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Simon Fraser University *
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100
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Industrial Engineering
Date
Dec 6, 2023
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5
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Simon Fraser University
REM 100
LCA Assignment
Page 2 of 6
Spring 2023
1. Extraction and production of raw materials
Description of the materials required for grocery bags and their extraction/production
process
A cotton bag is a product composed of cotton textile and cotton thread, which are all from the raw
material named cotton, which is a natural and biodegradable material. Cottons are either conventional
or organic, which need various amounts of energy & materials in their production stage (Muthu, 2015).
Nowadays, mechanical harvesters named strippers and pickers are adopted for the cotton harvest. The
harvesting of cotton is complex in its boll's open time which is throughout the growing season (Ghar-
akhani et al., 2022). The harvesting of cotton is usually performed after 10 to 14 days of defoliation, by
using defoliants for highly efficient picking when about 60% of bolls are open. For stripper machines,
revolving rollers and brushes are utilized to remove cotton, twigs and leaves from the cotton plants.
Next, to separate seeds from the cotton fibers, ginning machines are used. Eventually cotton is pressed
to standard bales after seed coats removing (Muthu, 2014).
Based on the usually purchase from supermarket in UK 2006/07, a total of 483 items are needed to carry
home. To meet the required functional unit of a grocery bag, which is 28.65 L in volume, 183.11 g in its
weight/bag and 10.59 items/bag. 181.81 g of cotton textile plus 1.3 g of cotton thread are suggested to
make up the cotton bag (Muthu, 2015).
Environmental effects (adverse or beneficial)
Resources needed varies based on whether the cotton is conventional or organic. 22,000 kilograms of
water are required to produce 1kg of pure, conventional cotton fiber while organic cotton consumes
24,000 kilograms of water per kg (Muthu, 2013,24). Besides water, chemicals are needed to protect the
conventional cottons with amounts of 1.2 lbs./acre insecticides and 2.1 lbs./acre pesticides. (Muthu,
2014). Additionally, close to half amount of fertilizer is needed for the total amount of cotton fiber
cultivated proportionally, with only 2% cultivated cotton being organic without fertilizer (Chen, 2006).
Soil degradation and erosion as cotton is usually farmed monoculturally, resulting in the exhaustion of
soil, and this further lead to deforestation and loss of habitat of wildlife (Okafor, 2022). Other than
influence to human, pesticides cause thousands of animals poisoned and dead (Pimentel, 2005).
The rivers, lakes are contaminated by the extensive use of fertilizers, pesticides and insecticides as they
runoff from soils, and these pollutants affect biodiversity by its toxicity both immediate and in long-term
(Chen & Burns, 2006).
Social effects (adverse or beneficial)
Positively, successful cotton farming can provide a source of income for farmers and create employment
opportunities for people as well since the cultivation of cotton requires a significant labor force; On the
other side, farmworkers can be exposed to health risks due to the use of pesticides, which lead to acute
poisonings and chronic illnesses. There are over 26 million cases of non-fatal pesticide poisoning and
around 220,000 deaths. Additionally, price volatility could push farmworkers to debt and poverty due to
its high input costs (Pimentel, 2005). The environment for both farms and nearby communities are
impacted using chemicals in cotton farming, which can lead to soil and water pollution. This pollution
can lead to health and environmental consequences.
Simon Fraser University
REM 100
LCA Assignment
Page 3 of 6
Spring 2023
2. Production of grocery bag
Description of the production process of grocery bags
Environmental effects (adverse or beneficial)
Social effects (adverse or beneficial)
Simon Fraser University
REM 100
LCA Assignment
Page 4 of 6
Spring 2023
3. End-of-life (recycling and disposal)
Description of end-of-life situation for grocery bag
Cotton can be both reused and recycled, with reuse being the most environmentally friendly option. It is
encouraged for people to use cotton bags until they reach their limit lifetime to reduce their damage to
the environment. The secondary reuse of the cotton bag is to use it as a dustbin liner. Recycling of
cotton bags is the next option, which turns used cotton bag into either the same product or raw
materials (Muthu & Li, 2014).
There are a total of two disposal options for cotton bags. Incineration and landfills. Incineration destroys
the waste and generates energy, with a net electrical efficiency of about 20-25% (Ahamed et al., 2021).
Hazardous compounds are released during the burning process, such as dioxins and carbon monoxide as
a result of incomplete trash combustion. Therefore, incineration is not a widely recognized technique in
many nations. Landfill disposal is a bad idea that leads to many environmental problems worldwide in
the long term. Hence,
it is the last option for waste disposal and shouldn’t be
promoted (Muthu & Li,
2014).
Environmental effects (adverse or beneficial)
There are non-recyclable components or contaminants in the recycling of cotton bags, such as labels,
ink, or other materials attached to the bags.
In the incineration process of cotton bag, 7% of total carbon dioxide generated by the whole process of
cotton bog is emitted in the incineration process of cotton bag. Assumming the complete combustion
occurred during incineration, the final residual waste was estimated to be the original ash content
(Ahamed et al., 2021).
Cotton bag indicates a positive biodegradation proven by the soil burial experiments. At the end of the
experiment, cotton samples demonstrate remarkable loss in weight and strength, reducing from the
sample weight of 1.3 gram at the beginning to 0.8 gram after 90 days (Muthu & Li, 2014).
Social effects (adverse or beneficial)
What are the disposal and recycling impacts on humans?
Recycling of cotton bag beneficial human in a large extent. Through the process of recycling, energy and
various resources are saved from the beginning of production with a less demand of cotton bags. Also, it
decreases the quantity of solid waste that is dumped in landfills and burned in incinerators. In addition
to promoting sustainable development, recycling lowers greenhouse gas emissions and reduce various
pollutants (Muthu & Li, 2014).
By reusing of discarded cotton bags, their lifecycle can be extended which minimizing the energy and
resource account in the production by reducing the need to manufacture. An organic cotton bag should
be reused for 149 times to significantly reduce its environmental impacts, 20,000 times recycled use to
offset its overall impact of production. For conventional cotton bags, the reused time should be 52 and
7,100 times respectively (
Life Cycle Assessment of Grocery Carrier Bags - Miljøstyrelsen
, 2018).
Based on the life cycle impact assessment results, 98% of the impact of cotton bags, including carbon
footprint and freshwater pollution, come from its material extraction and production phases. Which
threat the environment severely if the bags are single-used (Muthu, 2015).
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Simon Fraser University
REM 100
LCA Assignment
Page 5 of 6
Spring 2023
References
Chen, H. L., & Burns, L. D. (2006). Environmental analysis of textile products.
Clothing and
Textiles Research Journal
,
24
(3), 248
–
261.
https://doi.org/10.1177/0887302x06293065
This is a credible source as this is an academic article in peer-reviewed journal and it sites its
reference and source.
Muthu, S. S. (2015).
Handbook of Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) of Textiles and Clothing
.
Woodhead Publishing. 13.3.1 285.
https://ebookcentral-proquest-
com.proxy.lib.sfu.ca/lib/sfu-ebooks/reader.action?docID=2110660&ppg=306#\
This is a credible source as this is an academic article in peer-reviewed journal and it sites its
reference and source.
Gharakhani, H., Thomasson, J. A., & Lu, Y. (2022). An end-effector for robotic cotton
harvesting.
Smart Agricultural Technology
,
2
, 100043.
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.atech.2022.100043
This is a credible source as this is an academic article in peer-reviewed journal and it sites its
reference and source.
Muthu, S. S. (2014).
Roadmap to sustainable textiles and clothing: Eco-friendly Raw Materials,
Technologies, and Processing Methods
. Springer. 3.1.3 10.
https://ebookcentral-proquest-
com.proxy.lib.sfu.ca/lib/sfu-ebooks/reader.action?docID=1783815&ppg=116
This is a credible source as this is an academic article in peer-reviewed journal and it sites its
reference and source.
Okafor, J. (2022, June 2).
Environmental Impact of Cotton from Growing, Farming &
Consuming
. TRVST.
https://www.trvst.world/sustainable-living/fashion/environmental-
impact-of-cotton/
Simon Fraser University
REM 100
LCA Assignment
Page 6 of 6
Spring 2023
This is a credible source written by a BSc with a science degree and this is not an article on
business website.
Pimentel, D. (2005). ‘Environmental and economic costs of the application of pesticides
primarily in the United States.’
Environment, Development and Sustainability
,
7
(2), 229
–
252.
https://doi.org/10.1007/s10668-005-7314-2
This is a credible source as this is an academic article in peer-reviewed journal and it sites its
reference and source.
Muthu, S. S., & Li, Y. (2014). Assessment of environmental impact by grocery shopping bags.
In
Ecoproduction
.
https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-4560-20-7
This is a credible source as this is an academic article in peer-reviewed journal and it sites its
reference and source.
Life Cycle Assessment of grocery carrier bags - Miljøstyrelsen
. (2018, March 14).
https://mst.dk/publikationer/2018/marts/life-cycle-assessment-of-grocery-carrier-bags
This is a credible source as this is a report of government agency about the grocery bag.
Ahamed, A., Vallam, P., Iyer, N. S., Veksha, A., Bobacka, J., & Lisak, G. (2021). Life cycle
assessment of plastic grocery bags and their alternatives in cities with confined waste
management structure: A Singapore case study.
Journal of Cleaner Production
,
278
,
123956. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jclepro.2020.123956
This is a credible source as this is an academic article in peer-reviewed journal and it sites its
reference and source.