Corn plastic (bioplastic, polylactic acid, PLA)
The bottomline is that one pound of Corn plastic (bioplastic, polylactic acid, PLA) uses the following resources, and produces the following pollutions:
Resource or Pollutant | Amount | Unit | CEII |
|---|---|---|---|
| Oil deposits | 7.68E-5 | barrel | 0.109 |
| Sulfur dioxide pollution | 0.015534246752256 | pound | 379.927 |
| Nitrogen oxides pollution | 0.011946364954747 | pound | 211.11 |
| Ash | 0.092178276089244 | pound | 32.579 |
| Water, fresh | 15.297689337174 | gallon (US) | 198.175 |
| Liquid waste | 0.038844441577132 | gallon (US) | 1.373 |
| Landfilled waste | 9.7797196541037 | pound | 345.645 |
| Land | 0.00029006228150647 | acre | 134.056 |
| Methane pollution | 0.0021421982080234 | pound | 5.451 |
| Natural gas deposits | 0.65963965105925 | pound | 3.76 |
| Recycled waste | -1.7041648380337E-5 | pound | -0 |
| Iron ore deposits | 4.0146190895987E-5 | pound | 3.901e-5 |
| Particulate matter (PM) | 0.00011891271185673 | pound | 7.565 |
| Volatile organic compounds (VOCs) | 0.00043475692290232 | pound | 153.656 |
| Chemical waste | 1.92E-7 | pound | 6.786e-4 |
| Uranium reserves | 2.5266550728375E-5 | pound | 3.563 |
| Lead pollution | 4.6661617569392E-8 | pound | 0.297 |
| Mercury pollution | 5.821785858268E-8 | pound | 1.852 |
| Carbon monoxide pollution | 0.00053366370367457 | pound | 3.093 |
| Arsenic pollution | 7.6653513800529E-8 | pound | 2.438 |
| Radioactive waste | 4.366339393701E-6 | pound | 27.778 |
| Carbon dioxide pollution | 0.58443732613485 | pound | 20.656 |
| Dissipation | 3.7691868901817 | kWh | 9.913e-4 |
| Coal deposits | 1.212902163449 | pound | 1.092 |
Total CEII: 1534.175
Definitions
PI - Pollution Index. Indication of the amount and severity of the pollution generated during the life cycle of an item. The higher number, the more pollution.
DI - Depletion Index. Indication of the amount of resources used during production and disposal of an item. The higher number, the more resources are used (and the less sustainable the product is).
EI - Entropy Index. - Indication of the amount of energy wasted during the life cycle of an item. The higher number, the more energy is wasted.
CEII - Composite Environmental Impact Index. Indication of the item's impact on the environment, taking into account the resources used and the pollution generated during production, use, and disposal of the item. The higher number, the higher impact.
This work by Andrzej Cichocki is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial 3.0 United States License.