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How do end of life scenarios influence the environmental impact of product supply chains? Comparing biomaterial and petrochemical products

Glew, David, Stringer, Lindsay C., Acquaye, Adolf, McQueen-Mason, Simon (2012) How do end of life scenarios influence the environmental impact of product supply chains? Comparing biomaterial and petrochemical products. Journal of Cleaner Production, 29-30 . pp. 122-131. ISSN 0959-6526. (doi:10.1016/j.jclepro.2012.02.005) (The full text of this publication is not currently available from this repository. You may be able to access a copy if URLs are provided) (KAR id:35215)

The full text of this publication is not currently available from this repository. You may be able to access a copy if URLs are provided.
Official URL:
http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.jclepro.2012.02.005

Abstract

In this research natural fibre (biomaterial) pocket spring mattresses are shown to emit marginally less greenhouse gasses (GHG) than foam (petrochemical) pocket spring mattresses. However, when end of life scenarios are considered, the results suggest much larger GHG emission reductions for natural fibre than foam mattresses. Refurbishing natural fibre mattresses and reusing the springs, coupled with recycling the waste components, can reduce GHG emissions by 90% compared to sending the mattresses to landfill. Incinerating mattresses via combined heat and power plants for electricity production and converting the waste textiles to ethanol are also shown to reduce GHG emissions, though to a lesser extent than refurbishment and recycling. Mattresses are normally disposed of via landfill however designing for reuse and recycling, coupled with supportive policy and legislation, may encourage more natural fibre mattresses and recycling. Such changes could save between 210 and 2092 thousand tCO2-eq in the European Union annually.

Item Type: Article
DOI/Identification number: 10.1016/j.jclepro.2012.02.005
Uncontrolled keywords: Life cycle assessment (LCA); Greenhouse gasses (GHG); Waste; Recycle; Mattresses
Subjects: H Social Sciences
H Social Sciences > HA Statistics > HA33 Management Science
Divisions: Divisions > Kent Business School - Division > Department of Analytics, Operations and Systems
Depositing User: Catherine Norman
Date Deposited: 16 Sep 2013 13:42 UTC
Last Modified: 19 Sep 2023 15:04 UTC
Resource URI: https://kar.kent.ac.uk/id/eprint/35215 (The current URI for this page, for reference purposes)

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