<abstract xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml"><p>The main objective of this paper is to compare the environmental impact caused by two different types of water boiling processes. The aim was achieved thanks to product life cycle assessment (LCA) conducted for stovetop and electric kettles. A literature review was carried out. A research model was worked out on the basis of data available in literature as well as additional experiments. In order to have a better opportunity to compare LCA results with reviewed literature, eco-indicator 99 assessment method was chosen. The functional unit included production, usage and waste disposal of each product (according to from cradle to grave approach) where the main function is boiling 3360 l of water during 4-year period of time. A very detailed life cycle inventory was carried out. The mass of components was determined with accuracy of three decimal places (0.001 g). The majority of environmental impact is caused by electricity or natural gas consumption during usage stage: 92% in case of the electric and kettle and 99% in case of stovetop one. Assembly stage contributed in 7% and 0.8% respectively. Uncertainty and sensitivity analyses took into consideration various waste scenario patterns as well as demand for transport. Environmental impact turned out to be strongly sensitive to a chosen pattern of energy delivery (electricity mix) which determined final comparison results. Basing on LCA results, some improvements of products were suggested. The boiling time optimization was pointed out for electric kettle's efficiency improvement. Obtained results can be used by manufacturers in order to improve their eco-effectiveness. Moreover, conclusions following the research part can influence the future choices of home appliances users.</p></abstract>

The main objective of this paper is to compare the environmental impact caused by two different types of water boiling processes. The aim was achieved thanks to product life cycle assessment (LCA) conducted for stovetop and electric kettles. A literature review was carried out. A research model was worked out on the basis of data available in literature as well as additional experiments. In order to have a better opportunity to compare LCA results with reviewed literature, eco-indicator 99 assessment method was chosen. The functional unit included production, usage and waste disposal of each product (according to from cradle to grave approach) where the main function is boiling 3360 l of water during 4-year period of time. A very detailed life cycle inventory was carried out. The mass of components was determined with accuracy of three decimal places (0.001 g). The majority of environmental impact is caused by electricity or natural gas consumption during usage stage: 92% in case of the electric and kettle and 99% in case of stovetop one. Assembly stage contributed in 7% and 0.8% respectively. Uncertainty and sensitivity analyses took into consideration various waste scenario patterns as well as demand for transport. Environmental impact turned out to be strongly sensitive to a chosen pattern of energy delivery (electricity mix) which determined final comparison results. Basing on LCA results, some improvements of products were suggested. The boiling time optimization was pointed out for electric kettle's efficiency improvement. Obtained results can be used by manufacturers in order to improve their eco-effectiveness. Moreover, conclusions following the research part can influence the future choices of home appliances users.

Environmental Performance of Kettle Production: Product Life Cycle Assessment

Management Systems in Production Engineering

This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 3.0 License.

{"article-title":"Environmental Performance of Kettle Production: Product Life Cycle Assessment"}

The main objective of this paper is to compare the environmental impact caused by two different types of water boiling processes. The aim was achieved thanks...

Environmental Performance of Kettle Production: Product Life Cycle Assessment

Published Online: Sep 23, 2017

Page range: 255 - 261

Received: Apr 01, 2017

Accepted: Sep 01, 2017

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1515/mspe-2017-0037

Keywords
comparative analysis, eco-efficiency, environmental management, environmental performance, life cycle assessment LCA, production, water boiling process

© 2017 Andrzej Marcinkowski et al., published by De Gruyter Open

This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 3.0 License.

Environmental Performance of Kettle Production: Product Life Cycle Assessment

Published Online: Sep 23, 2017

Page range: 255 - 261

Received: Apr 01, 2017

Accepted: Sep 01, 2017

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1515/mspe-2017-0037

Keywordscomparative analysis, eco-efficiency, environmental management, environmental performance, life cycle assessment LCA, production, water boiling process

© 2017 Andrzej Marcinkowski et al., published by De Gruyter Open

This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 3.0 License.

Keywords
comparative analysis, eco-efficiency, environmental management, environmental performance, life cycle assessment LCA, production, water boiling process