Preview

Life Cycle Assessment of Reusable and Single use Plastic Bags in California

Good Essays
Open Document
Open Document
10303 Words
Grammar
Grammar
Plagiarism
Plagiarism
Writing
Writing
Score
Score
Life Cycle Assessment of Reusable and Single use Plastic Bags in California
California State University, Chico
Institute for Sustainable Development

Life Cycle Assessment of
Reusable and Single-use Plastic
Bags in California

January 2011

Produced under contract by:

California State University
Chico Research Foundation

Author:

Joseph Greene, Ph.D.
Sustainable Manufacturing Program
California State University, Chico
Chico, CA 95929-0789
Funding provided by

Table of Contents
Table of Contents.......................................................................................................................... 2
List of Figures ............................................................................................................................... 3
List of Tables................................................................................................................................. 3
Acknowledgements ....................................................................................................................... 3
Glossary ........................................................................................................................................ 4
Executive Summary ...................................................................................................................... 5
Introduction ................................................................................................................................... 7
Project Management ............................................................................................................... 7
Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) ....................................................................................................... 7
ISO Standards on LCA............................................................................................................ 8
Literature Review of LCA on Plastic Bags .............................................................................. 9
U.S. LCA of Single-use Plastic Bags



References: <www.bpiworld.org/Files/Article/ArttJInBM.pdf> (August 2005). 2 http://www.iso.org/iso/catalogue_detail?csnumber=37456 (August 2008) 3 http://www.iso.org/iso/catalogue_detail?csnumber=38498 (August 2008) BaBi Software Product Sustainability, http://www.gabi-software.com/index.php?id=85&L=6&redirect=1 (August 2008) 6 SimaPro LCA Software, http://www.pre.nl/simapro/ (August 2010) of Grocery Bags- Recyclable Plastic; Compostable Plastic , and – Recycled, Recyclable Paper -2007, http://www.americanchemistry.com/s_plastics/doc.asp?CID=1106&DID=7212 (July 2010) Unbleached Paper Grocery Sacks." CSWS (800-243-5790), Washington, DC, June 1990. (July 2010) 10 agement_for_Ontario_Sept01.pdf (December 2010) 11 Ecobilan, February 2004. www.ademe.fr/htdocs/actualite/rapport_carrefour_post_revue_critique_v4.pdf (July 2010) Report, American Chemistry Council, http://www.americanchemistry.com/s_plastics/sec_pfpg.asp?CID=1439&DID=5336 (July 2010) Consumer Plastic Recyclers, American Chemistry Council http://www.americanchemistry.com/s_plastics/sec_content.asp?CID=1593&DID=10383 (August 2010) Plastic Recyclers, American Chemistry Council http://www.americanchemistry.com/s_plastics/sec_content.asp?CID=1593&DID=10776 (August 2010) Consumer Plastic Recyclers, American Chemistry Council http://www.americanchemistry.com/s_plastics/sec_content.asp?CID=1593&DID=10383 (August 2010) 17 http://earth911.com/recycling/automotive/car-batteries/ (August 2010) http://www.green.ca.gov/EPP/building/PlasticBags.htm (August 2010) Gerba, C., Williams, D., and Sinclair, R.,” Assessment of the Potential for Cross Contamination of Food Products by Reusable Shopping Bags,” Loma Linda University School of Public Health, http://www.docuticker.com/?p=37322 (July 2010)

You May Also Find These Documents Helpful

  • Good Essays

    Micro Lab Project

    • 747 Words
    • 4 Pages

    It is very important to know not only what types of bacteria are in a sample but also how many of them are present. After a 2010 outbreak, founder Jimmy John Liautaud switched the sandwich chain to clover sprouts after Salmonella illnesses were associated with alfalfa sprouts. According to the Centers for Disease Control and the Food and Drug Administration, unwashed or lightly rinsed vegetables can harbor pathogenic bacteria and have been implicated in numerous food borne infections. Food manufacturers are required by the FDA to monitor the number and type of bacteria in their products. Very few of the things we eat or drink are bacteria free. They merely have greatly reduced numbers of “harmless” bacteria. It is often necessary to determine how many live bacteria are actually in a sample, especially when measuring growth rates or determining disinfectant effectiveness. This involves MacConkey agar which is a selective and differential…

    • 747 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    This includes bones, shells, pips, stalks from food packaging, nut, bolts, jewellery, hair, fingernails and insect droppings. If premises are cleaned regularly including equipment this helps. Chemical contamination can be caused by not keeping cleaning materials separate from food areas and by agricultural chemicals including fertilisers. Fruit and vegetables should be washed before eating. Foods in open cans must be transferred to another container as the food can react with the can. Cleaning materials must be kept in a locked cupboard rinsed well after using. Biological contamination is caused by bacteria or viruses which multiply to dangerous levels, then when the food is eaten it can cause illness. Good hygiene must be followed during preparation, cooking and serving…

    • 740 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    • Unintended Consequences: Why is our food becoming more unsafe as we advance technologically? What are some consequences of tainted foods?…

    • 467 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Better Essays

    Foodservice Chemicals from cleaners, machine lubes, etc. can contaminate food if not used, stored or labeled correctly(3-30)…

    • 1108 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Best Essays

    Summary: Behind The Veil

    • 2761 Words
    • 12 Pages

    Olson, Erik D. "Protecting Food Safety: More Needs To Be Done To Keep Pace With Scientific Advances And The Changing Food Supply." Health Affairs 30.5 (2011): 915-923. Academic Search Complete. Web. 5 Nov. 2012.…

    • 2761 Words
    • 12 Pages
    Best Essays
  • Good Essays

    Celebrated author and TV personality Julia Child once joked: “Always remember: If you're alone in the kitchen and you drop the lamb, you can always just pick it up. Who's going to know?” Kitchen practices in relation to food health and safety, in truth, have been evolving. Microbial activities, including bacterial benefits and detriments, have been undergoing a huge amount of demystification. A number of practices and measures believed to be safe - even healthy - in the past have been proved otherwise. A few of these have been compiled by food microbiologist and Food Safety Information Council vice president Cathy Moir:…

    • 573 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    Surrey, U. O. (2014, July). Organizational Policy. Retrieved from Food Safety Policy: https://www.surrey.ac.uk/policies/food_safety_policy.pdf…

    • 66 Words
    • 1 Page
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Good Essays

    Often times, there are debates surrounding controversial environmental issues, such as global warming, deforestation and nuclear power. But then, there is little or no public debate on the impact of plastic bags on the environment. Plastic bags kill tens of thousands of animals every year. In the marine environment plastic bag litter is lethal, killing tens of thousands of birds, whales, seals and turtles every year as they often mistake plastic bags for food such as jellyfish (planetark, 2015). Various experts estimate that up to a million birds and 100,000 marine mammals are killed each year from plastic debris including bags (One Green Planet, 2015). It is estimated that between 500 billion and one trillion plastic bags are used worldwide each year ( One Green Planet, 2015). This means that plastic bags is serious environmental issue. Given this, we as sustainability leaders should start to think of a way to trigger some public debate on this issue. Sustainability is about…

    • 469 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Health and Social Unit 1

    • 724 Words
    • 3 Pages

    The last policy is that cross contamination (microbes being spread from one food to another) should be prevented so bacteria doesn’t spread and people’s health is not at risk.…

    • 724 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    With the goal of improving food safety, the new food plan presents a prosperous approach in protecting the nation's food supply from both accidental contamination and deliberate alteration. FDA's Food Protection Plan establishes a routine of set rules that start with prevention first, then intervention, and finally, response. This new approach to food with help to ensure that the people of the United States will able to benefit from some of the safest food supplies in the…

    • 441 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    Conventional vs Organic

    • 1969 Words
    • 8 Pages

    Rosen, Joseph D. "Comprehensive Reviews in Food Science and Food Safety." 29 April 2010. http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/j.1541-4337.2010.00108.x/abstract. Document. 10 July 2012.…

    • 1969 Words
    • 8 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    Food safety manual

    • 4928 Words
    • 16 Pages

    This manual will help to prevent foodborne illnesses because it provides a roadmap for positive and safe practices. This manual explains…

    • 4928 Words
    • 16 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Good Essays

    The first pertinent point to make on behalf of the argument that reusable bags should…

    • 652 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    The Effects of Gmos

    • 880 Words
    • 4 Pages

    2. Harry A., Kuiper and Davies Howard V. “The Safe Foods Risk Analysis Framework” Food Control 21. SAFE FOODS – Towards a new risk analysis framework for food safety (n.d.): 1662-1676. ScienceDirect. Web. July 27 2013.…

    • 880 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    on the biodegradability of SM plastic bags. The materials needed are: 6, 1-litre glass jars; 6,…

    • 3092 Words
    • 13 Pages
    Powerful Essays