Life Cycle analysis study of Synthetic, Jute and Paper Woven Sacks illustrate the advantages of Synthetic Woven Sacks

Techno - commercial information on plastics Industry - News on Plastics Industry - Plastemart.com

Life Cycle analysis study of Synthetic, Jute and Paper Woven Sacks illustrate the advantages of Synthetic Woven Sacks

Life Cycle analysis study of Synthetic, Jute and Paper Woven Sacks illustrate the advantag ...

Indian Institute of Technology, Delhi conducted an exhaustive life cycle study (in the Indian environment ) on various types of 50 kg bags used for packaging of several commodities, including cement, fertilizers and food grains. Some of these products have been so far reserved exclusively for jute bags essentially to protect the jute growing community. This study, involving the entire cycle from production of raw materials, conversion to bags, transportation of the packed commodity product to the disposal and recovery of the basic raw materials in the Indian environment reveals some very interesting facts:

		Synthetic bags made from HDPE/PP are much lighter and save almost 3 to 5 times of packaging material as compared to jute and paper bags.
		The lower material weight obviously would save significant amount of energy during manufacture of raw materials and conversion into bags. The study shows that jute bags would require almost 50% more energy and paper bags about 300% more energy compared to synthetic bags.
		Synthetic bags require very insignificant amount of water compared to jute and paper bags. Similarly, the consumption of chemicals for synthetic bags is negligible as compared to jute and paper bags.
		The lighter weight of the synthetic bags provides significant saving of fuel and therefore energy during transportation.

What is most important is that synthetic bags can be easily recycled or incinerated to produce energy after their use is completed. The energy saving during recycling with synthetic bags is higher compared to the other two types of bags. Synthetic bags can provide sustainable development and is fully recyclable or renewable. They also help in controlling the environment better than jute and paper bags.

The results of the study are described in the table below:

	Jute			PP-HDPE			Paper
Material Required (tonne)	12290			12290			2310			2310			7200
		Energy	Energy (thousand GJ)	Water	Water (thousand lakh litres)	Chemical (tonne)	Chemical (tonne)	Energy	Energy (thousand GJ)	Water(	Water( (thousand lakh litres)	Chemical (tonne)	Chemical (tonne)	Energy( thousand GJ)	Water( thousand lakh litres)	Chemical (tonne)
Phase I	Phase I (Production of Raw Material)	153.6	153.6	12.0	12.0	258.5	258.5	178.3	178.3	1.4	1.4	0.014	0.014	612.0	18.0	4647
Phase II	Phase II (Production of Sacks)	179.4	179.4	9.7	9.7	Neg	Neg ligible	48.5	48.5	1.0	1.0	Neg	Neg ligible	57.6	Neg ligible	Neg ligible
Total	333.0	21.7	258.5	226.8	2.4	0.014	669.6	18.0	4647

Phase III

Phase III
Usage
(Transportation per 100 km distance, 9 tonne truckload and 3.05 km/I fuel consumption)

Jute

PP-HDPE

Paper

Excess

Excess
Fuel
(thousand
litres)

Excess

Excess
Energy
(GJ)

Excess

Excess
Fuel
(thousand
litres)

Excess

Excess
Energy
(GJ)

Excess

Excess
Fuel
(thousand
litres)

Excess

Excess
Energy
(GJ)

36.3

2035.9

Taken as basis (Zero Consumption)

16.6

927.9

Phase IV Waste Management	Jute		PP-HDPE		PP-HDPE		Paper

	Recycling	Incineration	Recycling	Recycling	Incineration	Incineration	Recycling	Incineration

(Energy saving¹ thousand GJ)	(Energy recovery thousand GJ)	(Energy saving¹	(Energy saving¹ thousand GJ)	(Energy recovery	(Energy recovery thousand GJ)	(Energy saving¹ thousand GJ)	(Energy recovery thousand GJ)
-	-	46.75	46.75	95.31	95.31	32.26	169.11

The study was sponsored by Indian Centre for Plastics in the Environment (ICPE), New Delhi. To obtain the report published in late 2002, CLICK HERE