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Eco-design tool to support the use of renewable polymers within packaging applications

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conference contribution
posted on 2013-10-09, 13:53 authored by James ColwillJames Colwill, Shahin Rahimifard, Allen J. Clegg
Bioplastics derived from renewable polymers such as sugars, starches and cellulose, have attracted significant interest from companies looking to reduce their environmental footprint. New production capacity and improved materials have resulted in their increasing adoption for mainstream consumer products packaging. However questions remain regarding their overall environmental benefits and how the maximum environmental gain can be achieved. These uncertainties highlight the need for a decision support tool to aid the packaging design process. This paper examines the issues surrounding bio-derived polymer use and discusses the development of an eco-design tool to assist in their rapid and efficient adoption.

History

School

  • Mechanical, Electrical and Manufacturing Engineering

Citation

COLWILL, J., RAHIMIFARD, S. and CLEGG, A.J., 2011. Eco-design tool to support the use of renewable polymers within packaging applications. IN: Hesselbach, J. and Hermann, C. (eds.) Glocalized Solutions for Sustainability in Manufacturing: Proceedings of the 18th CIRP International Conference on Life Cycle Engineering, Technische Universität Braunschweig, Braunschweig, Germany, May 2nd - 4th, 2011, pp. 160 - 165.

Publisher

© Springer

Version

  • AM (Accepted Manuscript)

Publication date

2011

Notes

This is a conference paper. The definitive version is available at: http://link.springer.com/chapter/10.1007/978-3-642-19692-8_28

ISBN

9783642196911

Language

  • en

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