MD Presentation LCA Upload

      VS

Why? Who cares? What is the point? "

•  no TCA in aluminum screw caps which causes a moldy, musty cork contamination that damages end product (wine) à industry trend is moving towards this type of closure "•  recycling benefits are plentiful for aluminum but not cork"•  nearly all LCAs done to promote cork do not consider an option of using only recycled aluminum, they just consider primary aluminum"•  if cork stopper industry suffers then so do the workers, forests and communities"•  damaged wine product essentially leads to a large amount of waste at three points: at winery during final testing, at distributer testing, at consumer tasting (which is the point which can carry the largest negative impact on the image/reputation of the winemaker."

GOAL AND SCOPE:!quantify and compare the environmental impacts of cork stoppers versus aluminum while also taking into consideration product quality for the wine industry "

•  paints used in PVC covers for corks, inks/dyes used for aluminum screw caps"•  energy consumptions, emissions, and waste for bottling activities of Aluminum caps, considered negligible "•  transport of raw materials to production facility, I just considered the transport to the bottling facilities (from EU to US) since it had a small significance for the cork stoppers"•  energy/waste related to plastic liner added to aluminum closure and any plastic liners added to cork stoppers"•  non-major chemical components of production processes for both closures "

LIST OF EXCLUDED DATA:!

CORK 101:!cork bark harvested from cork trees and transported to processing plant

stacked outdoors to cure

cork treatment:boiling to remove organic solids

washing process (majority of water usage)

chemical to condition corks,paraffin wax/silicon applied

cork production:sliced into strips, corks punched out

shipped to bottle stopper manufacturing plant

shipped to bottling plant(PVC cover added)

product shipped to customer

end of life: landfill

Total E: 8.097kWh/ 1 kg cork,

production of PVC cover

production of chemical

products

production of chemical

products

E: 0.0133 kWh/kg raw cork

E: 1.361 kWh/kg treated cork

BENEFITS OF USING CORK WINE STOPPER:!•  useful - keeps the cork forests safe, cork forests help reduce C02 in air"•  reusable - can be down-cycled into other cork products such as cork boards and... life vests"•  classic - it’s traditional, was used as a wine stopper since the mid 17th century"•  beneficial - supports community that works in cork manufacturing and forestry"•  naturally green - it is essentially an earth friendly product, comes from the earth"

•  expensive - demand far out-weighs supply •  inconsistent quality - occurrences of TCA that destroys a product that has taken a long time to create •  limited or no recyclability - not many places to take cork to be “recycled”

o  used cork stoppers, as of now, cannot be recycled into making new stoppers, cork is down-cycled instead into other lower quality cork items such as cork boards, discs, etc.

•  inconvenience – once cork is “popped” on a bottle of wine, you typically throw it away and must have another stopper option for storage. Also, a specific tool is required to un-cork a bottle of wine

DISADVANTAGES OF USING CORK WINE STOPPER:!

ALUMINUM AND RECYCLED ALUMINUM:!

bauxite mining

refine bauxite to get alumina

anode production

smelting

ingot casting

sheet rolling

E: 1.01 kWh/1 kg Al (primary) 2.50 kWh/1 kg Al (secondary)

E: 15.58 kWh/1 kg Al

E: 7.27 kWh/1 kg Al

E: 0.32 kWh/1kg Al

E: 0.64 kWh/1 kg Al (cold rolled) 0.62 kWh/1 kg Al (hot rolled)

E: 0.66 kWh/1 kg Al

TOTAL E (p prod.) ≈ 23.8 kWh/1 kg Alsecondary Aluminum production (recycled)TOTAL E (s prod.) ≈ 1.43 kWh/1 kg Al

screw cap productionE: ###kWh

•  relatively inexpensive - less expensive for wine makers to use screw- top closures than to have their bottles corked •  quality - no occurrences of TCA (Trichloroanisole) which means no wasted product due to TCA contamination. Impermeable to light, oxygen and water. Non-toxic. •  recyclability - aluminum is fully recyclable

o  recycling facilities more available and convenient, easier and improved ways of sorting aluminum caps at recycling plant o  Puts the left-over scrap aluminum from other industries into a “new” reusable form, cuts down on aluminum waste "

•  convenient - ease of use for customer, after opening a bottle of wine they can simply screw the original cap back on to store until it’s next use"

BENEFITS OF USING RECYCLED ALUMINUM SCREW-TOP CLOSURE:!

•  supply– if the supply of recycled aluminum ran low you’d have to resort to using new aluminum (large environmental impact process). •  non-traditional - seen by some as not appropriate for high end wine makers •  precise - if the screw-tops are not made in a certain way it can be more difficult for the recycling facilities to separate and recycle •  plastic liner - the liner in the screw top could be made from a material that has a significant impact on the environment and would most likely not be recycled. •  has the potential to “shut down” the cork wine stopper industry which would lead to less/no protection for the cork forests, many people would lose their jobs

DISADVANTAGES OF USING RECYCLED ALUMINUM SCREW-TOP CLOSURE:!

•  most data available about cork stoppers is provided by cork stopper producers (Corticeira Amorim)"•  very little data available on aluminum packaging that is not from aluminum industry and virtually none that is specifically related to screw cap closure production "•  all data found comparing cork stoppers vs. aluminum closures mainly focused on closures made from primary aluminum not secondary (recycled) aluminum"•  hard to trace cork stopper production to mostly US or mostly overseas"•  most data on cork stoppers is evaluated from European perspective, not US so I had to draw my own conclusions"•  units not being similar or established made comparison difficult "

ISSUES, COMPLAINTS AND ANNOYANCES:!

SLCA: CORK, ALUMINUM, RECYCLED ALUMINUM!

natural cork

Life Cycle Stage Materials choice

energy use

solid residues

liquid residues

gaseous residues TOTAL

premanufacture, Resource extraction 4 4 3 4 3 18 product manufacture 3 3 3 1 3 13 product delivery 3 3 3 3 2 14 product use 4 4 3 2 4 17 Product Post-use: refurbishment, recycling, disposal 1 3 2 3 3 12 Totals 15 17 14 13 15 74

primary aluminum

Life Cycle Stage Materials choice

energy use

solid residues

liquid residues

gaseous residues TOTAL

premanufacture, Resource extraction 0 1 0 0 1 2 product manufacture 0 1 2 3 1 7 product delivery 3 3 3 3 3 15 product use 3 3 3 4 2 15 Product Post-use: refurbishment, recycling, disposal 4 3 3 4 2 16 Totals 10 11 11 14 9 55

recycled aluminum

Life Cycle Stage Materials choice

energy use

solid residues

liquid residues

gaseous residues TOTAL

premanufacture, Resource extraction 4 3 3 3 2 15 product manufacture 3 3 3 3 3 15 product delivery 3 4 3 3 3 16 product use 4 4 3 4 3 18 Product Post-use: refurbishment, recycling, disposal 4 3 4 3 2 16 Totals 18 17 16 16 13 80

0 = very bad, 4 = very good

SLCA: CORK &RECYCLED ALUMINUM!

natural cork stopper

Life Cycle Stage Materials choice

energy use

solid residues

liquid residues

gaseous residues TOTAL

premanufacture, Resource extraction 4 3 4 2 4 17 product manufacture 3 2 3 2 4 14 product delivery 3 2 3 3 2 13 product use 3 4 2 3 3 15 Product Post-use: refurbishment, recycling, disposal 3 3 1 4 3 14 Totals 16 14 13 14 16 73

recycled aluminum screw cap

Life Cycle Stage Materials choice

energy use

solid residues

liquid residues

gaseous residues TOTAL

premanufacture, Resource extraction 4 3 3 3 2 15 product manufacture 3 3 3 3 2 14 product delivery 3 4 3 3 3 16 product use 4 4 3 4 3 18 Product Post-use: refurbishment, recycling, disposal 4 3 4 3 2 16 Totals 18 17 16 16 12 79

WEIGHTED SLCA: CORK &RECYCLED ALUMINUM!

natural cork stopper!

Life Cycle Stage Materials choice

energy use

solid residues

liquid residues

gaseous residues TOTAL

premanufacture, Resource extraction 0.2 0.9 0.4 0.4 1.4 3.3 product manufacture 0.15 0.6 0.3 0.4 1.4 2.85 product delivery 0.15 0.6 0.3 0.6 0.7 2.35 product use 0.15 1.2 0.2 0.6 1.05 3.2 Product Post-use: refurbishment, recycling, disposal 0.15 0.9 0.1 0.8 1.05 3 Totals 0.8 4.2 1.3 2.8 5.6 14.7

recycled aluminum screw cap

Life Cycle Stage Materials choice

energy use

solid residues

liquid residues

gaseous residues TOTAL

premanufacture, Resource extraction 0.2 0.9 0.3 0.6 0.7 2.7 product manufacture 0.15 0.9 0.3 0.6 0.7 2.65 product delivery 0.15 1.2 0.3 0.6 1.05 3.3 product use 0.2 1.2 0.3 0.8 1.05 3.55 Product Post-use: refurbishment, recycling, disposal 0.2 0.9 0.4 0.6 0.7 2.8 Totals 0.9 5.1 1.6 3.2 4.2 15

•  work on reducing the amount of water consumed and wasted during cork production "•  utilize cork and screw caps (from recycled Al only) to preserve the wine and the cork industry and forests."•  push for use of recycled Al for wine closures instead of primary Al "•  continue to improve ways to remove and prevent TCA contamination of bottled wine to cut down on waste produced due to defective product"

CONCLUSION:!

Secondary aluminum production relies on recycled aluminum products and can require 95% less energy than primary production.5 Aluminum is 100% recyclable, and 75% of all aluminum ever produced is still in use today.6 Recycled aluminum beverage cans constitute a major supply for the U.S. aluminum industry; in 2008, 1.56 billion pounds of cans were recycled by the industry, representing 54.2% of total beverage can shipments for the year.7 In 2011, aluminum recovered from purchased scrap totaled 3.0 million tons, of which about 54% was obtained from manufacturing and 46% was obtained from discarded aluminum products."

SOURCES:!

PricewaterhouseCoopers/ECOBILAN, and CORTICEIRA AMORIM. Evaluation of the Environmental Impacts of Cork Stoppers versus Aluminium and Plastic Closures. Rep. UK: PwC/Ecobilan, 2008. Print. Thompson, James V. "Alumina: Simple Chemistry—Complex Plants." Engineering & Mining Journal (February 1, 1995): 42 ff. Alcoa Aluminum. http://www.alcoa.com/ (March 1999). International Aluminum Institute. "Aluminum in Production Processes." Aluminum in Production Processes. International Aluminum Institute, 2012. Web. 27 Mar. 2012. <http://www.recycling-guide.org.uk/science-aluminium.html>. De Schrynmakers, Patrick. "Life Cycle Thinking in the Aluminium Industry." The International Journal of Life Cycle Assessment (2009). Springer-Verlag, 24 Mar. 2009. Web. 03 Mar. 2012. <http://www.springerlink.com/content/8xr688h710304705/fulltext.html>. Web. 27 Mar. 2012. http://www.novelis.com/en-us/Pages/The-Recycling-Process.aspx. NOVELIS. "The Recycling Process." Document Moved. Aditya Birla Group, 2012. Web. 27 Mar. 2012. <http://www.novelis.com/en-us/Pages/The-Recycling-Process.aspx>. BCS. U.S. Energy Requirements for Aluminum Production Historical Perspective, Theoretical Limits and Current Practices. Publication. 2007. Http://www1.eere.energy.gov/manufacturing/industries_technologies/aluminum/pdfs/al_theoretical.pdf. Industrial Technologies Program Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy U.S. Department of Energy, Feb. 2007. Web. 03 Mar. 2012. International Screwcap Initiative. "Why Screwcaps?" Www.screwcapinitiative.com. International Screwcap Initiative. Web. 14 Mar. 2012. <http://www.screwcapinitiative.com/normal.asp?navID=24&pageID=24>. 1 U.S. Geological Survey and U.S. Department of the Interior, Mineral Commodity Summaries 2012 (Washington, DC: U.S. Government Printing Office, 2012), http://minerals.usgs.gov/minerals/pubs/mcs/2012/mcs2012.pdf. 2 Industrial Technologies Program, Manufacturing Energy and Carbon Footprints, Alumina and Aluminum (NAICS 3313), produced by Energetics Incorporated, Columbia, MD (Washington, DC: U.S. Department of Energy, n.d.), http://www1.eere.energy.gov/industry/pdfs/aluminum_footprint.pdf. 3 E. Lee Bray, 2010 Minerals Yearbook, Aluminum [Advance Release], (Washington, DC: U.S. Geological Survey, 2010), http://minerals.usgs.gov/minerals/pubs/commodity/aluminum/myb1-2010-alumi.pdf. 4 Bureau of Labor Statistics, "May 2010 National Industry-Specific Occupational Employment and Wage Estimates NAICS 331300 - Alumina and Aluminum Production and Processing," U.S. Department of Labor, http://www.bls.gov/oes/current/naics4_331300.htm. 5 The Aluminum Association, Rolling Aluminum: From the Mine Through the Mill (Arlington, VA: The Aluminum Association, 2007), http://www.aluminum.org/Content/NavigationMenu/TheIndustry/SheetPlate/Rolling_Aluminum_From_The_Mine_Through_The_Mill.pdf. 6 The Aluminum Association, Here for You (Arlington, VA: The Aluminum Association, n.d.), http://www.aluminum.org/AM/CM/ContentDisplay.cfm?ContentFileID=58950&FusePreview=Yes. 7 The Aluminum Association, "Industry Statistics: Facts at a Glance – 2008" (Arlington, VA: The Aluminum Association, September 2009), http://www.aluminum.org/Content/NavigationMenu/NewsStatistics/StatisticsReports/FactsAtAGlance/factsataglance.pdf. European Aluminium Association, AluMATTER, and University of Liverpool. "AluMatter: Packagin." AluMATTER, 2001. Web. 25 Feb. 2012. <http://www.aluminium.matter.org.uk/content/html/eng/default.asp?catid=9&pageid=1005920572>. Gabarrell, X., J. Rives, J. Rieradevall, and I. Fernandez-Rodriguez. LIFE CYCLE ASSESSMENT OF THE INDUSTRIAL PRODUCTION OF NATURAL CORK STOPPERS FOR STILL WINE. Universitat Autònoma De Barcelona, 2010. Web. 20 Mar. 2012 "