | 40 % | 24 % | 33 % | 33 % | 21 % | 39 % | 33 % | 55 % | 51 % |
Secondary packaging (single-pack) | |||||||||
Glass, from Shanghai for ROW | 385 (100)% | 334 (100)% | 299 (100)% | 326 (100)% | 232 (100)% | 335 (100)% | 516 (100)% | 303 (100)% | 337 (100)% |
Glass, from Cork for ROW | 390 (101)% | 338 (101)% | 303 (101)% | 330 (101)% | 234 (101)% | 339 (101)% | 523 (101)% | 307 (101)% | 341 (101)% |
+PLUSPAK™, from Shanghai for ROW | 334 (87)% | 261 (78)% | 203 (68)% | 256 (79)% | 144 (62)% | 225 (67)% | 331 (64)% | 261 (86)% | 251 (75)% |
+PLUSPAK™, from Cork for ROW | 435 (113)% | 343 (103)% | 262 (87)% | 333 (102)% | 186 (80)% | 290 (87)% | 434 (84)% | 333 (110)% | 320 (95)% |
Damage category | Climate change | Ozone depletion | Human toxicity | Photochemical oxidant | Particulate matter | Ionizing radiation | Ecosystems | Resources | CED |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Cutoff allocation method | |||||||||
+PLUSPAK™ | |||||||||
Municipal waste (default) | 46 % | 29 % | 37 % | 37 % | 24 % | 43 % | 39 % | 59 % | 55 % |
Autoclave and incineration | 58 % | 29 % | 35 % | 38 % | 24 % | 43 % | 46 % | 59 % | 56 % |
Incineration | 57 % | 29 % | 35 % | 37 % | 24 % | 43 % | 46 % | 59 % | 55 % |
Pre-shred, autoclave, incineration | 59 % | 29 % | 36 % | 38 % | 25 % | 44 % | 47 % | 60 % | 56 % |
Recycle | 42 % | 29 % | 31 % | 37 % | 24 % | 42 % | 37 % | 59 % | 55 % |
Glass bottle | |||||||||
Autoclave and landfill (default) | 100 % | 100 | 100 % | 100 % | 100 % | 100 % | 100 % | 100 % | 100 % |
Autoclave and incineration | 105 % | 101 % | 99 % | 103 % | 101 % | 100 % | 103 % | 101 % | 100 % |
Incineration | 103 % | 99 % | 97 % | 102 % | 101 % | 99 % | 102 % | 99 % | 99 % |
Pre-shred, autoclave, incineration | 108 % | 101 % | 102 % | 104 % | 104 % | 105 % | 105 % | 103 % | 103 % |
Recycle | 99 % | 98 % | 98 % | 99 % | 99 % | 99 % | 100 % | 98 % | 98 % |
Market-based allocation method | |||||||||
+PLUSPAK™ | |||||||||
Municipal waste (default) | 45 % | 28 % | 36 % | 36 % | 23 % | 41 % | 38 % | 57 % | 54 % |
Autoclave and incineration | 51 % | 24 % | 29 % | 34 % | 21 % | 36 % | 42 % | 52 % | 49 % |
Incineration (waste-to-energy) | 50 % | 24 % | 29 % | 34 % | 21 % | 36 % | 41 % | 51 % | 48 % |
Pre-shred, autoclave, incineration | 51 % | 24 % | 30 % | 35 % | 21 % | 37 % | 42 % | 52 % | 49 % |
Recycle | 33 % | 29 % | 31 % | 28 % | 20 % | 44 % | 31 % | 33 % | 34 % |
Glass bottle | |||||||||
Autoclave and landfill (default) | 100 % | 100 % | 100 % | 100 % | 100 % | 100 % | 100 % | 100 % | 100 % |
Autoclave and incineration | 103 % | 99 % | 97 % | 102 % | 100 % | 98 % | 102 % | 99 % | 99 % |
Incineration (waste-to-energy) | 102 % | 98 % | 96 % | 101 % | 100 % | 97 % | 101 % | 97 % | 97 % |
Pre-shred, autoclave, incineration | 106 % | 100 % | 101 % | 104 % | 103 % | 103 % | 104 % | 101 % | 101 % |
Recycle | 83 % | 81 % | 76 % | 82 % | 71 % | 79 % | 85 % | 79 % | 80 % |